GlossaryProduction & revisions
Script doctor
Also: script fixer · punch-up
A script doctor is an experienced writer hired to fix specific problems in someone else's script, often close to production. They might sharpen jokes, tighten a sagging middle, or polish dialogue, and often go uncredited.
Studios bring in a script doctor when a project is close to shooting but something is not working. The job is surgery, not a rewrite from scratch: fix the problem, keep everything else.
Comedy punch-up, where a writer adds or sharpens jokes, is one of the most common kinds of script doctoring.