Quoting TheMadMartian:

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Quoting Corne:

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Quoting Ace_of_Sevens:

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How does written for the television not equal written for the screen?

I thought the same thing as well.

As did I.  I have always entered 'Written for the Scren by' as Screenwriter.  I don't know why I would treat this any different.

Agreed, I would also go with Screenwriter as the credit.

Interestingly enough, "Written for Television By" is not a recognized credit by the WGA (east or west).

See here where it says if it's not listed, it' not legit.

The problem with "Written for the Screen by" and "Written for Television by", is that they don't tell you, in and of themselves, what the person did.

If the person had written an original screenplay for a film, in truth they should get a "Writer" credit.  If they had written a screenplay based on a story written by someone else, they should get a "Screenwriter" credit.  So just "Written for the Screen by" really does not tell you which credit they should get.

This same logic would apply to "Written for Television by".  I'd have to see the full writing credits to make a determination.

Quoting TheMadMartian:

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The way I see it, a screenwriter is a person that writes for the screen.

Yes they write for the screen, however, they are not the only people who do so. 

"A "Story By" credit is someone who may very well have "written for the screen", they just did not write the screenplay.

A Writer also "writes for the screen", however, we do not credit them as a screenwriter.

A screenwriter is someone who writes a screenplay.  A subtle but significant difference from "writing for the screen".

I suspect that the "confusion" created by a "Written for the Screen by" or "Written for Television by" credit is exactly why they are not sanctioned by the WGA.