What does Written By mean?
Written By is the screenplay credit used when a single writer or writing team has written both the story and the screenplay — indicating complete authorship of the script as a unified creative work. ‘Written By’ is distinct from ‘Screenplay By’ (used when the script is adapted from source material) and from ‘Teleplay By’ / ‘Story By’ (used when story and script credits are separated). The ‘Written By’ credit represents the fullest expression of screenwriting authorship and is typically the most desirable credit for writers who have originated an idea and brought it through to a finished script.
Example:The opening credits of the original family film listed ‘Written By’ the screenwriter — indicating that she had conceived the original story and written the script without adapting existing source material, a credit that represented complete creative ownership of the project’s foundational text.
Example: The WGA credit arbitration determined that despite the producer’s insistence on extensive revisions, the original writer retained the ‘Written By’ credit — a recognition that the core story and characters remained substantially those the writer had created, regardless of how much the dialogue and plot details had evolved.
Did you know?
The distinction between ‘Written By,’ ‘Screenplay By,’ and ‘Story By’ credits reflects the WGA’s sophisticated approach to recognizing different types of creative contribution to a script’s development. A writer who adapts a novel receives a ‘Screenplay By’ credit because the story originated elsewhere; a writer who creates an original story and script receives ‘Written By.’ These distinctions matter not just for recognition but for residuals — different credit positions have different residual formulas, meaning the specific credit language on a project has direct financial implications for the writers involved.
You can also find “Written By” and related terms in this category: Roles and Titles.
