EVERYBODY WANTS TO GET INTO THE ACT : Support services for screenwriters range from researchers and typists to psychotherapists.

Sitting in a tattered cardboard box on the floor, it looked much like any other screenplay. But something about one called “Beverly Hills Cop� caught the eye of Gabriele Zinke.

“I remember looking at the title and thinking that was pretty funny,� said Zinke, who co-owns the Writer’s Computer Store, a Los Angeles company specializing in computer hardware and software for screenwriters.

“Beverly Hills Cop� was composed on a computer--and with software--purchased at the Writer’s Computer Store. “This might sound silly,� said Zinke, “but any time something successful is written on one of our computers, I feel like I’m a small part of it.�

These days, it seems that everyone wants to play their part in the movie business. And a growing number of Los Angeles area companies are finding ways to make some profits servicing screenwriters.

Just a decade ago, about all the assistance that screenwriters had to choose from were secretaries to type finished scripts and photocopy stores to make extra sets of the screenplays. But today, screenwriters--and wanna-be screenwriters--seem to have an endless selection of services.

For the novice, there are numerous courses on how to write screenplays. And for the seasoned screenwriter, many companies such as Zinke’s sell thousands of dollars in computer hardware and software specifically designed for script writing. There are also so-called script doctors who, for a price, will tell you if your screenplay is any good. And there are researchers who will help busy screenwriters find out any facts--historical or otherwise--that they might need to know for their scripts. There are even some psychotherapists who say they can help screenwriters overcome one of the most common problems of all--writer’s block.

“It’s more than a cottage industry--it’s enormous,� said George Kirgo, president of the West Coast division of the Writer’s Guild of America. “Some screenwriters will swear by the courses, the computer stores and the what-have-you’s,� said Kirgo, whose West Coast guild has 7,500 members, “but there are plenty of fly-by-nights, like in every other business.�

What has caused this sudden growth? “There’s been an absolute explosion because of all the money involved in screen writing,� said Syd Field, author of two books on screen writing technique and one of the most highly regarded names in the profession of screen writing instruction.

Experts estimate that while top scripts sold for $60,000 just a few years ago, they can now fetch upward of $600,000. “The joke is that if you’re in the film business, your pool man, barber and taxi driver will all have a script to show you,� said Kirgo. “It’s become the glamour industry of Los Angeles and New York.�

Some say that all a screenwriter needs to write a successful screenplay is a very good idea, a piece of paper and a pen. But the way Field figures it, that may be the exception. Even a novice can quickly spend a total of about $1,000 to attend some basic screen writing classes, have a completed script typed by a professional and have a dozen copies made for distribution.

“Everyone wants to be in film,� said Field, whose company, Screenwriters Inc., will also critique screenplays for $295. “We have a generation of young people who have grown up watching TV and going to the movies. So their tendency isn’t to write books, but to write for TV and films.�

Certainly, this is the tendency of Dan Petrie Jr., who not only wrote “Beverly Hills Cop� but also “The Big Easy,� and co-wrote the screenplays “Turner & Hooch� and “Shoot to Kill.� And while Petrie figures that he has spent up to $10,000 for computer hardware and software, he doesn’t think that most screenwriters need to go overboard on equipment and courses.

“I’d say, you can probably spend less and get more,� Petrie said. “If I was going to spend $1,000 for a screen writing class, I’d like to know that the guy teaching it is Neil Simon.�

Jeff Gordon isn’t Neil Simon. But the 27-year-old graduate of USC Film School recently started a company called Writer’s Boot Camp that offers 10-session courses for $900. “The price reflects the quality of the course,� said Gordon, who insists that writers who complete the course will have extensively developed their plot lines and their main characters. At the other end of the price spectrum are screen writing courses--which include nine class sessions for $185--offered through UCLA Extension.

Once screen writing hopefuls have learned the technique--and come up with a plot--the next decision is whether to type the screenplay on a typewriter or a computer. And no matter what decision that screenwriters make, plenty of companies stand to profit from them.

One Santa Monica company, for example, can take a script that’s been typed on paper, run it through a special machine that scans the words and records the script on a computer disk. “It’s kind of like reverse printing,� said Jay Brown, operations director at On Word Inc.

On Word charges about $85 to place a typed script on computer disk. More than a year ago, the screenplay to the film “Batman� was brought into the company. “It went through here before anyone even knew about it,� said Brown. “I remember thinking it was pretty weird that there was a Batman movie without Robin in it.�

Then, there are specialists who simply type screenplays into the proper format. Costs vary from $100 to $350.

They say there’s no telling where the screenplays will come from.

Barbara’s Place, one of the better-known Los Angeles-area screenplay typing specialists, recently received a script from the North Pole. “I thought it was a joke until the check cleared� said Susan Johannesson, owner of the company. Barbara’s Place typed one of the final versions of the film “Out of Africa� several years ago. “Anyone can type up their own scripts,� said Johannesson, “but when we do it, the screenplay looks professional.�

At the same time, there are companies that will do research of any kind for screenwriters--for a price. The Silver Lake company, Legworks, charges about $40 an hour to help screenwriters get the facts straight.

Most of the work that the research company does is confidential, but the requests can vary wildly. For one writer, the company looked into the cost of leasing office space in the Empire State Building in 1933. But for a story that another writer was working on about teen-age runaways, the company’s co-founder Sandy Ferguson recently hung around a Los Angeles bus depot to observe runaways firsthand. “I learned real fast how to pick out a runaway,� she said.

But few Hollywood studios will pick up the tab for researchers. “It’s considered a luxury item,� said Ferguson. “Most screenwriters are forced to pay researchers out of their own pockets.�

Maybe it sounds a bit too Hollywood. But there is even a woman who says she specializes in helping screenwriters overcome writer’s block. This is what happens to some screenwriters when they get stuck in ruts and are unable to make progress in writing their scripts.

The woman is Rachel Ballon, a screenwriter and licensed psychotherapist who also teaches screenwriters how to deal with rejection. Ballon has sold several TV scripts and one movie script. Her Brentwood company, Rachel Ballon & Co., offers individual or group classes--from $35 to $95 per hour--about “how to survive� in the entertainment industry, said Ballon.

“You put two years of your life into writing a screenplay and it can be rejected in two minutes,� said Ballon. “Writers have to be taught how to go out and survive.�

Many screenwriters count too heavily on their scripts to sell, she said. “There are people who put their lives at stake on a single script,� she said. “I tell them that won’t work. They also have to love the process of writing.�

And some have rather unexpected problems. “I’ve talked with people who haven’t even written a word yet,� said Ballon, “and they’re already worrying about foreign distribution rights.�