Screenwriters or scenarists or scriptwriters are people in a film crew who write/create the screenplays from which films and television programs are made.
Most screenwriters start their careers writing on speculation. That means they write without being hired or paid for it. When such a script is sold, it is called a Spec script.
Many of them also work as "script doctors", attempting to change scripts to suit directors or studios; for instance, s...
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Screenwriters or scenarists or scriptwriters are people in a film crew who write/create the screenplays from which films and television programs are made.
Most screenwriters start their careers writing on speculation. That means they write without being hired or paid for it. When such a script is sold, it is called a Spec script.
Many of them also work as "script doctors", attempting to change scripts to suit directors or studios; for instance, studio management may have a complaint that the motivations of the characters are unclear or that the dialogue is weak.
Script-doctoring can be quite lucrative, especially for the better known writers. David Mamet and John Sayles, for instance, fund the movies they direct themselves, usually from their own screenplays, by writing and doctoring scripts for others. In fact, some writers make very profitable careers out of the script doctoring food chain, being the ninth or tenth writer to work on a piece; in many cases, working on projects that...
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