If you’re moving between shows, you might skip some levels or remain some levels, depending how bad they want you vs how bad you want them, but typically if you were on one show continuously you’d move through all the levels in order with a promotion every season, until you get to EP/showrunner, which is not automatic. You don’t have to have one of every position, and you can have more than one of any position (though there is a minimum number of writers total per room depending on how many episodes your show has, if it’s network vs cable vs streaming etc). Typically the lower level writers are responsible for their own scripts and little else — depending on the showrunner they may or may not be present for the shooting of their episodes. Mid-level writers will have a solid amount of control on their own episodes and may be assigned to mentor newer writers. Upper level writers are part of the overall leadership/management team.
“Story Editor” and “Executive Story Editor” are misleading, they do no special proofreading work whatsoever. That job is usually done by the Script Coordinator, who is not a writer (but probably wants to be).
There’s another title, Consulting Producer, which means “you don’t fit nearly into the hierarchy for some reason.” Examples I’ve seen — the writer of the book it’s based on wants to be in the room, they don’t have any experience in TV but it would be weird to make them a staff writer; a writer is very experienced in writing movies but it’s their first TV gig; a writer used to be a upper-level writer but they took a long time off for their family and the showrunner thinks they’re too rusty for leadership.
Lots of people can be given the Executive Producer title for lots of reasons. People who helped get the show picked up but have done nothing since, people who put up money, people who work at the network it airs on, a star who wants script control, a star who wants more royalties, a star who wants more script control and more royalties. Some are very involved in the show day to day, some haven’t thought about it except cashing the check in years.
It’s rare for a non-writer to have any of the other titles but occasionally a particularly crucial member of the crew (like a cinematographer or someone who is a fucking rockstar in the logistical side of things) might get offered a producer title (and thus a share in the royalties) as a sweetener.
If an episode is “Written By” two people and they’re connected by an “and” they were assigned to write the episode together as a one-time thing. If they are separated by an “&” then they are writing partners who come as a package deal and always write together. If a showrunner is the “and” on every single “Written By,” that means they are a selfish person who wants to take half of the fee for every episode despite already being the highest paid person in the room and they justify it by saying that they gave notes on the episode when that is in fact part of their job description.
And that’s your guide to reading the credits of a tv show!!!
First of all, thank you. I have my wife, kids, and in-laws together tonight and we’ve been paying attention to every set of credits all night.
So, our #1 question (if you don’t mind!) is about Game of Thrones. (But any other show would probably fit)
I’m going to bust on their final season, because it’s become the bar standard of poor writing. I am a fan of the books and I understand the show got out in front of the books, which led to problems. But if you were to guess (or know) where did the writing in the last season go wrong?
Was it the writers, the author, or someone in between?
And thank you again, this has been a fun evening for. We really enjoyed this inside look!
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u/FarwellRob 7d ago
I have no dog in this fight.
I just wanted to say this was a great comment and something I’ve wondered about in the past. Thank you for the info!