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While your logline and first 10 pages both play a major role in whether your screenplay will catch the attention of a reader, nothing makes a better first impression than a properly-formatted title page. You can start your screenwriting process with the screenplay title page as some software automatically does, or save it until your final draft.
Not sure how to make the perfect script title page first impression? Fear not! You’ve come to the right place. We’ll walk you through all the elements you should and should not include on your screenplay title page, according to experts in the film industry.
Just like the rest of your screenplay, ALL of the text on your script title page should be formatted in Courier, 12-point font. There's a very specific reason and history to why we use Courier in traditional screenplays. Margins should be set at:
Left Margin: 1.5”
Right Margin: 1.0”
Top and Bottom Margins: 1.0”
Front and Center on Your Screenplay Title Page:
- First thing’s first, the TITLE of your screenplay!
- The actual title should be written in ALL capital letters. This can also be bold or underlined, but no matter what, it must ALWAYS be capitalized style.
- The title should be centered horizontally on the page.
- The title should start about 1/4 to 1/3 down the page (approximately 20-22 line spaces below the 1” top margin).
- Next up, the BY-LINE.
- The by-line should fall about 2 line spaces down from your title line.
- The by-line can read something like: “by” or “written by.”
- Last, but certainly not least for this section: AUTHOR’S NAME(S).
Give yourself (and your team) the much-deserved credit for completing the screenplay here. If you're unsure how to assign credit, check out our guide on how screenwriting credits are determined in the US.
- If the screenplay was created by you, and you alone, just include your name.
- If the screenplay was created as a collaborative effort by you and a secondary writer or a writing team, separate writer names with an ampersand (&).
- If the screenplay was worked on independently by 2+ screenwriters, separate names
with the word “and.”
- ADDITIONAL CREDITS beneath the Author’s Name(s).
When applicable, you can also include additional credits beneath the Author’s Name(s). This would include story and adaptation credits.
- The additional credits should fall somewhere around 4 line spaces down from Author’s Name.
- The additional credits can read something like: “story by” or “based on the novel by”
- Include the original source’s author name 2 line spaces below.
Bottom Right Corner on Your Screenplay Title Page:
- Contact Details.
In the bottom-right corner of your title page (although we've also seen this in the bottom-left corner), the key elements to include are your (or if applicable, your agent's) contact info, your name (or your agent's name), and email address. It is optional to also include your mailing address and phone number, but not required.
- Single-Spaced!
This section of your title page should be single-spaced. Continue to use Courier, 12-point font.
A basic title page may look something like this example given in the Screenwriter's Bible, a textbook by David Trottier (below right).
Okay, now that we’ve covered what NEEDS to be included on your script cover page, let’s talk a bit about what we should not include.
What NOT to Include on a Screenplay Title Page?
Copyright notice or copyright office
Your Writers Guild of America or other writers union registration number
Draft dates
Draft/Revision numbers
Creativity (Sorry folks, let’s save the creativity for the story. It’s best to stick to the formatting guidelines and not mess with heading styles.)
Follow these basic do's and don'ts to avoid a bad script title page. Screenwriters have to pay attention to screenwriting format rules like these when writing a traditional screenplay, but SoCreate Screenwriting Software is going to change so many things about these traditional screenwriting basics. I hope you're on our private beta list to be the first to try SoCreate when we release it soon. If not, get on the private beta list here.
Now that you’ve got the tools, let’s get to it!
Cheers to screenwriting!
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