Curated playlist

21st-century American screenwriters

Simon KinbergSimon Kinberg plays a banker in his own script for Mr. & Mrs. Smith. He began that screenplay as a film school thesis.
Martin ScorseseMartin Scorsese's love of movies began because asthma kept him out of games.
Woody AllenWoody Allen failed a film production course at New York University, then went on to direct Annie Hall.
Steven SpielbergSteven Spielberg walked into Universal Studios without a pass, and the guard waved him in.
Adam SandlerAdam Sandler once made a Western comedy that critics almost universally panned. On the 6th of January 2016, Netflix announced that the film, The Ridiculous 6, had been watched more times in thirty days than any other movie in the service's…
Quentin TarantinoQuentin Tarantino turned down Speed and Men in Black to write Pulp Fiction in Amsterdam.
David LynchDavid Lynch began as a painter who just wanted his canvases to move. That wish led him to film.
Wes AndersonWes Anderson has said his first ambition was to be a writer, not a director. He grew up making silent films.
Matt HullumMatt Hullum voices Sarge in the online series Red vs. Blue. He also co-founded the company behind it, Rooster Teeth.
George LucasGeorge Lucas turned down a higher directing fee for Star Wars. He asked for toy and merchandise rights instead.
Christopher NolanChristopher Nolan has no smartphone and no email address. He hand-delivers his scripts to the actors he wants.
Stephen ColbertAt a 2006 dinner, Stephen Colbert roasted President Bush to a cold room. His show's ratings jumped 37% the next week.
Ben StillerBen Stiller's films have grossed more than $2.6 billion in Canada and the United States, an average of $79 million per film. Behind that figure stands Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller, an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is known…
Mel BrooksMel Brooks was 14 years old when he climbed onto a diving board at the Butler Lodge, a second-rate hotel in the Borscht Belt. He worked there as a pool-side tummler, an entertainer hired to keep the guests amused. On this day he wore a…
Paul Thomas AndersonPaul Thomas Anderson, the American filmmaker known by his initials PTA, earned a C+ on his very first film school assignment. The task at New York University was simple: write a single page of screenplay. Anderson handed in a page from…
Ralph BakshiRalph Bakshi sold CBS a show it already owned. CBS had acquired the Terrytoons library in 1955 and forgotten it.
Terrence MalickAfter Days of Heaven, director Terrence Malick moved to Paris and stayed out of public view for roughly two decades.
Francis Ford CoppolaMarlon Brando won the Godfather role only after a screen test and a reduced fee.
Arthur MillerArthur Miller wrote Death of a Salesman in less than six weeks. He finished the first act in less than a day.
Bradley CooperBradley Cooper was a kid who dreamed of moving to Japan to become a ninja. Later came twelve Academy Award nominations.
John LasseterDisney fired John Lasseter in 1984 after he pitched a film blending hand-drawn art with computer backgrounds.
George ClooneyIn 1977, a teenage George Clooney tried out for the Cincinnati Reds and did not make it past the first round of player cuts. No contract was offered. Clooney, an American actor and filmmaker, would go on to collect two Academy Awards, a…
Conan O'BrienConan O'Brien went from writing The Simpsons to hosting late night, and critics said he would fail.
Ron HowardRon Howard, age five, had to cry while holding a toy turtle. Andy Griffith coached him through it in 1960.
J. J. AbramsJ. J. Abrams wrote his first film score at age 16 for a horror movie. The 1982 low-budget film was called Nightbeast.
Mel GibsonMel Gibson was paid $400 for his first film role, in Summer City, while he was still a drama student. A short time later, the title role in Mad Max paid him $9000. In the year 2000, Hollywood handed him a record $25 million to star in The…
Dean DevlinStargate, co-written by Dean Devlin in 1994, was the first movie to have a dedicated website.
J. D. DillardJ. D. Dillard's father was the second African-American ever selected to fly for the Blue Angels.
John SingletonAt 24, John Singleton became the first African American nominated for the Best Director Oscar.
Tony GilroyTony Gilroy built Andor, and his brother Dan wrote its Emmy-winning episode.
Eddie MurphyEddie Murphy opened Saturday Night Live on the 11th of December 1982 with a boast: "Live from New York, it's the Eddie Murphy Show!" The host booked for that Christmas episode, Nick Nolte, had become too ill to appear. Murphy stepped in.…
Barbra StreisandBarbra Streisand once filed a lawsuit that sent a crowd of strangers to look at a single photograph. In 2003 she claimed that a website documenting coastal erosion had invaded her privacy. Among its more than 12,000 images, one happened to…
Ben AffleckBen Affleck directed Argo, and for it he collected the Golden Globe, the Directors Guild Award and the BAFTA for Best Director without ever being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. No director had done that before him. The…
Jack BlackJack Black is an American actor, comedian, singer and musician, and in 2025 he attached his name to the shortest song ever to reach the Billboard Hot 100. "Steve's Lava Chicken", from A Minecraft Movie, lasts just 34 seconds. It edged out…
George R. R. MartinA chess craze helped save George R. R. Martin's writing career. Bobby Fischer's 1972 win got him a tournament job.
Charlie KaufmanEvery company rejected Charlie Kaufman's script for Being John Malkovich. Spike Jonze later agreed to direct it.
Dave FiloniDave Filoni thought George Lucas's job offer was a prank. He later became president of Lucasfilm.
Lorne MichaelsLorne Michaels once offered The Beatles $3,000 to reunite on live TV. It came in Saturday Night Live's first season.
Rob ReinerRob Reiner, the American filmmaker, actor and political activist, once joked about how firmly a sitcom nickname had attached itself to him. "I could win the Nobel Prize and they'd write 'Meathead wins the Nobel Prize.'" The remark came…
Gillian AndersonGillian Anderson was arrested on her graduation night. She had broken into her own high school in Grand Rapids, Michigan, hoping to glue the locks of its doors shut. Her classmates had voted her "class clown," "most bizarre girl" and "most…
D. B. WeissA petition with over 1.5 million signatures demanded a remake of Game of Thrones season eight.
David BenioffDavid Benioff was a club bouncer and a high school wrestling coach before Game of Thrones. He later co-ran the show.
David X. CohenDavid X. Cohen has a middle initial that stands for nothing at all. He is an American television writer, and his name appears on episodes of both The Simpsons and Futurama. Those two shows sit at the center of a career that began somewhere…
The Duffer BrothersThe Duffer Brothers turned down Florida State's film school because it would not let the twins study together.
Jonathan TropperJonathan Tropper built the series Warrior from an original idea left behind by Bruce Lee.
Beau WillimonBeau Willimon says he was the worst student in his Columbia playwriting class. He later created House of Cards.
Chris TerrioChris Terrio spent months checking whether Gatorade existed in December 1979. He needed it for one joke in Argo.
George NolfiGeorge Nolfi quit a political science PhD after a three-studio bidding war over his script.