Screenwriting : Rewrites of your script after you've sold it. Be prepared. by Phil Parker

Let's not pick on the on set writer or the slaves in the writer's room; eh? If the check don't bounce, who cares about 'credits' (how many 'credits' does it take to pay the rent?).

Yep.

1) Actor can’t say the line.

2) completely different cast than you imagined

3) locations

4) production costs

5) they want a message made more prominent.

6) director wants a particular scene that makes a different scene redundant.

You are part of the filmmaking process.

These are just ones I have encountered.

Doug Nelson hmm I would suggestion short term versus long term focus. Different depending where you are in life.

You can’t always be in front of people. Sometimes you have to let the credits do the talking.

Residuals are nice - but remember that they decline over the years (mine won't even keep me in beer anymore).

It is to the advantage of subsequent writers to change as much as possible...In order to get credit on a movie, a writer must have changed at least 50% of an original screenplay.

It didn't occur to me a writer would make changes just so they can change a certain amount.

If it is a WGA production the WGA sets the credits. I’ll do rewrites for cash alone. There is massive amount of work done for no credit. Carrie Fisher was a legendary rewrite for hire writer.

The point is that the only rules that can be enforced are by WGA signatories. Everything else is by agreement. Just because a writer does a shit load of work on a rewrite does not guarantee a credit. The only thing that guarantees a credit is what is negotiated, hopefully before the job is done.

The statement that a writer would be a huge rewrite to get credit gives the impression that it is an industry practice. Hence my comment about Carrie Fisher. She worked on probably 100 films uncredited as a writer.

Writers should not assume things. It must be supported by an agreement.

There are a lot of dreams and fantasies floating around out there today. Years back, the going rate for a syndicated tv half hour script was $2.5K with another $2.5k for a rewrite & polish. A season consisted of 13 episodes so full time hard working writers could make $32.5K a year with residuals starting at 15% and declining over the years. (Gas was about $0.40 per gallon.)

So if you are the person who wrote that spec screenplay would it still be possible to be mentioned as one of the writers?:( Not trying to be "famous", just curious.. :)

Victor: As Craig pointed out, it all comes down to the agreement you negotiate/sign. If it's a WGA contract, there's a sliding scale of percentages that determine which credit you end up with. If enough of it's re-written, you could end up with nothing except the initial price they paid you for it. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Victor Titimas I offer a few options during an option.

1) I’ll do three rewrites in the price. Sole credit

2) I’ll do nothing, they can rewrite it as much as they like. I retain “story by”

3) I’ll consult on rewrites or do it “paid” and get a “written by Craig D Griffiths and xxxxx”