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Credit system for motion pictures and TV programs in the US

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) credit system for motion pictures and television programs covers all works under the jurisdiction of the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW). The WGA, originally the Screen Writers Guild, has since 1941 been the final arbiter of who receives credit for writing a theatrical, television or new media motion picture written under its jurisdiction. The system has rules on how writers should be billed during the credits. A variety of credit forms can be given to indicate technicalities such as whether a writer contributed to the original source material, the chronological order of contributors working on different drafts, or whether there were writing teams. Since its inception, writers must have contributed at least 33 percent of a final script to receive credit, and only a certain number of writers can receive credit. A determination process for screen credits first sees the production company submit proposed credits; about a third of these are challenged and taken to arbitration. This process asks all writing parties involved to provide evidence and supporting statements to help determine how much of the final product was each writer's work. However, several of the WGA's arbitration decisions have been criticized by WGA members, including how the process handles existing source material that is adapted to the screen, or whether writers of a particular draft should still receive full credit even after all their ideas were completely tossed out in the subsequent drafts.

Writing credits affect the career of writers, as well as their reputation and union membership. Writers trade on the reputation of their name; John Howard Lawson, the first president of the Screen Writers Guild (SWG; now the Writers Guild of America, WGA), said that "a writer's name is his most cherished possession. It is his creative personality, the symbol of the whole body of his ideas and experience." Not having their name on a film's credits will not only cost the writer residuals, but also hinder them from finding future work, depending on the film's success. A writer may also be given a bonus if their name is in the credits, as films often have many more contributing writers than the credits show. The credit system can affect eligibility for membership in the trade union, as one way in which a person becomes a member of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) is by accruing "points" based on the individual's writing credits. Membership points are also accrued through employment by, or sale or option to, a company signatory to the Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA), a deal struck between the WGA and a collection of studios and production companies every three years, in which the companies agree to certain minimum fees, residuals, and other benefits for WGA writers they contract. It is negotiated by a committee of the WGA.

The early industry had taken efforts to prevent writers from unionizing. Although the SWG was formed in 1933, it encountered resistance until May 1941, when it signed a deal with the studios that gave the Guild, among other rights, the final say on writing credits. The agreement was seen as weak, as it mostly covered the lowest paid writers, and credits were still unfairly given in the compulsory collaboration era when studios employed large numbers of independent writers on projects; at this point, the need for writers to have contributed 33 percent of the final script had been established, which left many out of credits on productions written by committee. The best paid writers, on the other hand, had always been respected and could often elect to work alone because of their status.

All writers on a project have the right to know who else has written on that project. Under the MBA a production is required to tell all new writers who has preceded them; a writer may conversely ask the production for the names of those who contributed after them. Writers also bear responsibilities to make sure they are informed, and to inform other writers on the same project that they are working for it; they must also file their contract with the appropriate Guild within a week of receiving it. Any participant writer, even deceased, has the right to be involved in the credit determination process (this may be through a representative, such as an agent). Materials used for research are not credited, but source material as defined by the WGA receives credits. The appropriate credit to use for source material is anything indicative of the nature and relationship of the source material and the final script, with the WGA providing the examples "From a Play by, From a Novel by, Based upon a Story by, From a series of articles by, Based upon a [teleplay/Screenplay] by". Once a writer has received both the notice of tentative credits and the final script, they can either agree with the production's tentative credits, in which case they do nothing, they can discuss the credits with the other writers through the Writers Guild, or they can challenge the tentative credits within a certain time period. If a participant writer disagrees with the credits, but there are other participants and it is seen that an agreement may be reached between them, the Screen/Television Credits Administrator must make a best attempt to arrange discussion between all writers before arbitration is sought. For the purpose of credits (and to discourage later disputes), one of the writers must openly question the designation of their contributions being part of a team at the time the work is submitted to the Writers Guild if they wish to be credited in another way. A team is credited with an ampersand (&) separating their names. No more than two writers can share a screenplay credit except in cases of arbitration. For the purposes of arbitration, to be awarded a screenplay credit, the writer must have contributed more than 33 percent of the final screenplay. In the case of an original screenplay, The WGA acknowledges the difficulty in determining such percentages. The television equivalent of the screenplay by credit is "Teleplay by", and it is used in the same way.

The MBA describes story as "distinct from [screenplay/teleplay] and consisting of basic narrative, idea, theme or outline indicating character development and action". A "Story by" credit is used when the writer was hired (as a WGA member) to write for story, when the story idea was purchased from the writer by a WGA signatory company, or when the resultant script is based on a sequel story devised by the writer under the WGA's jurisdiction. Writers entitled to created by credits will have developed a significant part of the format, story, and teleplay, and also get sequel rights to the material. A "Special Material by" credit can be given to writers on some forms of television shows, when they have contributed written material that does not qualify for other credits; there are no limits to how many people may receive this credit.

In credits, names are usually ordered by who did the most work. If the order is disagreed upon and the arbitration finds that all writers contributed equally, the names will be ordered chronologically. A pseudonym may be used if the writer is to be paid less than (for film) or less than three times the applicable minimum in their MBA (for television), if the pseudonymous name is deemed reasonable,efn|The WGA provides that "a pseudonym may not duplicate the name or pseudonym of another writer or the name of a public figure." A writer cannot withdraw from credit after arbitration. Withdrawing from credit also includes losing rights to and compensation from the material; using a pseudonym does not remove these rights.

If there is no agreement on writing credits, the Writers Guild's Screen Credits Administrator (for film) or Television Credits Administrator (for television) will begin arbitration proceedings. Three members of the Writers Guild are selected as arbiters, as long as they have no interest in the decision; for film, the members must have either been a member for five years or have three screen credits, and for television, they must have been a member for at least one year and have at least three writing credits. At least two of the selected members must have been on at least two arbitration committees before and, where possible, members who are familiar with the type of writing involved will be chosen. The identity of arbiters is kept anonymous to everyone, including the other arbiters, except the Screen/Television Credits Committee. Also, before selecting the three members, the Screen/Television Arbiters List of all eligible members will be sent to all participant writers, who can preclude from selection a reasonable number of names on it; the selection will be made from the remaining names without question. The WGA makes further notes, saying that "where appropriate", the final writer will only have the shooting script submitted as representative of their work. The Writers Guild also advises all writers to submit a written statement to the arbitration committee, outlining their stance and detailing their claim to credit in line with Writers Guild policy; the statement cannot include anything irrelevant to the case, reference to compensation, letters of support from other people, or information on the development that will not help the arbiters in their purely analytical review. efn|The WGA provides an example of non useful development information: "the fact that a project was greenlit after a certain draft is irrelevant in determining credits". The confirmation of decision in writing only comes after a final decision has been agreed; the written decision includes a summary of the individual's reasoning. In situations where there is doubt over the authenticity of the submitted written material, a hearing may be held before arbitration, where the writers each provide testimony and evidence as to the authorship, sequence, and legitimacy of the material. Cutting continuities and as broadcast scripts do not receive a writing credit. The Policy Review Board may annul an arbitration decision, but only if policy regarding decision making has been broken; if they find this, the arbiters may be asked to reconsider, or a new arbitration committee selected. Should the screenplay be rewritten after the final credits decision has been made, arbitration may be reopened within 48 hours of the final changes. WGA members have criticized how the process handles existing material, such as a book that is adapted to film. New York Times reporter Michele Willens suggests that the first writer to work on such a project will write the most cinematic elements of the story, but other teams that subsequently work on the script may base their work on the original text, rather than the first draft.

Frank Pierson, former WGAW president (and former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences), said that "the large majority of credits are still straightforward and uncontested [but] when they go wrong, they go horribly wrong." Writer director Phil Alden Robinson has said that "no one can trust the writing credit. Nobody knows who really wrote the film." From 1993 to 1997, there were 415 arbitrations, about a third of all films with credits submitted. When Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was adapted for the screen, Alex Cox and Tod Davies wrote the initial adaptation. When Terry Gilliam was brought in to direct it, he rewrote it with Tony Grisoni. The WGA initially denied Gilliam and Grisoni any credit even though Gilliam claimed that nothing of the original adaptation remained in the final film: "As a director, I was automatically deemed a 'production executive' by the Guild and, by definition, discriminated against. But for Tony to go without any credit would be really unfair." Instead, Mamet received credit under a pseudonym. After the controversy over credits for Wag the Dog, Mamet decided to attach his name only to movies on which he is the sole writer. Variety's Michael Fleming wrote that "Clooney took a languishing 17 year old project and got a greenlight after personally giving the script a major overhaul that transformed it into a screwball comedy", with Clooney asserting that he wrote almost the entire script, but only Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly, who came up with the original concept, were credited.