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Film credits generator

A film credits generator takes the people who worked on a film and their roles and returns a credits list in the standard order: direction and writing first, then production, camera and lighting, sound and music, art and design, post-production and the cast. Add names, copy the list or download it as a text file. It runs in your browser: no account, and nothing you type is sent to a server.

Add the people, get the order

Explained

How film credits are ordered

What credit order is

Credit order is the sequence in which a film names the people who made it. End credits run department by department, from the people who shaped the film to the people who finished it, and within a department from the head of department to the rest of the team. The standard order this tool uses is Direction & writing, Production, Camera & lighting, Sound & music, Art & design, Post-production and Performance; the full list of roles under each is in the reference below.

How the generator orders a list

  1. Departments first. Every row is filed under its department, and the departments come in the standard order above.
  2. Presets in their listed order. Inside a department the preset roles keep the order of the reference list: Director before Assistant director, Cinematographer before Camera operator.
  3. Custom roles after the presets. A role you type yourself goes after the presets of the department you file it under; a role with no department closes the list.
  4. Names in the order entered. Rows that share a role merge into one block, with every name under it in the sequence you typed them; billing order is yours to decide.
  5. Cast first, or your own order. Cast first moves Performance to the top for an opening-credits style. Move any row by hand and the list switches to Custom order, which keeps exactly what you arranged.

Where real credits differ

Opening versus end credits. Opening credits are short and selective: they usually bill the principal cast before the crew and end on the director's card. A film without opening credits often starts its end credits with those same roles in reverse, director first, before the full cast and crew. Credits on Wikipedia describes both conventions.

Contracts and guilds. On a union production the placement and wording of some credits are fixed by agreement rather than taste. The Directors Guild of America accepts only Directed by for its members' credit; the Writers Guild of America decides who may be credited as Written by, Screenplay by or Story by, and how a source-material credit reads. See the DGA on director credits and the WGA Screen Credits Manual.

The possessory credit. A film by is a separate, negotiated credit, not part of the standard order: the DGA's agreements leave it to individual negotiation and do not grant it on a director's first feature unless the director brought the property. The generator has no slot for it; if you have one, it goes on its own card. DGA on creative rights and credits.

Running time. Credits count towards a film's running time. The Academy's rules treat a film as a short only when it runs 40 minutes or less including all credits, so on a short every extra card has a cost. Academy rules and eligibility.

Worked examples

A short film, as entered and as credited

As entered

A short film called Field Notes, typed in the order the names came to mind: cast first, the director third, a thank-you card in the middle and the colourist twice.

  1. Actor · Adaeze Nwosu, Tomás Herrera
  2. Editor · Priya Raman
  3. Director · Mara Okafor
  4. Composer · Jonas Lindqvist
  5. Cinematographer · Lena Fischer
  6. Special thanks · The Harbour Café, Douglas Film Society
  7. Writer · Mara Okafor, Sam Quayle
  8. Sound recordist · Ben Carter
  9. Producer · Sam Quayle
  10. Colour grade · Priya Raman

In standard order

Direction and writing lead, the two Priya Raman credits stay separate because they are different roles, the cast come after every crew department, and Special thanks belongs to no department so it closes the list.

Field Notes

Director

Mara Okafor

Writer

Mara Okafor

Sam Quayle

Producer

Sam Quayle

Cinematographer

Lena Fischer

Composer

Jonas Lindqvist

Sound recordist

Ben Carter

Editor

Priya Raman

Colour grade

Priya Raman

Actor

Adaeze Nwosu

Tomás Herrera

Special thanks

The Harbour Café

Douglas Film Society

The same list as text, as Copy and Download give it 
Field Notes

Director
Mara Okafor

Writer
Mara Okafor
Sam Quayle

Producer
Sam Quayle

Cinematographer
Lena Fischer

Composer
Jonas Lindqvist

Sound recordist
Ben Carter

Editor
Priya Raman

Colour grade
Priya Raman

Actor
Adaeze Nwosu
Tomás Herrera

Special thanks
The Harbour Café
Douglas Film Society
Reference

The standard order of film credits

  1. 1. Direction & writing

    1. Director
    2. Writer
    3. Screenwriter
    4. Showrunner
    5. Assistant director
    6. Script supervisor

    Custom roles filed under this department follow these presets, in the order entered.

  2. 2. Production

    1. Producer
    2. Executive producer
    3. Line producer
    4. Production manager
    5. Casting director
    6. Location manager
    7. Production assistant
    8. Runner

    Custom roles filed under this department follow these presets, in the order entered.

  3. 3. Camera & lighting

    1. Cinematographer
    2. Camera operator
    3. First assistant camera
    4. Second assistant camera
    5. Digital imaging technician
    6. Steadicam operator
    7. Drone operator
    8. Gaffer
    9. Key grip
    10. Still photographer

    Custom roles filed under this department follow these presets, in the order entered.

  4. 4. Sound & music

    1. Composer
    2. Sound designer
    3. Sound recordist
    4. Boom operator
    5. Re-recording mixer
    6. Foley artist
    7. Music supervisor

    Custom roles filed under this department follow these presets, in the order entered.

  5. 5. Art & design

    1. Production designer
    2. Art director
    3. Set decorator
    4. Costume designer
    5. Props master
    6. Makeup artist
    7. Hair stylist
    8. Storyboard artist

    Custom roles filed under this department follow these presets, in the order entered.

  6. 6. Post-production

    1. Editor
    2. Assistant editor
    3. Colorist
    4. VFX artist
    5. Animator
    6. Motion designer
    7. Title designer

    Custom roles filed under this department follow these presets, in the order entered.

  7. 7. Performance

    1. Actor
    2. Voice actor
    3. Background actor
    4. Stunt performer
    5. Stunt coordinator
    6. Intimacy coordinator
    7. Choreographer
    8. Dancer
    9. Narrator
    10. Presenter

    Custom roles filed under this department follow these presets, in the order entered.

  8. 8. Other roles

    Custom roles that belong to no department close the list, in the order entered.

Cast first keeps everything above and moves Performance to the top, so the order becomes Performance → Direction & writing → Production → Camera & lighting → Sound & music → Art & design → Post-production → Other roles.

Sources and assumptions

The conventions on this page come from the guilds' own credit rules, the Academy's eligibility rules and a general reference, linked here. The order itself is Vidreno's department order, the one the crew-credits role picker on a film page uses. The date below tells you how current the page is.

Last reviewed .

Questions

Film credits questions

What is the standard order of film credits?
End credits run department by department, from the people who shaped the film to the people who finished it: direction and writing, production, camera and lighting, sound and music, art and design, post-production, then the cast. Within a department the head of department comes first, then the rest of the team. The generator applies that order automatically, keeps names in the order you entered them and puts any custom role after the presets of its department.
Do the cast go before or after the crew in film credits?
Both are common, and it depends on where the credits sit. Opening credits usually bill the principal cast before the crew, with the director's card last. A film without opening credits often starts its end credits with those same roles in reverse, director first, and lists the full cast after the heads of department. The generator's standard order puts the cast last; switch to Cast first for the opening-credits style. Credits on Wikipedia
Where does the director's credit go?
At one end or the other. In opening credits the director's card is traditionally the last before the film starts; when the credits all come at the end, it is usually the first card. The form of words matters too: the Directors Guild of America accepts only "Directed by" for its members, and a possessory "A film by" credit is a separate credit, negotiated individually and not granted on a first feature unless the director brought the property. DGA on director credits
How long should the end credits of a short film be?
There is no standard length, but there is a hard limit worth knowing: the Academy counts credits in a short's running time, so a film must run forty minutes or less including all credits to qualify as a short. Credits therefore cost screen time. Keep them to what was agreed, list each role once with every name under it, and move thank-yous to a single card instead of one per person. Academy rules and eligibility
How do crew credits work on Vidreno?
A film page on Vidreno lists its crew credits: each person with their role, in the order the filmmaker arranged them, people who share a role grouped under it. The role picker offers the same department presets as this tool. Credit a collaborator who is on Vidreno and the credit links to their public filmmaker profile once they accept it; credit someone not on Vidreno yet and invite them to claim it. Publishing is free. Crew credits on the Films page
Can I move this list into a Vidreno film page?
Not in one step. The credits editor on a Vidreno film page takes names and roles one at a time, with the same role presets, the same forty-character limit on a custom role and move controls for the order, and it does not import a pasted list. A list made here is the checklist for filling it in: enter the rows in the order shown and the film page keeps that order.
Is anything I type here sent to a server?
No. The sorting and the text are produced in your browser; the page makes no request with your names and needs no account. The list is kept in your browser's local storage so it survives a reload on the same device, and the Clear button removes it. The example credits and the numbered order further down the page are rendered on the server by the same code, from fictional names.

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