The Schreiber Theory

Yesterday I read David Kipen's The Schreiber Theory, a screenwriter-centric counterpoint to the longstanding auteur theory -- that it's the director whose overriding vision shapes a film. Kipen rightly points out how, for the sake of film history, it's worthwhile to thematically consider writers' filmographies (although it's a nearly impossible task to retroactively undertake given how poorly records have been kept, leaving many writers uncredited or mis-credited), but I think he's mistaken in thinking the shift of star-power focus from producer to director in the '60s and '70s predicates that there will be a similar shift from focus on the director to the screenwriter now. If anything, with an increasing number of films being shot digitally and cheaply rather than on budget-constricted celluloid there's less call for films to be fully formed before shooting begins. The editor seems like a better slot to build a film theory around for the upcoming century.