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What belongs on a title page?

October 4, 2010 Formatting, QandA

questionmarkI have a spec script I would like to send to some producers. I have read conflicting information online as to what should be included. For those of us who don’t have an agent, definitely include an address and a phone number. But what about an email? And WGA registration information? A copyright notice?

I read that it looks amateurish to put WGA information on the title page. If not there, where would it go? Thanks!

— Mike
Fargo, ND

You never need to put WGA registration numbers on the title page (or anywhere else on the script). And while legally it could be helpful to include a copyright notice, no one ever does this.

Check through any of the .pdfs in the Library, and you’ll see that title pages are kept minimal: the name of the script, your name, based on (if any), and the date.1

If it’s truly a spec script — and you’re not sure who will ultimately be reading it — then add contact information in the bottom-left corner. To me, an email address is plenty, but add a phone number if you like.

I don’t see the point of including a street or postal address. Are you expecting guests or flowers?

There has traditionally been a bias against phone numbers outside LA’s traditional 213, 323 and 818 area codes. I think that’s fading as people hold onto cell phones and Google Voice numbers. But I’ll always harbor doubts about anyone with a Hotmail, AOL or RoadRunner address.

If you have an embarrassing email address, get something staid and boring at Gmail.

  1. It’s common practice to bump the dates on spec scripts up so that they don’t appear “old.” ↩

Related Posts

  1. Title page trouble with Final Draft .pdfs
  2. MPAA numbers
  3. More copyrights and changes

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