Film Term of the Week: Screenwriter

Screenwriter

1. A screenwriter or scriptwriter or scenario writer is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media such as films, television programs, comics or video games are based.

Every screenplay and teleplay begins with an idea, and screenwriters use those ideas to write scripts, with the intention of selling them and having them produced. The majority of the time, a film project gets initiated by a screenwriter and because they initiated the project, the writing assignment exclusively becomes his or hers. These are referred to as “exclusive” assignments or “pitched” assignments. Screenwriters who often pitch new projects, whether original or an adaptation, often do not have to worry about competing for assignments and are often more successful.

Source: Ldsfilm, Wikipedia