Claim: Pirates of the Caribbean is a film series.

Ted Elliott -LRB- born July 4 , 1961 -RRB- is an American screenwriter . Along with his writing partner Terry Rossio , Elliott has written some of the most successful American films of the past 30 years , including Aladdin , Shrek and the Pirates of the Caribbean series . In 2004 , he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Writers Guild of America ; his term on the board ended in 2006 . Along with fellow former board member Craig Mazin , Elliott runs artfulwriter.com , a website aimed at professional screenwriters . He and Rossio are also co-founders of Wordplay .   In 2005 , Elliott ran for president of the Writers Guild of America , west , but lost to animation writer and historical figurine maker Patric Verrone . Verrone received 1301 votes ; Elliott received 591 .