[This article does a pretty good job of explaining it all](https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/where-credit-is-due-film-credits-order-hierarchy-with-free-film-credits-template/)
But, when it comes to the specific order of actors and people on the production staff, it either comes down to money, hierarchy in the studio or company they work for, or how much impact they had on the film itself.
[Look at this poster for Avengers, as an example](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/wy8AAOSwGMFcv5s2/s-l1600.jpg)
From left to right you have, essentially, the actors sorted by the amount they cost to put in the film, so of course RDJ is the most expensive, Tom Hiddleston was the least expensive of the main cast, and then, in a weird turn of phrase, you have ‘And Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury’.
If you ever see that, that’s there because the actor’s agent basically said to the producer “Oi, I know you want to put RDJ at the front, but put my actor in a place of prominence on the poster too!”, meaning that SLJ’s agent would have specifically written into the contract that his name be placed with some prominence.
Same goes for directors, producers and all the other people working on the film, if they have the muscle, their name goes closer to top billing.
Another example is in the producer list at the bottom. Although Jon Favreau is realistically the main guy behind the avengers and was the guy who made it all happen, Alan Fine was placed first because he was the president of Marvel at the time, and if anything added nothing but headaches to the production. That’s also why Kevin Feige, who is the President of Marvel Studios, is listed off separately as ‘produced by’.
Basically, there’s a default order all of these things follow, and then after that, all the dick wagging and money sorts out the list.
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