This list is in no particular order for all the screenwriters here are extraordinary in their own right. As you read through each of their bio’s made up by Variety, you’ll discover what it took each writer to do to get the ball rolling in their direction. After reading about these ten screenwriters, you should definitely feel that “if they’re doing it, I can do it” spirit. 120 great pages and belief in yourself is all you need. If nothing else, the following ten screenwriter’s are very inspiring.
Geoffrey Fletcher: “I thought that writing was not only a good way into the industry, but probably a good way to stay there.”
Emma Forrest: She wrote “Liars (A-E)” this spring in just three days following the breakup of her yearlong relationship with actor Colin Farrell. A couple of weeks later, the script was sold to Scott Rudin and Miramax.
David Leslie Johnson: David Leslie Johnson decided on a more old-fashioned path: He apprenticed with a master, then diligently developed his craft until the boss felt it was time to help him transition.
Ian Helfer and Jay Reiss: Reiss says, “Sometimes I would do a draft, sometimes he would. I hear of teams writing every line of dialogue together, one person over the other’s shoulder, but this wasn’t that. We were facing each other, blipping the information back and forth, discussing it, trying to work it out. While it took longer than writing something myself, you end up with more of a finished product, even by the end of the first draft.”
Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins: “Sarah and Emily create funny, smart, unself-consciously strong female characters,” says Portman. “When I read ‘Book Smart,’ it was as though the script we always talk about wanting to find for our company suddenly materialized.”
Phil Johnston: Phil Johnston worked for nine years as a regional TV news and weatherman in the northern Midwest. “I didn’t know a fucking thing about the weather,” he admits.
Mindy Kaling: “It comes from this impatience that I just wrote this and now I want to see it on its feet,” she says.
Liz Meriwether: “It kind of went like: I was working as a receptionist at a real estate investment management company, and then a week later I was in a golf cart, hiring a production designer,” she says, grinning through her geek-chic glasses and disheveled tawny blond hair. “I think I’m still recovering.”
Michelle Morgan: “I am still in the substitute teacher pool,” she admits. “I can’t take myself off that list yet. Hopefully, it’ll end up working out,” she says of her screenwriting career. “But you can’t take it all so seriously.”
Alan Yang: “I like the social nature of the TV writers’ room, but I think I’m more attuned to feature screenwriting because I can go to a park and sit on a bench and write for a few hours,” Yang says.
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