And or &

Have you ever noticed in the credits for a movied that when there are multiple writers listed, sometimes the names are separated by an ampersand, sometimes by the word "and"? Sometimes, if there are several people listed, the credit may contain both the symbol and word.

It all boils down to whether the writers worked together on the script, or separately at different stages. If it's the ampersand, the writers collaborated. If it's the word, they did not work together.

Here's an excerpt from a standard independent production agreeement put out by the Writers Guild of Canada:

When the names of more than one individual appear in the credits or subsidiary writing credits for a production, the names of the members of a Team shall be separated by an ampersand ("&"). All other Writers' names shall be separated by the word "and". When Writers' names are separated by the word "and", the names of the Writers shall appear in the order in which they were engaged on the production.

The same convention is used by the Writers Guild of America.