Screenplays & Screenwriting

She wrote the screenplay for the new movie Mean Girls. It's based on the book, Queen Bees and Wannabes, by Rosalind Wiseman. Fey also co-stars in the film, along with Lindsay Lohan, Tim Meadows, Amy Poehler and Ana Gasteyer. Fey is co-head writer and writing supervisor for Saturday Night Live. She is the show's first female head writer. She also co-hosts SNL's Weekend Update. She and the writing staff won an Emmy Award for their work in 2002. Before SNL, Fey wrote and performed for the famed Second City in Chicago.

Kushner adapted his epic Tony-award winning play Angels in America into a screenplay for HBO (broadcast this month in two three-hour parts). The play is set in New York in the mid-1980s during the midst of the AIDS epidemic. The HBO film is directed by Mike Nichols and stars Al Pacino, Meryl Streep and Emma Thompson. Kushner also has a new semi-autobiographical musical Caroline, or Change at the Public Theater in New York.

The author of 25th Hour. His book, about a former drug dealer in New York City out on the town on the eve of being sent to a penitentiary. It's the basis of the new Spike Lee film of the same name.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews Adaptation.

Screenwriter Mike White wrote and starred in the independent film Chuck & Buck and earlier wrote for the TV shows Dawson's Creek and Freaks and Geeks.

In June the Writers Guild Foundation held its 2002 Film and Television Writers Forum, called "Words into Pictures." The forum focused on the role of the writer in film and television. We feature highlights from the forum. Participants included David Milch of NYPD Blue, Stephen Gaghan of the film Traffic and Aaron Sorkin of The West Wing.

Writer John Ridley wrote the screenplay for the new film Undercover Brother, which began life as a Web site animation. The film is an action comedy replete with 1970s fashions. Ridley has also just published a novel, A Conversation with the Mann, about a black comic in the civil rights era of the early 1960s.

Writer, actor, and comedian Buck Henry co-wrote the script for the 1967 film. (This interview was held before an audience at the Film Forum in New York City on Feb 13, 1997 during a 30th anniversary presentation of The Graduate.

Screenwriter Paul Mayersberg (MY-urz-burg). He penned the film “Croupier,” directed by Mike Hodges, whom we’ll hear from later in the show. “Croupier” is a thriller about a novelist who moonlights at a London casino, although he doesn’t gamble himself. He lives to watch others’ defeat. Mayersberg wrote the 1976 classic “The Man who Fell to Earth,” starring David Bowie. In addition to writing, he’s also directed several films, including “The Last Samurai.”

Actor John Cusack He stars in the new film “High Fidelity” based on the novel of the same name. He plays a 35 year-old used record store owner who keeps top-five lists for everything, and can’t keep a relationship. By the time Cusack was 22 he had a number of films to his credit: “The Sure Thing,” “Eight Men Out,” “Say Anything,” and “Fat Man and Little Boy.” Later he went on to make “The Grifters,” “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” “The Thin Red Line,” and “Grosse Pointe Blank” which he cowrote.

Screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière is best known for his 19 year collaboration with French film director Luis Bunuel. Their films Include "Diary of a Chambermaid," "Belle du Jour," "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" and "The Obscure Object of Desire." Carrière also wrote screenplays for "The Tin Drum," "The Return of Martin Guerre," and "The Unbearable Lightness of Being." On March 5th, Carrière received the highest award given by the Writers Guild of American, the Screen Laurel Award.

Writer and director Frank Whaley. He's making his debut as such with the semi-autobiographical film "Joe the King," which won this year's screenwriting award at the Sundance Film Festival. The film takes the viewpoint of a child who strives to contend with his lousy circumstances: raised by an alcoholic and abusive father and a withdrawn mother. The film Is produced by John Leguizamo who also has a part In the film, and It stars Val Kilmer.

Prize winning author John Irving. He's turned his novel, "The Cider House Rules," into a movie. Irving writes about the Cider House Rules and the process of turning it into a screenplay, in "My Movie Business, A Memoir (Random House). Irving is the author of 9 novels, including "The World According to Garp," "A Prayer for Owen Meany," and "Hotel New Hampshire."

Director, screenwriter, and producer Paul Thomas Anderson. Anderson’s new film is called Magnolia. The 29-year-old filmmaker also wrote and directed the movies Boogie Nights and Hard Eight. Magnolia stars Tom Cruise, Jason Robards, and Julianne Moore.

Writer Alan Ball. His first feature film screenplay was for this year's critically acclaimed movie, "American Beauty." He's also creator, head writer, and executive producer of the new TV comedy "Oh Grow Up." Previously, Ball wrote for the TV shows "Grace Under Fire," and "Cybill."

Screenwriter and director Audrey Wells. She is making her directorial debut with the new film "Guinevere" starring Stephen Rea and Sarah Polley. The film is about a mentor relationship between an older man and a young woman, and the needs and insecurities that compel them. Wells also wrote the screenplay for "The Truth about Cats and Dogs."

Film critic John Powers reviews "Limbo" by director John Sayles.(Lone Star, City of Hope, Eight Men Out) This is the story of an Alaskan fisherman (Strathairn) who has been away from the sea for years because of a tragic accident, who falls in love with a traveling lounge singer

Screenwriter Stephen Schiff talks about writing the scripts for "True Crime" and "Deep End of the Ocean."He first established his reputation as a film critic for Vanity Fair and Fresh Air. He also wrote film essays and profiles for The New Yorker. He served an unprecedented three terms as chairman of the National Society of Film Critics. His first screenplay was for the most recent film adaptation of Lolita.

Crime novelist Evan Hunter talks about writing the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's classic film "The Birds". In 1997, he wrote "Me and Hitch" detailing his working relationship with Hitchcock. He is the author of "The Blackboard Jungle," and "Privileged Conversation." Under the pseudonym Ed McBain, he is the author of a series of mystery novels for which he won the British Crime Writers Association's highest award, the Diamond Dagger, and the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award.

Screenwriters Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard. The two wrote the screenplay for "Shakespeare in Love" which has been nominated for an Academy Award for best original screenplay. Norman's other screenwriting credits include "The Aviator" and "Waterworld." Stoppard is also the playwright of "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead," and "Travesties." His screenwriting credits include: "Brazil," "The Empire of the Son," and "Billy Bathgate."