Screen Credits

Writing credits matter. 

It can help get you into the WGA (Writer’s Guild of America)or WGC (Writer’s Guild of Canada), it affects residuals, and the more produced credits you get, the better it looks on your resume. But there is a slight complication with writing credits. There are a few different kinds and they all mean different things, so here’s a quick “screenwriting credits 101” to explain the differences:

Story By 

A common misconception of "Story by" is that it refers to the person who came up with the idea. What it actually means is that anyone who worked on a treatment or any other story outline is entitled to credit for the story.

You may also get this credit if you're hired to do a page one rewrite that gets you sole ”Screenplay by" credit, despite the initial writer having written a complete script.

The first writer on an original screenplay is entitled to a shared "Story by" credit. That bylaw is called the "Irreducible Story Minimum."

Screenplay By 

This credit goes to writers who physically wrote drafts or scenes that are included in the final version of the movie. "Screenplay by" can only be shared by three people or three teams of people. 

Written By 

This is used when writers are entitled to both "Screenplay by" and "Story by" credit. This does not apply to adaptations or any screenplay with source material; but that does not count newspapers, articles, or biographies.

As a rule "Written by" is not shared by more than two writers. 

Screen Story by

If a writer gave some ideas and allowed other people to use those ideas as a jumping-off point for the actual screenplay, then they are entitled to "screen story by" credit.

But... that only comes via arbitration. If that writer and their springboard idea were from a publication, they may receive credit as follows "Based on an X PROPERTY BY", an example of this would be 'Based on an article by So and So.'

The ampersand (&) vs. "and"

If the word "and" is found in between the names of two or three different screenwriters, that credit identifies the two or three different writers attached to the project during separate drafts. The ampersand "&" is used between the names of a writing team. 

More insight from
Screenwriting Guru, John August:

John August's blog addressed the subject of credit with the following post: 

“Scripts” and “screenplays” are interchangeable when it comes to feature films, but television scripts are always called scripts. (Except when they’re called teleplays, which is only in certain on-screen credits.) 

“Story” is more or less what it sounds like: the plot, the characters, the settings and tone. It differs from a script or screenplay only in that the dialogue often isn’t written out, and the overall action may be somewhat compressed. A writer might be credited with the “story” for a movie, but not the “screenplay,” if he wrote a treatment but not the final script. 

Usually, if one writer handles both “story” and “screenplay,” he/she receives a more general “written by” credit.