Story editor is a job title in
motion picture 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 advertising, ...
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 ...
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 advertising, ...
, a story editor is a member of the
screenwriting staff who edits scripts, pitches stories, and reports to the
producers above them. In
animation
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...
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 advertising, ...
, the story editor is the
head writer and serves as a lead creative on a series, often doubling as a
showrunner 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'' 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 of the series who oversees the writers' room, working directly with the
showrunner 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 ...
and department heads to achieve a shared vision for the series.
Notable story editors
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Mara Brock Akil
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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 ...
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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 '' ...
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T. Rafael Cimino
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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 short ...
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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 Menta ...
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Donald Glover
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Dee Johnson
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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, th ...
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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 derive ...
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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, wh ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Robert van Scoyk
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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
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Script editor
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Television crew
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Story Editor
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Television terminology