Home Screenwriter Resume template
Screenwriter resume template
A clean starting structure with example content grounded in what screenwriters actually do day to day, not generic filler. Download and replace the bracketed placeholders with your own details.
Which resume format should you use?
Reverse chronological
You have a steady work history. This is the format almost every recruiter and ATS expects by default.
Functional
You're changing fields or have gaps in your employment. Leads with skills rather than a job-by-job timeline.
Combination
You're early career or have worked consistently but for only a few employers. Blends a skills summary with a shorter chronological history.
This template uses the reverse chronological format: the one most screenwriters should default to, since most Australian recruiters and ATS software expect it.
Professional summary
Screenwriter with a strong background in developing original screenplays and adapting existing material for film, television and digital media. Skilled at crafting compelling characters, dialogue and plot, with experience collaborating with producers and directors to refine scripts for production. Comfortable working to tight deadlines and pitching projects to production companies.
Key skills
- Screenwriting for film, television and digital media
- Story and character development
- Dialogue writing and revision
- Script formatting and industry standards
- Research for authenticity
- Pitching and script coverage
- Collaboration with producers and directors
- Final Draft
- Celtx
- WriterDuet
- Microsoft Word
- Scrivener
- Time and deadline management
- Attention to detail
- Written communication
- Problem solving
Experience: example bullet points
- Developed and revised full-length screenplays for independent productions, delivering shooting scripts that required minimal rewrites during filming.
- Collaborated with directors and producers to refine dialogue and scene structure across multiple drafts, resulting in smoother table reads and clearer story arcs.
- Pitched original television concepts to production companies, securing development meetings and option agreements for two projects.
- Researched historical and technical subjects for screen projects, ensuring accuracy and authenticity in dialogue, props and setting.
- Adapted published short stories and news articles into screenplay format for film and television projects.
- Managed multiple writing assignments simultaneously, meeting all deadlines for draft delivery and revision.
Education
Typically a bachelor degree in screenwriting, creative writing, film or media, with many also completing postgraduate study or industry short courses.
Keywords an ATS is likely to scan for
Applicant tracking systems match your resume against terms in the job ad before a person ever sees it. Only include the ones that actually apply to your experience, but if a term below matches something you've done, use the same wording the job ad uses.
- Australian Writers' Guild
- Screen Australia
- script coverage
- development
- production company
- broadcast
- streaming
- Final Draft
- Celtx
- WriterDuet
- Scrivener
- screen production
- television
- film
- digital media
- Australian screen industry
Getting past ATS screening
- Match the specific skills, certifications and terms used in the job ad, not just your own wording for the same thing.
- Keep formatting simple: no tables, text boxes, columns, headers/footers or graphics. Parsers frequently drop content placed in these.
- Submit as .docx or PDF unless the job ad specifies otherwise.
- Use standard section headings (Experience, Education, Skills) rather than creative alternatives.
- List your core skills and technical competencies in their own section so a keyword scan can find them instantly.
This is a starting point, not a guarantee of interviews. Tailor every bullet point to your own real experience and the specific job ad.