No One Writes The Screenplay
Boy, I’m getting better at provocative titles, huh?
When WGA arbiters sit down to figure out who deserves credit for the screenplay of a movie, they’re not giving credit for Writer A’s draft or Writer B’s draft.
They’re giving credit for the screenplay. What’s the screenplay? The MBA, Schedule A, Paragraph 1 states:
The term “screenplay” means the final script (as represented on screen) with individual scenes and full dialogue, together with such prior treatment, basic adaptation, continuity, scenario and dialogue as shall be used in and represent substantial contributions to the final script.
All of that’s important stuff, but right now the key phrase is “as represented on screen”.
Of course the arbiters are given individual drafts written by the various participating writers, but they are also given the most important draft of all—the shooting script. The shooting script, or final script, is essentially the last compiled draft that was used during production. In theory and typically in practice, no one has written this script. It’s the frankenscript culled together by the production. On projects with only one or two writers, its relationship to individually written drafts is often clear. On projects with ten writers, it’s a thing-unto-itself.
So if no one specifically sat down and authored the final script, then who can we say is its author?
That’s for the arbiters to decide. Screenplay credit is not given for the scripts we write. It’s not given for our efforts or for our time. It’s not given for our struggles. It’s not given for our role in getting the movie greenlit.
It’s only given for our contributions to the final script—the 120 pages no one actually wrote as such, but someone very certainly authored.
No. Actually, thanks to the last credit changes, which you voted for, proposal three that was approved said that credit shouldn’t be given to work that “any writer” would have done. So the shooting script doesn’t really matter. What matters is only “unique” contributions to screenplays.
Well, actually, “unique” contributions should be the only contributions allowed in any discussion of writing credit.
See this article for why.
Doesn’t prove your point or even help it. There is nothing to prevent someone from copyrighting a dull and unoriginal version of a standard story telling idea. In fact, that covers a awful lot of movies.
JF:
I think you’re confusing the technical definition of unique with the common usage of the word.
Craig,
My understanding, possibly incorrect, is that the author of an original screenplay will always get at least a story credit, even if the script gets rewritten into oblivion (which perhaps is why the author gets the re-write “separation of rights” rights even before rights are determined). Or is this where the weird crap hits the fan, and the author can lose the story credit and some other writer will get the “screenstory” credit if the story is indeed rewritten into oblivion. I think I’m more confused than enlightened after this article.
Slow day at work…
Trevor
Very useful comments - good to read
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Hey,
I just wrote a Screenplay for a writer that pitched his treatment and got a yes from a major director. He had to much on his plate, so I wrote it. We agreed that I would be getting co-writer credit, but the problem is I wrote it with my partner and he wrote the treatment with his partner. I can not see four people getting credit for writing the screenplay. Furthermore, I completly changed the treatment, but did use the basic premis and characters. I’m not in the WGA (actually hoping this job will get me in). So how can I protect my right of getting credit.