If you're new and your getting rewritten then you probably sold a spec (congrats!), which means you're getting credit of some sort. Minimum story by. My partner and I have been rewritten more than once, we've been the guys rewriting way more than once, we had a movie where we were replaced - rewritten - rehired to rewrite the guy that rewrote us and we ended up getting sole credit. It's the wild west out here, that's just the deal. And frankly, all those rewrites are jobs. Less rewrites... less jobs. And no writer is out to screw over any other writer. That just doesn't happen. All you want to do is the best damn job you can. You fight to stay on a project that you sold, and you fight to be the one hired to rewrite someone else's project. And you and the studio know exactly what you're going in to do when your hired to rewrite something. It's not like they hire you to do a polish and you go in and start throwing characters and plot points out so you get on the bill. But at the end of the day it sucks to get replaced, and all you can do is hope the writer replacing you does a great job because there's a good chance your name will end up on it in some capacity.

Brendan, thanks for this, the voice of a working screenwriter, echoing the point I made in the OP: You're not out to screw the other writers, you're too focused on trying to write the best story you can. Your point about rewrites = gigs is apt. The reality is, it's going to happen. So as a possible re-writer, you're faced with this question: Do I pass on the gig out of some moral or aesthetic position in which case some OTHER writer will be hired, or do I take the gig because I want it and I believe I can do justice with the story. Honestly I'm not sure how many writers think much about this last consideration, they're just happy to land a gig. Thanks again, Brendan, for sharing your own experience in the trenches.

There are plenty of above-board, upstanding writers who come on to a project and have no intention of grabbing credit. They're just there to take the ball into the end zone and recognize that they're there to get this script made. The best of these guys are the ones who reach out to the previous writer, either as a goodwill gesture or just to get an understanding of what will make the best experience for all involved. And then there are the pricks who DO try to grab credit by changing everything they can, no matter how insignificant. If you have access to several drafts of a project and you notice that character names and scene locations seemed to have changed for an arbitrary reason, you can take it to the bank that you're reading the work of a recently-hired scribe trying to mark his territory. It definitely happens. Hell, in Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant's book WRITING MOVIES FOR FUN AND PROFIT, they flat out advocate this approach. Their justification is that when it's your script being rewritten, someone will do this to you, so you'd better get yours by doing it when you're presented with the opportunity.

I recently had a script that was creating a stir. I had several producers(mostly indie) wanting to read it. I brought a friend aboard whom had read and critiqued my script. I agreed to let him share writing credit. Well, six months later, he has completely rewritten my script(it's horrible now) and he refuses to talk to me about it, so the script is dead in the water. I cannot sell it nor rewrite it because I agreed to let him come on and share 50/50 credit. The last copy I saw that he had rewritten, he had moved my name down to 'story by credit' and given himself sole screenwriting credit. I'm tell you guys this...if you are going to cowrite or bring anyone on a project not already paid for...you better make sure you know/trust the person or get a contract. Lessons learned are a kick in the gut sometimes.

Wonderful, informative post Scott. Good to know that most people focus on writing the best story they can. It is crazy how A-listers get rewritten - I remember hearing that Aaron Sorkin was doing a rewrite on Steve Zaillian's script for "Moneyball" and thinking, "that must've been awkward." Once again, good stuff, and very insightful replies from the commenters. Thank you so much for addressing this!