Script doctor

A script doctor is a writer or playwright hired by a film, television, or theatre production company to rewrite an existing script or improve specific aspects of it, including structure, characterization, dialogue, pacing, themes, and other elements.^[1] They are usually brought in for scripts that have been almost "green-lit"^[2] during the development and pre-production phases of a film to address specific issues with the script, as identified by the financiers, production team, and cast.^[3]

Script doctors generally do their work uncredited for a variety of commercial and artistic reasons.^[1]^[4]^[5]^[6] For instance, to receive credit under the Writers Guild of America screenwriting credit system requires a second screenwriter to contribute more than 50 percent of an original screenplay or 33 percent of an adaptation.^[3] As script doctors generally do not contribute enough to a screenplay to qualify to the guild, production companies are not compelled to provide them with credit. Some script doctors will also work uncredited due to artistic reasons, including not wanting to be associated with projects which fail despite their intervention.^[3]

^ ^a ^b Jones, Sarah (2004). Film. North Mankato: Smart Apple Media. pp. 14–15. ISBN 158340256X.
^ Appleton, Dina; Yankelevits, Daniel (2010). Hollywood Dealmaking: Negotiating Talent Agreements for Film, TV and New Media (2 ed.). New York: Allworth Press. p. 303. ISBN 978-1581156713. A writer hired to 'spruce up' or 'fix' a script, usually by inserting jokes or otherwise adding some 'juice'. These highly paid writers are often hired by studios for brief periods of employment, most often to work on scripts that are very close to being 'green-lit'.
^ ^a ^b ^c Abramowitz, Rachel (October 27, 2002). "To the rescue?". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
^ Hyman, Paula E.; Moore, Deborah Dash, eds. (1998). Jewish Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia. New York: Routledge. p. 444. ISBN 0415919363. Currently [Fisher] works in that great uncredited Hollywood profession of script doctor—or, as Fisher calls it, script nurse.
^ Hurd, Mary G. (2007). Women Directors and Their Films. Westport: Praeger Publishers. p. 150. ISBN 978-0275985783. She [Elaine May] then became a script doctor, one of a small group of writers who are paid handsome fees by studios to do uncredited work on a script.
^ "What is a Script Doctor? | No Film School". nofilmschool.com. Retrieved 2025-01-19.

[Jones-1] Jones, Sarah (2004). Film. North Mankato: Smart Apple Media. pp. 14–15. ISBN 158340256X.

[2] Appleton, Dina; Yankelevits, Daniel (2010). Hollywood Dealmaking: Negotiating Talent Agreements for Film, TV and New Media (2 ed.). New York: Allworth Press. p. 303. ISBN 978-1581156713. A writer hired to 'spruce up' or 'fix' a script, usually by inserting jokes or otherwise adding some 'juice'. These highly paid writers are often hired by studios for brief periods of employment, most often to work on scripts that are very close to being 'green-lit'.

[Abramowitz-3] Abramowitz, Rachel (October 27, 2002). "To the rescue?". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 17, 2012.

[4] Hyman, Paula E.; Moore, Deborah Dash, eds. (1998). Jewish Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia. New York: Routledge. p. 444. ISBN 0415919363. Currently [Fisher] works in that great uncredited Hollywood profession of script doctor—or, as Fisher calls it, script nurse.

[Hurd-5] Hurd, Mary G. (2007). Women Directors and Their Films. Westport: Praeger Publishers. p. 150. ISBN 978-0275985783. She [Elaine May] then became a script doctor, one of a small group of writers who are paid handsome fees by studios to do uncredited work on a script.

[6] "What is a Script Doctor? | No Film School". nofilmschool.com. Retrieved 2025-01-19.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

Script doctor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · View on Wikipedia