Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are writers who practise the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media such as films, television programs, comics or video games are based.

Screenwriting is a freelance profession. No education is required to become a professional screenwriter but good storytelling abilities are required. Screenwriters are not hired employees, they are contracted freelancers. Most, if not all, screenwriters start their careers writing on speculation (spec), meaning they write without being hired or paid for it. When such a script is sold, it is called a spec script. What separates a professional screenwriter from an amateur screenwriter is that professional screenwriters are usually represented by a talent agency. Also, professional screenwriters do not work for free often, an amateur will often work for free and are considered writers "in training". Spec scripts are usually penned by unknown professional screenwriters and amateur screenwriters. There are a legion of would-be screenwriters who attempt to enter the film industry but it often takes years of trial-and-error, failure, and gritty persistence to achieve success.

A writer is a person who produces literature or nonfiction, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, essays, articles, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images.

A writer's output sometimes contributes to the cultural content of a society, and a society may value his or her work as art.

Broadly, a writer is anyone who writes, especially one who writes professionally. The term writer is customarily used as a synonym of author, although the latter term has a somewhat broader meaning.

Chris Terrio is an American film director and writer based in New York City. After joining the film festival circuit, his short film Book of Kings was shown on IFC in 2004.

Terrio's first feature-length film, Heights (Sony Pictures Classics, 2005), premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. It follows a pivotal twenty-four hours in the interconnected lives of five New Yorkers. It stars Glenn Close, Elizabeth Banks, James Marsden and Jesse Bradford, and features Isabella Rossellini, George Segal and Rufus Wainwright in small roles. It was one of the final films produced by the late Ismail Merchant.

In 2010, he directed "I Look Like Frankenstein," Episode 8 in Season 3 of Damages on FX.

Terrio wrote the screenplay for Argo a film directed by Ben Affleck, which is due for release by Warner Brothers in the fall of 2012.

He has been hired to write an adaptation of "A Murder Foretold," an article by David Grann which appeared in The New Yorker, as well as the American remake of Tell No One, a French film by Guillaume Canet based on the novel by Harlan Coben.

Aaron Sorkin (born June 9, 1961) is an Academy and Emmy award winning American screenwriter, producer, and playwright, whose works include A Few Good Men, The American President, The West Wing, Sports Night, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Charlie Wilson's War, The Social Network, and Moneyball.

After graduating from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Musical Theatre in 1983, Sorkin spent much of the 1980s in New York as a struggling, sporadically employed actor. He found his passion in writing plays, and quickly established himself as a promising young playwright. His stage play A Few Good Men caught the attention of Hollywood producer David Brown, who bought the film rights before the play even premiered.

Dean Craig (born October 25, 1974) is an English screenwriter and film director. In addition to his film work, Craig is also known for writing the BBC television series Off The Hook. He was educated at the independent Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School.

Florence of Arabia(2013) A Few Best Men(2012) Death At A Funeral(2010) Off The Hook(2009) Death At A Funeral(2007) Caffeine(2006) Lift(2004) Dirty Little Secrets(2003)