What is a Screenplay for?

This may seem like an obvious question, especially if you are already somewhat familiar with how movies are made. A screenplay is the written “story” created in the early “development” phase of a film project. It’s the document that is used to get producers, directors, actors and financiers onboard so the movie can be greenlit.

Once the movie is financed, the film moves from development to the preproduction phase, and now the script becomes a map or guide for the crew as to how the movie should be made. At this point, the director and other key creatives, such as the production designer and cinematographer, will have a hand in crafting the movie and some changes will most likely be made to the script. The writer will typically get to do at least one rewrite on the project and may even stay on through the entire production of the film to make last minute changes to the script.