A screenplay is what feature length movies are acted and filmed from. Screenplays are often shortened in reference, and called scripts. A script is used in every form of acted and filmed output that comes from the entertainment industry. Scripts are used in feature films, made for television movies, weekly television dramas, and situation comedies.

The study of screenwriting has become extremely popular, more popular than the study of film direction most likely, though certainly still less popular than the study of acting. Some universities now have entire programs dedicated completely to screenwriting. In fact, many if not most southern California universities have a screenwriting program (southern California being the de facto capital of the American entertainment industry).

The more well known of the university screenwriting programs, typically at the southern California schools, are overflow with applicants. It's an on-the-ground indication of how popular the screenwriting form has become. What is it that one learns by attending a university screenwriting program? How to write a screenplay that will be seen favorably by the entertainment industry, presumably. Acceptance into a prestigious screenwriting program is not a guarantee of a successful screenwriting career; it is, however, a guarantee of networking access, and proper connections are extremely important in the entertainment industry.

One does not need to attend a university screenwriting program to have a screenwriting career. Rules of screenwriting exist, screenwriting methods exist. but these rules and methods don't need to be learned at a university. Any number of established screenwriters did not attend a university screenwriting program.

Screenwriting has probably, if not certainly, surpassed the novel as the preferred writing form for aspiring fiction writers. There are any number of reasons for this, and the assumption that the entertainment industry is especially glamorous is probably one of them. But the screenplay is also typically much shorter than the novel is, and is possibly seen as a potentially easier goal as a result.

Screenwriters can earn considerable amounts of money -- millions of dollars -- but big salary screenwriters are rare. Screenwriters are also often treated dismissively by entertainment industry decision makers, and are typically given little to no final authority. Screenwriting is not generally a form for those seeking control or notoriety. This reality is frustrating for some screenwriters, and a number of them have produced works over the years documenting what they perceive as disrespectful treatment.

Television writers tend to be received better than feature film writers are within the entertainment industry. Perhaps the time deadlines inherent to television mean the television writer is less likely to be disregarded: their immediate work is needed. But while television work may be more ego rewarding, though less prestigious, than feature film work for the writer, screenwriting as a whole is far behind novel writing and playwriting in terms of writer control and recognition.