Knowing how to format a phone call in a screenplay trips up a surprising number of writers, even experienced ones. The good news: there are only a handful of situations you'll encounter, each with a clean, industry-standard solution. Get the format right and readers focus on your scene; get it wrong and they focus on the page.

The short answer is this: if you want to show both sides of the call, use INTERCUT WITH after you establish the second location. If only one character is on screen, write the scene normally and put the other voice in parenthetical or action. If you're writing a stylized split-screen, label it as such. Everything else is a variation on those three approaches.

The One-Sided Phone Call

This is the simplest case. One character is visible on screen; the other is heard but never seen. Write the scene heading and action for the character you're watching, then handle the other voice one of two ways.

Option one: give the unseen character a dialogue block with the name followed by (V.O.) — meaning voice over, coming through a device. This is the most common approach and the one most readers expect.

INT. MAYA'S KITCHEN - NIGHT

Maya stares at her phone like it owes her money.

                        DEREK (V.O.)
                  Pick up. I know you're there.

                        MAYA
                  I'm not here.

Option two: leave the other side of the call entirely to the reader's imagination by writing the scene as if Derek never speaks at all. You can hint at the conversation through Maya's reactions. This works well when the unseen caller's words don't matter as much as their effect on your protagonist.

The Intercut Phone Call

When you need to cut between two locations during a single phone conversation, INTERCUT is your friend. Establish the first location with a scene heading, establish the second location with its own scene heading, and then drop in the INTERCUT instruction. After that, you write dialogue freely without repeating scene headings for every exchange.

INT. MAYA'S KITCHEN - NIGHT

Maya paces the length of the room.

                        MAYA
                  You have to come home.

INT. HOTEL LOBBY - NIGHT

Derek stands at the front desk, back to the room.

                        DEREK
                  I can't. Not yet.

INTERCUT WITH:

                        MAYA
                  Give me one reason.

                        DEREK
                  I'll give you twelve.

Some writers write INTERCUT BETWEEN: and list both locations. Either phrasing is acceptable. The key is clarity. Once you open an intercut, it continues until you write END INTERCUT or start a new scene heading that definitively moves the story somewhere else.

When to End an Intercut

Writers often forget to close an intercut cleanly. If one character hangs up and the scene continues in a single location, write END INTERCUT and then a fresh scene heading. If the conversation ends and you're cutting away entirely, a new scene heading is enough — readers understand the intercut is over. When in doubt, be explicit. A confused reader is a disengaged reader.

The Split-Screen Call

Split-screen is a specific visual device, not just a synonym for intercut. Use it when you're writing something that will literally divide the frame — common in thriller openings, comedy sequences, or stylized dramas. Label it clearly in action:

SPLIT SCREEN:

LEFT: Maya in her kitchen.
RIGHT: Derek in the hotel lobby.

Then write dialogue normally. End with END SPLIT SCREEN when appropriate. Because split-screen is a directorial and editorial decision, some writers prefer to leave it out of the spec script entirely and just use INTERCUT. Unless the split-screen is thematically important to your story, INTERCUT is usually the safer choice in a spec.

Texting, Voicemail, and Video Calls

Modern scripts have to account for a lot more than a simple phone receiver pressed to an ear. Here's how to handle the most common variations:

  • Text messages on screen: Describe them in action lines. "Her phone buzzes. A text from Derek: 'Don't wait up.'" If texts appear as on-screen graphics, some writers use a title-card style treatment, but clean action prose is always acceptable.
  • Voicemail: Treat it like a one-sided call. The character on screen reacts; the outgoing voice gets a (V.O.) dialogue block. Label the speaker something like DEREK'S VOICEMAIL (V.O.) if you want to be precise.
  • Video calls (FaceTime, Zoom, etc.): Use INTERCUT if you need both faces. In the action, describe what the characters see on their screens. If you want to signal that the image quality is degraded or lagged, put that in action lines rather than formatting the dialogue differently.

For a deeper dive into scene heading conventions that anchor all of these formats, the guide on what INT and EXT mean in a screenplay is worth a read before you finalize your sluglines.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

A few errors come up repeatedly in coverage notes:

  • Using (O.S.) instead of (V.O.) for phone calls. (O.S.) means off-screen — physically present in the same location but not visible. A voice coming through a phone is (V.O.). The distinction matters to sound designers and directors.
  • Reopening scene headings mid-intercut. Once you've set up the intercut, trust it. Writing INT. MAYA'S KITCHEN again in the middle of your intercut kills momentum and confuses the flow.
  • Forgetting that phone calls are scenes, not formatting puzzles. The goal is always dramatic clarity. If a character's body language matters, describe it. If the silence between lines is the point, write it into action. Format serves story, not the other way around.
  • Overusing the intercut. A long phone call that cuts back and forth twenty times may be better staged as a scene with both characters in the same room. Ask yourself whether the physical separation is actually doing work for the story.

If you're in the middle of drafting and keep second-guessing your own formatting choices, Better Draft offers real margin notes as you write — a working editor's eye on the actual page, not a template that guesses at what you meant.

A Quick Reference Summary

  1. One side visible, one heard: Use (V.O.) on the unseen character's dialogue block.
  2. Cutting between two locations: Establish both with scene headings, then write INTERCUT WITH: and continue dialogue freely.
  3. Visual split-screen effect: Write SPLIT SCREEN: in action, describe each side, end with END SPLIT SCREEN.
  4. Texts: Describe in action prose.
  5. Voicemail: Treat as one-sided call with (V.O.).
  6. Video calls: INTERCUT works; describe the screen quality in action if it matters.

Phone calls are one of the trickier formatting moments in a script because they sit at the intersection of visual storytelling and audio-only convention. Once you've internalized the three core patterns, the variations take care of themselves. If you're working toward a deadline, the 90-day screenplay plan has a useful framework for keeping formatting questions from becoming a reason to stop writing.

If you want a professional set of eyes on your full script — not just the phone call scenes — Better Draft's plans start at $16 a month, with a free tier to get you started. You write the script; the tools help you write a better one.

FAQ

Do I use (V.O.) or (O.S.) for a character speaking on the phone?

Use (V.O.) for a character whose voice is coming through a device like a phone, speaker, or radio. (O.S.) is reserved for someone who is physically present in the scene location but temporarily out of frame. A caller in another city is always (V.O.).

How do I format a phone call if I only want to hear one side of it?

Simply don't write dialogue for the other person. Write the scene from the visible character's point of view and use action lines to suggest what the other caller might be saying — "She listens, her expression hardening" — or leave it entirely implied. This technique can be more dramatic than spelling out both sides.

Is INTERCUT the same as writing two separate scenes?

No. An intercut tells the reader — and eventually the editor — that these two locations are happening simultaneously and should be cut together. Separate scenes imply sequential action. Use INTERCUT when both ends of the conversation are happening at the same time, which is almost always the case in a real phone call.

Can I use INTERCUT for things other than phone calls?

Yes. INTERCUT is a general instruction for parallel action cut together. It's commonly used for car chases shown alongside a waiting character, countdowns cross-cut with preparation, or any sequence where two simultaneous events drive the tension together. Phone calls are just the most frequent use case.