Introduction -- Definition. What is a screenplay? An intentional-historical formalist definition -- Defending the definition: intentionality, history, and artifact concepts -- Art status -- The historical narrative approach to identifying art: exegesis and defense -- From playwriting to screenwriting: the historical narrative -- Ontology. Objections and ontology: (I) is the screenplay an autonomous work of art? -- Instructions and artworks: musical scores, theatrical scripts, architectural plans, and screenplays -- Objections and ontology: (II) is the screenplay literature? -- Towards an ontology of the screenplay -- Appreciation. The appreciation of the screenplay as literature.