Also known as character name · character
The speaker’s name above a dialogue block, conventionally in uppercase — the label that tells the reader who is talking.
On the page
Character cue
MAYA
Consistency matters more than cleverness on the cue line. MAYA, Maya, and M. become three different "characters" in a breakdown and in any tool that groups dialogue by speaker. Pick the production name early and keep it stable even when the character uses nicknames in spoken lines on the page.
Extensions such as (V.O.) or (O.S.) attach to the cue when the voice is not on camera in the ordinary way. Put age, wardrobe, and first-impression detail in action on first appearance — not inside the cue — so the label stays a clean handle for the role across the whole draft file.
At a table read, the cue is how actors find their next hit. Contaminating it with jokes, alternate spellings, or temporary outline aliases makes cold reads stumble. If you need a placeholder name while outlining, normalize speaker labels before you share the draft with anyone who might strip or cast from it.
V.O. vs O.S.: voice-over or off-screen dialogue?
O.S. means a speaker is in the scene but outside the frame; V.O. covers narration and voices outside its physical space. See screenplay examples of both.
How to format dual dialogue in a screenplay
Format two characters speaking at once, create dual dialogue in Inkwell Plot or Final Draft, and decide when an interruption works better as stacked dialogue.
How to format a pre-lap in a screenplay
When the next scene's sound arrives before its picture, write it just above the scene it belongs to: a (PRE-LAP) cue for a line of dialogue, a PRE-LAP line in action for a sound.
How to format song lyrics in a screenplay
Set sung lines apart from speech — italics or all caps, one lyric line per line — and quote only the lyrics the scene actually needs.
No — put age and introduction in action the first time we meet them. The cue stays a stable name so production and the room can track the role without parsing parentheses.
V.O. marks narration or a voice not occurring as live on-camera speech in the scene. O.S. marks a character present in the scene world but not visible in the shot. Use them on the cue, not as random action notes.
Occasionally for a true unison line, yes. If they overlap with different words, dual dialogue is clearer. Avoid BOTH as a lazy substitute for writing each speaker's distinct line.
You can withhold identity in action, but keep one stable cue for the speaking role once they talk, or production tracking breaks. Mystery is for the audience, not for inconsistent labels in the file.
