Story editor is a job title in
motion picture
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
and
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
production, also sometimes called "supervising producer". In
live action
Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
, a story editor is a member of the
screenwriting
Screenwriting or scriptwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is often a freelance profession.
Screenwriters are responsible for researching the story, devel ...
staff who edits scripts, pitches stories, and reports to the
producers
Producer or producers may refer to:
Occupations
*Producer (agriculture), a farm operator
*A stakeholder of economic production
*Film producer, supervises the making of films
**Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...
above them. In
animation
Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
, the story editor is the
head writer
A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera genre, as well as with sketch comedies and talk shows that feature monologues and comedy skits. In fictional comedy o ...
and serves as a lead creative on a series, often doubling as a
showrunner
A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...
or co-showrunner themselves.
Live Action
The story editor has many responsibilities, including finding new script/breakdown writers, developing stories with writers, and ensuring that scripts are suitable for production. The story editor will work closely with the writer on each draft of their story and script, giving the writer feedback on the quality of their work, suggesting improvements that can be made while also ensuring that practical issues, like continuity and correct running time, are adhered to. When a script is past due, multiple people may write an act. Many primetime series have an executive story editor and a story editor.
Marc Abrams of the TV series ''
The Bernie Mac Show
''The Bernie Mac Show'' (often shortened to ''Bernie Mac'' in syndication) is an American sitcom television series created by Larry Wilmore, that aired on Fox for five seasons from November 14, 2001 to April 14, 2006. The series featured Bernie ...
'' said, "As you go from show to show you learn that each has its own temperature and its own etiquette. You recognize your role on that particular show. Certain show runners encourage the lower-level writers to pitch ideas, others don't. Some want ideas well thought out before they are presented, others like to hear the kernel of an idea that could be expanded."
Animation
In animation, the Story Editor is not a lower-level writer, but rather the
head writer
A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera genre, as well as with sketch comedies and talk shows that feature monologues and comedy skits. In fictional comedy o ...
of the series who oversees the writers' room, working directly with the
showrunner
A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...
or serving as a showrunner themselves. Their role involves brainstorming ideas, determining the direction of the show, directing the writing staff in breaking episodes and season arcs, and doing rewrites for the finished scripts. They collaborate with the
executive producers
Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...
and department heads to achieve a shared vision for the series.
Notable story editors
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Mara Brock Akil
Mara Brock Akil (born Mara Dionne Brock; May 27, 1970) is an American screenwriter and television producer. She created the UPN comedy series '' Girlfriends'' (2000–2008) and its spin-off '' The Game'' (2006–2015). She later created the firs ...
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Josh Berman
Joshua Berman is an American writer and producer for television. He was an executive producer on the TV show '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' and consulting producer on ''Bones''.
Career
Josh Berman was born in 1972. Berman's writing care ...
*
Kay Cannon
Kay Cannon (born August 22, 1974) is an American screenwriter, producer, director, and actress. She is best known for writing and producing the ''Pitch Perfect'' film series (2012–2017). She made her directorial debut with the comedy film '' ...
*
T. Rafael Cimino
T is the twentieth letter of the Latin alphabet. (For the same letterform in the Cyrillic and Greek alphabets, see Te (Cyrillic), Te and Tau respectively).
T may also refer to:
Codes and units
* T, Tera- as in one trillion
* T, the symbol for ...
*
Firan Chisolm
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Bobak Esfarjani
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D. C. Fontana
Dorothy Catherine Fontana (March 25, 1939 – December 2, 2019) was an American television script writer and story editor, best known for her work on the original '' Star Trek'' franchise and several Western television series.
After a shor ...
*
Ashley Gable
Ashley Gable is an American screenwriter and producer who has worked on a variety of well-known television series including '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and '' Person of Interest''. She was an executive producer on the CBS crime drama ''The Ment ...
*
Donald Glover
Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American entertainer, writer, director, and producer. After working in Derrick Comedy while studying at New York University, Glove ...
*
Dee Johnson
Dee Johnson is an American television producer and writer. She has worked on the series ''ER (TV series), ER'', ''Melrose Place'', ''Commander in Chief (TV series), Commander in Chief'', ''Southland (TV series), Southland'', ''The Good Wife''
an ...
*
Mindy Kaling
Vera Mindy Chokalingam (born June 24, 1979),Additional archive on June 25, 2015. known professionally as Mindy Kaling (), is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter and producer. She first gained recognition starring as Kelly Kapoor in the N ...
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Angela Kang
Angela Kang (born March 23, 1976) is an American television writer known for serving as showrunner on the AMC horror drama series '' The Walking Dead'' for the final three seasons.
Early life
Kang was born and raised in Irvine, California, the ...
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Andrew Lipsitz
Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is frequently shortened to "Andy" or "Drew". The word is derived ...
*
Arika Mittman
is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. It was formed in 1995 by former Capcom employees, originally as ARMtech K.K, later named Arika. The name of the company is the reverse of the name of the company's founder, Akira Nishitani, w ...
*
Chelsea Peretti
Chelsea Vanessa Peretti (born February 20, 1978) is an American comedian, actress, television writer, singer, and songwriter. She is best known for portraying Gina Linetti in the comedy series '' Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' and writing for '' Parks and ...
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Luvh Rakhe
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William James Royce
William James Royce is an American playwright/director, screenwriter, and novelist.
Career
Television
William Royce began his television career writing for the NBC television series '' In the Heat of the Night'', starring Emmy Award winn ...
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Paul Rust
Paul Robert Rust (born April 12, 1981) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He starred in the 2009 film '' I Love You, Beth Cooper'' and in the Netflix series ''Love''.
Early life
Rust was born in Le Mars, Iowa, the son of Jeanne and Bob ...
*
Caitlin Saunders
Caitlin () is a female given name of Irish origin. Historically, the Irish name Caitlín was anglicized as Cathleen or Kathleen. In the 1970s, however, non-Irish speakers began pronouncing the name according to English spelling rules as , which ...
*
Robert van Scoyk
*
Eli Talbert
Eli most commonly refers to:
* Eli (name), a given name, nickname and surname
* Eli (biblical figure)
Eli or ELI may also refer to:
Film
* ''Eli'' (2015 film), a Tamil film
* ''Eli'' (2019 film), an American horror film
Music
* ''Eli'' (Jan ...
See also
*
Script editor
A script editor is a member of the production team of scripted television and radio programmes, usually dramas and comedies. The script editor has many responsibilities including finding new script writers, developing storyline and series ideas wi ...
*
Television crew
Television crew positions are derived from those of film crew, but with several differences.
Pre-production
: Work before shooting begins is called the pre-production stage. The crew in this stage include the casting director, costume desig ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Story Editor
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Television terminology