How credit arbitration works

John and Craig take an in-depth look at how screenwriting credits are determined. In some ways, credit arbitration is a luxury problem — the movie you wrote got made! — but it’s one of the most controversial, contentious and misunderstood parts of a screenwriter’s career. Ideally, you’re the first, last and only writer employed on a movie. For Go and The Nines, that was the case. In situations where more than one writer works on a movie, figuring out who deserves credit can become an ordeal. Most non-animated Hollywood features are written under a WGA contract. Part of that contract specifies that the WGA ultimately determines who receives screenplay and story credit (which collapses into “written by” credit if the same writer receives both). This week, we take a look at the rules, principles and guidelines, and offer advice for writers who find themselves facing a credit arbitration. Plus, a quick visit to CES. LINKS: Mat Honan’s sad-and-accurate portral of CES WGA’s screen credits manual Craig’s guide to writing an effective arbitration statement INTRO: CHiPs opening titles OUTRO: Stereophonics: You Sexy Thing You can download the episode here: AAC. UPDATE 1-18-12: The transcript of this episode can be found here. The post How credit arbitration works first appeared on John August.