What Does a Script Coordinator Do?

First, let me tell you what they’re not; a Script Supervisor. Despite how often that mistake is made, by everyone from your experienced Line Producer to your Aunt Deb (who watches “all the Dick Wolf Chicago programs”), Script Coordinator and Script Supervisor are completely different jobs (despite budgetary attempts to merge them, Writers Assistant VS Script Coordinator are also different jobs). A Script Supervisor, or “Supe”’, is in charge of ‘supervising’ how the script is shot, for lack of a better summary; they oversee continuity in both dialogue and picture. That job is, of course, incredibly more detailed, but we’ll save that for the “What is a Script Supervisor?”* article (tentatively scheduled for Spring 2026 or sooner if this post gets 1000 likes on IG).

A SCRIPT COORDINATOR, however, is an equally complicated job without an equally catchy nickname like “Supe”. The Script Coordinator, or “Scorty”– nope. Not a thing, I tried. Okay, moving on.

The “Script Coordinator”, or SC (standing for neither the University of South Carolina OR Southern California), is in charge of formatting, proofreading, and ultimately distributing the script amongst the crew.

Like everything, it starts with the writer.

Let’s say the writer in this exercise writes a script for a TV show. They then somehow get it to their SC, either by emailing, handing over a flash drive, or, in the most anarchistic of practices, tossing a handwritten script on a legal pad (it happens; some geniuses can’t be bothered to take an elementary computer class).

Now, if the SC is smart, after it starts with the writer? They start with Scriptation.

Why compare scripts manually when Scriptation can do that for you?

Scriptation’s game changing Script Compare feature allows the SC to instantly generate a report that tells them what text has changed from the previous draft; a quick way to see you need to tell Locations to stop scouting for a barbershop or give any relevant head’s up to Department Heads.

The Script Coordinator then runs that script through their process, in as little time as possible. You could say an hour plus for an experienced Script Coordinator on a new draft, half hour for page revisions, maybe two hours for a writers’ draft on a legal pad because a genius couldn’t be bothered to take an elementary computer class.

It all varies based on how experienced the Script Coordinator is and how many distractions they have – whether it be from the sound of the bullpen around them, home problems if they’re working from home, the writer coming in with more changes, or production calling every five minutes to ask “When will the script be ready?”

That always makes it go faster, Production people calling. Calling, or texting, or walking up to our desks. Again.

Anyway, we mentioned the Script Coordinator process. What is that, exactly? That is, as a bridge inspector might say while standing on the edge of what once was a bridge, ‘the work’.

Now, every specific SC is going to have their own specific workflow. It’s like how a pitcher warms up in the bullpen; the same job is getting done, but it can look different to any observer.

So, for the safest, ‘Hey, I clicked on this story to see what an SC does’ reasons, here are the basics:

First thing’s first, if they’re smart, they save their Final Draft file as a new file (yes, it could be Movie Magic, or some rando script software, but like calling tissue paper ‘Kleenex’, Final Draft will be the term here). If they were to lose their work file for any reason, whether by Act of God or act of old production computer, they have something to safely refer back to.

Writers are messy. Their job is to get the script out. The words, they spell wrong. The punctuation, they forget. The turns of phrase, they use incorrectly. This causes a SC to humbly ask their boss, in much nicer terms, “Hey, did you mean to blow this?”

Dating myself (in the fun ‘Hey, remember when?’ way, not the multiverse-style Loki/Sylvie way), I used to love printing out a hard copy, getting my best pen, and read-read-reading that proof script. Some, they like to do so in Final Draft (Kleenex!) on their screens, and now with Scriptation and iPads, things are a lot easier on the eyes – and environment.

If the writing team is all using Scriptation Live Layers, the SC can simply circle, highlight, or even leave a voice memo of these questions for the writer to review in real time. This eliminates the need for the SC to actually find the writer on a set miles from the Production office.

Understandably, a good proofreader can’t get all the typos all the time, but they can make sure Jon Snow never says “Winter is Coning.”

Pay close attention in this section, because every script is like a house; if built incorrectly, people will die. Well, maybe that’s not a one-to-one, but every script has its own specific rules for how it presents its elements. Everything from bolding slug lines (easy, Writer Twitter, we’re just saying some scripts do it), to spaces at the end of a sentence (one, unless you want the reader to know you were born before 1990) to what you call each part of the set (Is it the living room, or the family room? Which one has the TV in it?). The Script Coordinator goes through each script with a fine-toothed pencil (Apple or traditional) to make sure all of the elements are consistent with what the Showrunner and production have come to expect.

Basically, an SC has to know what their show’s script is supposed to look like, then make it look the same way every time. Then make it look the same way every time. Then make it look the same way every time. Again. And Again.

And Again.

This is why early episodes of a show can take longer for the Script Coordinator to work through, since someone (usually the Showrunner) has to decide how they want certain things to look in the script while they’re off, you know, show running.

Part proofing, part formatting, this is where the specific SC needs to be aware of how their show is written. Do the characters have their names correctly formatted (Buddy JR VS Junior)? Is the same exact joke used on page 3 and page 30 (and it’s not meant to be a callback)? Does the script cut from night one to day three, but the whole episode takes place during Thanksgiving dinner? Did someone write “Ext. Submarine”, and is that supposed to be underwater? Does your show even have a submarine, bro (and it’s not meant to be a callback)?

This part of script coordinating is asking questions of the script, and getting the right answers from the writer of the episode. A great SC will find answers to these questions and present the writer with solutions. An OK SC will point to the page and say “Wrong! Now what?” And a terrible Script Coordinator… will miss the issue entirely.

The SC is truly the first line of defense when it comes to not just script, but show continuity. Did we say what Uncle Dan’s middle name was in Season 1? Who’s allergic to peanut butter? How old are the twins? These questions can be tracked on a macro level in the Show/Character Bible (see below), and tracked micro using Scriptation to highlight important character and series information in its own Layer of notes.

You could call this Layer “Facts”, “Bible Info”, or “Continuity (Taylor’s Version)”, whatever helps you track the information– which you can then share with the Art Department (who might have to make a birth certificate for the lawyer scene), Props (who might need to get a ‘8’ balloon for the twins 8th birthday scene) or the Script Supervisor (who always need continuity facts!), among others.

The battle tested, tired-eyed SC finishes getting the script right and ready for the world with both words and whys, then they get to send it out as a PDF to anywhere from two to two hundred people. So don’t forget to attach the file. Always make sure you attach the file. They can also upload the script to their studio-specific file sharing system that is super-easy to use and almost never has any glitches. Ever (some experienced SCs’ eyes are rolling so far back into their heads it could cause time travel).

Also, no one ever says the script the SC sent was the wrong one, or that they ‘didn’t get it’. Never happened.

Then, the Script Coordinator can rest (after, of course, they file everything in its right, neat, easy-to-find-if-you’re-not-the-SC place, confirm the script file was received by at least one necessary recipient, and send the Revision file to the necessary writers for the next round).

Until there’s a new revision. Then they start the same process all over again–

Yes, the Script Coordinator position is an old school apprenticeship without the old school promise of promotion. It is a necessary position, vital to any TV Production, and a good SC can save their show time and money while providing the writers with an invaluable asset.

So maybe the question should be… what doesn’t a Script Coordinator do?

Other questions that come up in job interviews and thoughtful assistant-run Q&A’s:

Sometimes. On ½ hours or any show where you rewrite as a group, the Script Coordinator is usually the one piloting the script as the Showrunner (or whichever writer is running the room) dictates what changes they’re going to make.

On hour-longs, since the scripts take so much longer to process, the Script Coordinator usually spends most of their time in their ‘cave’. That’s whatever (hopefully) quiet place they have to do the job – an office ideally, a bullpen cubicle most likely, and on a lap top in the middle of a busy set in the most chaotic timeline.

Yes. But a postal worker can pitch ideas to the President, too, but that doesn’t mean they’re in the cabinet. Every show is different, and every writers’ room has its own ecosystem (a future post covering this will drop if this post gets 1000 likes on Threads).

The most helpful pitching an SC can do are ones that solve problems they find in the script. Inconsistencies with continuity, lines of dialogue that repeat previous thoughts, or jokes that may have been used in other episodes, those are all understood to be areas the SC is trying to help with, not showboat their writing skills.

But again, it’s different on every show. As always, the best advice when starting in a new writers’ room is to listen first, and go from there.

Drama scripts are longer (50-60 pages) than comedy ones (26-30 pages). Or, if your ‘comedy’ is full of cathartic healing and therapy speak, and less full of actual jokes, we can just say ‘hour long’ VS ‘½ hour long” to determine the page difference.

It takes less time to proofread a ½ hour script, but there are more dialogue changes as jokes get revised from draft to draft. With hour-longs, less big changes happen, traditionally, after the first few production meetings (as well as less rewriting as a group in the writers’ room).

Hours for a multi-cam are traditionally worse; when you film on Friday, and you have a rehearsal Thursday, there are only so many hours for the work to be done. That said, there are also many a single cam Script Coordinator who’ve had cots next to their desks.

The production is different, as a multi-cam is like shooting a play, and dialogue can be individually numbered to help with shooting. A single cam is a script, in the traditional sense, in that it doesn’t really say how it’s going to be shot.

There are some formatting differences between the two as well, with a multi-cam script looking quite different from a single cam one – spacing, what’s capitalized, etc.

A seasoned multi-cam SC can add dialogue numbers for the Script Supervisor on a single cam, otherwise the Supe is out of luck in that regard… unless Scriptation were to add a dialogue numbering feature in a future app update…🤔😎 (stay tuned).

You have to catch a Script Coordinator, and then they will grant you a wish to let them go. If you wish for their job, they will train you on the ways of the writers’ room.

But seriously… it’s a very difficult job to learn. Shadowing the current Script Coordinator while you work on a show as a Writers Assistant, PA, or Showrunner’s Producers Assistant is the most ‘traditional’ way people get the job.

The WGA West also runs the excellent Writers’ Access Support Staff Training program, which you can read more about here.

IATSE 871 is now offering training options as well! The Union only covers West Coast SCs as of now, but look for that to change as demand increases.

That depends. If you want a challenge that has the potential reward of staffing, with the more likely reality of only having a (mostly) thankless job that any production can’t go without, all while your work is on display for all to see every time you hit “Send”… then yes.

And we wish you the best of luck.