What is a Script Doctor?
A script doctor is a skilled screenwriter called in to rescue certain flaws in a script film project by rewriting parts of the screenplay to improve the structure of the story telling, dialogue, pacing and other elements with or without the original writer.
Script doctors are usually uncredited (though highly paid), so it is usually difficult to tell who has been involved. Writers who perform this type of work generally agree to keep their services confidential. A script doctor usually meets with the film's production team or the original writer to discuss specific problems, not to rewrite the entire film script or treatment. Certain scenes may not seem to fit the logical progression of a character, or the solution to a key plot line might sound too contrived to a test audience.?
Sometimes the original writer of a screenplay is not intimately familiar with the format of writing action for a visual medium. A script doctor may be hired to turn an unfilmable series of scenes into filmable ones. Because of this, many experienced script doctors must understand the needs of filmmakers while maintaining the original author's general story arc.
A script doctor may rewrite dialogue to earn a PG-13 rating or add scenes which will make the film seem more adult-oriented.
The use of script doctors was first revealed at the Academy Awards in 1973 when Francis Ford Coppola thanked Robert Towne for his work on The Godfather. Since then the use of script doctors has usually been downplayed to avoid overshadowing the work of the early writers in constructing the story. Under Writers Guild of America rules, a screenwriter must contribute 50 percent to the story and/or characterization in order to qualify for credit (and the extra money that means).
Script doctors are sometimes brought in after the screenplay has been "locked" (i.e., the scenes numbered and pages fixed); on his website, John August revealed that when asked to doctor a script he is sent a disc of the script by the last writer, so doctoring requires little physical retyping.
William Goldman is generally acknowledged to have worked as a script doctor. Actress and writer Carrie Fisher, best known as 'Princess Leia' in the Star Wars films, has also worked as a script doctor. Joss Whedon is another writer known to have done work as a script doctor.
