Screenwriter

How it is used

Also called a scriptwriter or simply a writer. In TV, writers work in a writers' room under a head writer or showrunner. A screenwriter pitches ideas, writes drafts and does rewrites; the credit is written by or screenplay by.

Example sentences

1. The screenwriter spent a year interviewing fishermen before writing the first draft.

2. Two screenwriters were brought in to rewrite the second half.

Common collocations

• award-winning screenwriter
• work as a screenwriter
• screenwriter and director
• staff writer

Related terms

• screenplayThe written plan of a film in a standard format, with scene headings, descriptions of action, character names and dialogue.
• scriptThe written text of a film, TV show or play, with the dialogue, the action and the scene descriptions that the cast and crew follow.
• showrunnerThe person in overall creative and day-to-day charge of a TV series, usually its head writer and an executive producer at the same time.
• directorThe person who leads the creative side of a film or TV episode, guiding the actors and the crew and deciding how each scene should look and feel.

More terms: Film Crew and Roles

• producer
• cast
• crew
• cinematographer
• lead role
• supporting role
• assistant director
• production designer
• film editor