The producer likes the second draft, but the financier thinks the middle sags and the director wants the ending set at sea. The screenwriter takes the notes home, cuts a subplot, merges two characters and moves the last scene to a ferry. Four weeks later the third draft goes out. The screenwriter is the person who writes the story the whole production will be built on.
What a screenwriter does
A screenwriter writes scripts for film and television. Some write their own original ideas and try to sell them. Others are hired by a producer to adapt a book, develop an idea or rewrite an existing script. Either way, the work usually starts in development, long before there is any money for the film.
The process runs in stages. A short outline or treatment describes the story in prose. Then come the drafts, each followed by notes from the producer, the script editor, the director and often the financiers. A film can go through many drafts before it is ready to shoot. During production the writer may still do small rewrites, for example when a location falls through or an actor is replaced.
Responsibilities
- Develop ideas into outlines, treatments and step outlines
- Write and rewrite drafts of the screenplay
- Work through notes from the producer, director and financiers
- Keep the story within the scale of the budget the producer has in mind
- Deliver scripts in the standard format, so they can be broken down and scheduled
- Do revisions in pre-production and during the shoot when needed
How the role touches the budget
The screenwriter does not manage money, but every page they write becomes a cost. A night scene, a car chase, a period setting or a crowd all add days and departments. The line producer breaks the script down into scenes, cast, locations and days, and that breakdown is the start of the budget. The writer's own fee sits above the line and is often paid in steps, per draft or per stage of development.
How people become screenwriters
There is no fixed route. Many writers start with short films, plays or spec scripts, which are scripts written without a commission to show what they can do. Others come from journalism, novels or comedy. In television, new writers often begin on long-running series or in a writers' room, and learn by writing episodes for someone else's show.
In TV and commercials
In television many writers work together in a writers' room under a showrunner, and each writer takes one or more episodes. On long-running series a storyliner plans the plots and writers turn them into scripts. In commercials the script usually comes from the advertising agency, where a copywriter and a creative team write it, not a screenwriter.