Screenwriting Credits Explained: Story By vs. Screenplay By vs. Written By

You wrote the first draft. Another writer rebuilt the second act. The director changed the ending. A third writer did three weeks of dialogue work. Then the movie arrives, the lights go down, and the credit card says Screenplay by two names—one joined by an ampersand, the other by “and.”

That tiny card is doing more work than the car chase.

Here is the direct answer: “Story by” generally credits the writer or team responsible for the movie’s basic narrative; “Screenplay by” credits the writer or team responsible for the dramatic construction, scenes, characterization and dialogue; “Written by” combines story and screenplay credit when the same writer or team earns both. On projects covered by the Writers Guild of America, those phrases are not decorative synonyms. They are defined credits with a formal determination process.

And no, the words under your title on page one do not settle any of it.

Screenwriting credits at a glance

Those are useful translations, not substitutes for the actual rules. The current WGA Screen Credits Manual makes clear that credit decisions are case-specific and based on the literary material—not on who had the best meetings, the loudest advocate or the most famous name.

One more boundary matters: the WGA system governs work under Guild jurisdiction. If your microbudget feature, short or web series is not covered by a WGA agreement, credit may be controlled by your contracts instead. The label may look the same. The machinery behind it may not be.

“Story by” is not the consolation prize

Writers sometimes hear “Story by” and imagine someone tossing out a premise over lunch: “What if the haunted house was a timeshare?”

That is not the useful way to understand the credit.

Under the Guild’s definition, story work is distinct from screenplay work. It includes the basic narrative, ideas, theme, an outline of action and character development. In other words, it is not merely the spark. It is the architecture that tells us whose movie this is and what happens.

Imagine Lena writes a treatment about a burned-out paramedic who discovers that emergency calls from one apartment arrive exactly 24 hours before the disaster. She builds the protagonist, the rule, the major turns and the ending. Theo later writes the full script.

If the final movie retains Lena’s underlying narrative but Theo substantially creates the scene-by-scene screenplay, the credits could separate the work:

Story by Lena Ortiz · Screenplay by Theo Grant

The exact determination would depend on the actual material and the applicable process. But the distinction is the point: one credit recognizes the story foundation; the other recognizes the dramatic writing of the screenplay.

That is why a treatment can matter enormously. It is also why a one-line idea and a developed story are not interchangeable. If you are still turning the premise into a narrative engine, our guide to writing a screenplay treatment shows where that work becomes concrete.

“Screenplay by” means more than typing the dialogue

The screenplay side of the ledger includes dramatic construction, original scenes, characterization, character relationships and dialogue. The WGA manual’s story-versus-screenplay comparison is especially helpful here because it destroys the myth that the decision is a word-count contest.

A rewrite can change hundreds of lines without changing the movie very much. Another rewrite can alter six scenes and completely rebuild the protagonist’s choice, the central relationship and the ending.

The second writer did less typing. They may have done more screenwriting.

Return to our fictional paramedic thriller. Theo does not merely convert Lena’s treatment into screenplay format. He invents a silent neighbor who hears every call through the wall, turns the second act into a race between two incompatible rescue plans and makes the final emergency a choice between saving the victim and preserving the time loop.

Those are screenplay contributions because they live in dramatic construction, scenes, relationships and behavior. Formatting software did not make them. A title-page credit did not make them. The writing did.

“Written by” combines two jobs

“Written by” generally appears when the same writer or writing team is entitled to both story and screenplay credit.

If Lena developed the original story and wrote the screenplay that substantially became the finished movie, “Written by Lena Ortiz” is the compact version of “Story by Lena Ortiz” plus “Screenplay by Lena Ortiz.”

This is where adaptation can make the language less intuitive. A writer adapting a novel may perform extraordinary story and screenplay work, but the existence of source material changes which forms of credit are appropriate. The current Theatrical Credits Procedures Guide lists the allowable forms and notes that some combinations or unusual credits require Guild review or a waiver.

So do not reverse-engineer authorship from one card. “Screenplay by” is not a lesser artistic achievement than “Written by.” It often tells you that a source, story credit or another writer’s contribution sits elsewhere in the chain.

The tiny symbol that reveals a whole working relationship

The difference between an ampersand and the word “and” is wonderfully nerdy—and genuinely meaningful.

• Avery Cole & Morgan Shah means Cole and Shah worked as a writing team.
• Avery Cole and Morgan Shah means they worked separately, usually at different stages.
• Avery Cole & Morgan Shah and Jules Park means Cole and Shah were a team, while Park contributed separately.

The WGA procedures guide defines a team as writers assigned at about the same time who work together for approximately the same period on the same material. For credit purposes, that team is treated as one writer.

That punctuation is a miniature production history. The ampersand says “in the room together.” The word says “different passes.”

Your title page is a draft record, not the final verdict

New screenwriters often treat the title page like a deed to a house. Put “Written by Me” under the title and authorship has been settled forever.

On a professional project, the cover page and the final on-screen credit do different jobs.

The cover page helps identify the material, prior writers and current revisions. The WGA Credits Survival Guide tells writers not to remove earlier writers’ names from later drafts and stresses accurate “current revisions by” information. The final screen credit is determined later, from the relevant literary material and the final shooting script.

That separation protects everyone. A rewrite credit on a draft proves who delivered that version. It does not promise that the writer will receive final screen credit. A producer cannot guarantee a particular WGA credit in advance, either; the Guild says it has the authority to determine credits on projects under its jurisdiction.

Copyright is another separate lane. Registration can help establish when you created material, but it does not decide WGA credit or prove delivery to a company. If those systems are starting to blur together, read how to copyright a screenplay before you send the next draft.

How WGA screen credits are actually decided

The process begins much later than most writers expect.

After principal photography, a signatory company submits a Notice of Tentative Writing Credits to the Guild and participating writers, along with the final shooting script. The WGA Credits overview explains that the proposed credits can become final, trigger an automatic arbitration in specified situations or be protested by a participating writer before the deadline on the notice.

If arbitration is required, the Guild appoints a committee of three experienced member writers. They examine the submitted literary and source material. They are not voting on whose draft they liked best. They are assessing what each writer contributed to the final script under the manual’s standards.

The process is deliberately writer-to-writer. The arbiters remain anonymous. The material matters more than the mythology around how the film was made.

When arbitration becomes automatic

Some configurations receive automatic review. The current manual identifies examples including a production executive—such as a director or producer—being proposed for writing credit when other non-production-executive writers participated, three writers being proposed for certain shared credits, and proposed “Screen Story by” or “Adaptation by” credits.

That does not mean somebody has been accused of stealing credit. It means the situation receives mandatory scrutiny.

What the arbiters do not do

They do not award points for effort, sleeplessness, number of drafts or emotional damage.

They also do not simply run a textual diff. The manual explicitly notes that many dialogue changes may still be insufficient for screenplay credit, while a smaller number of highly significant changes may matter greatly. Contribution is judged dramatically, not mechanically.

This is the part every serious rewriter should pin above the desk: make the movie different, not merely the sentences. Our screenplay rewrite guide uses the same principle for craft. Diagnose the story system before polishing its wallpaper.

Why screenwriting credit matters beyond the opening card

Credit is reputation, employment history and leverage. It can also affect residuals and other rights. The WGA describes the accurate determination of credits as one of its most important services because a writer’s position in the industry is shaped by the screenplays and stories that bear their name.

That is why “But everybody knows I wrote it” is not a strategy.

A produced credit can influence the next assignment, representation conversations and how a writer is discovered. It becomes part of the career evidence behind the income ranges discussed in how much screenwriters make. The work may be collaborative and messy; the final attribution still has concrete consequences.

The Guild’s current manual also provides Additional Literary Material credit for participating theatrical writers who rendered covered writing services but do not receive one of the main writing credits. That recognition is not the same as “Screenplay by,” but it makes previously invisible work visible in the end credits.

Seven ways to protect your contribution before anyone argues about it

You cannot control every rewrite. You can control the quality of your paper trail.

1. Check whether the company is actually a WGA signatory

Do this before assuming Guild rules protect the project. The Credits Survival Guide warns writers to verify signatory status rather than relying on a promise that a company will become signatory later.

2. Read the contract, not the optimism in the room

For non-Guild projects, spell out credit, approval and dispute terms. For Guild work, understand that the company still cannot privately promise a final credit outside the Guild process. When stakes are real, use your representative, the Guild or a qualified entertainment attorney.

3. Keep every submitted draft

Preserve the file, date, delivery email and recipient. The Guild can consider literary material delivered to the company or its authorized representative; a forgotten draft sitting only on your laptop may become a ghost when you need it most.

4. Label revisions accurately

Do not erase the previous writers from a professional draft’s history. Follow the project’s required cover-page format and identify your current revisions. Accurate attribution now prevents chaos later.

5. Save treatments, outlines and story documents

Credit can turn on the difference between story and screenplay contributions. If the treatment contains the protagonist, narrative shape and ending that survive into the film, that document is not a warm-up exercise. It is evidence of story work.

6. Read the final shooting script before protesting

Your favorite scene may have vanished. A small idea may have become the spine of the movie. The final script—not your memory of the development process—is the place to begin.

7. Treat the deadline like a closing door

The Notice of Tentative Writing Credits includes a response deadline. Keep your contact information current with the company, the Guild and your representative, then act promptly if something is wrong. The WGA Credits Survival Guide is the practical starting point; the manual controls the formal process.

What changes for television credits?

Television has its own vocabulary and procedures. “Teleplay by” covers the scenes, dialogue and dramatic construction of a television script, while “Written by” can combine television story and teleplay credit when the same writer or team qualifies for both. Series-level credits such as “Created by” follow additional rules.

Do not casually paste theatrical assumptions onto an episode. The WGA Television Credits Manual is a separate document for a reason.

If you are still developing the sample rather than producing the series, start with how to write a TV pilot. A strong pilot makes a repeatable series promise; a credit manual tells you how covered professional contributions are eventually attributed. Those are different moments in the life of the script.

First make the screenplay worth fighting for

Credits matter. So does the less glamorous stage that comes first: making the story work.

Before a screenplay enters production, arbitration or a beautifully awkward conversation involving three agents, it has to survive the read. Is the central choice visible? Does the second act escalate? Did the rewrite change the movie or just sand the dialogue?

AI Script Coverage Pro can give you a structured first read while the draft is still yours to change. Creating an account includes one welcome credit, which you can use for one free Quick Analysis. Use it to find the story problem before another writer has to inherit it.

Then save the report, save the draft, save the delivery email—and learn to respect the ampersand.