Script formatting for stage or screen - your preference?

[Karim D. Ghantous]

This is a question for anyone, really, but especially those who act or direct for both stage plays and movies. The screen formatting standard for scripts is very well known. I find it easy to read and I think that if I was an actor, particularly on stage, I'd have a much easier time reading a script in the screen format. The key feature of the screen format is that the character names are centered, above the dialogue.

Some formatting standards for stage plays have the character names on the left, next to indented dialogue. It looks elegant but I don't like reading it, as my eye has to go from left to right, left to right. But when I'm reading a screenplay, in the 'Hollywood' standard format, my eye follows a more linear path down the page.

I'm just asking out of curiosity. I'm not a director or an actor, but I do aim to write for both stage and screen.