Curated playlist

American male screenwriters

Alfred HitchcockAt age five, Alfred Hitchcock was sent to a police station with a note and locked in a cell.
Stephen KingA minivan hit Stephen King on a Maine road in June 1999. A dog in the back distracted the driver.
Simon KinbergSimon Kinberg plays a banker in his own script for Mr. & Mrs. Smith. He began that screenplay as a film school thesis.
Matt DamonMatt Damon once turned down 10 percent of the profits from Avatar, a film that went on to become the most successful of all time. Director James Cameron made the offer while Damon was still working on the Bourne films, and Damon did not…
Derek ConnollyDerek Connolly wrote a Star Wars film that was never made. His draft became The Rise of Skywalker.
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.
Ernest HemingwayErnest Hemingway, only 18, carried Italian soldiers to safety despite being seriously wounded by mortar fire.
Matthew Robinson (writer)Matthew Robinson sent Ricky Gervais a script with no introduction. It became The Invention of Lying.
Orson WellesOrson Welles burned ten reels of his own Don Quixote film. He felt the 1969 Moon landings made its ending obsolete.
Steven SpielbergSteven Spielberg walked into Universal Studios without a pass, and the guard waved him in.
Tennessee WilliamsTennessee Williams wanted to be sewn into a canvas sack and dropped into the sea.
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.
Stanley KubrickAfter copycat crimes and death threats, Stanley Kubrick pulled A Clockwork Orange from release in the United Kingdom.
Wes AndersonWes Anderson has said his first ambition was to be a writer, not a director. He grew up making silent films.
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.
William FaulknerWilliam Faulkner never told his daughter he had won the Nobel Prize. She heard it when the principal called her in.
Kevin SmithKevin Smith maxed out credit cards and sold his comic books to make Clerks. The film raised $27,575 and won at Sundance.
Kurt VonnegutKurt Vonnegut survived the bombing of Dresden by hiding in an underground meat locker.
Andy WarholAndy Warhol was shot at his Factory studio in June 1968 by a writer who had appeared in his film.
Stephen ColbertAt a 2006 dinner, Stephen Colbert roasted President Bush to a cold room. His show's ratings jumped 37% the next week.
Raymond ChandlerRaymond Chandler sold his first story for $180 after losing his oil job at forty-four.
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…
Roger EbertRoger Ebert typed his last blog post two days before he died. He signed off with "I'll see you at the movies."
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…
Sylvester StalloneSylvester Stallone has said that he once slept for three weeks in the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City. Decades later, he is one of only two actors in history, alongside Harrison Ford, to have starred in a box-office number one…
Robert DuvallRobert Duvall died at his farm in Middleburg, Virginia, on the 15th of February 2026, at the age of 95. His wife, Luciana Pedraza, announced his death in a public statement. He had worked for seven decades, and on screen he rarely seemed…
Elia KazanIn 1952, Elia Kazan gave a congressional committee the names of eight former colleagues.
Tom HanksTom Hanks lost 35 pounds to play a dying lawyer in Philadelphia. He thinned his hair and learned to walk differently.
Bruce LeeBruce Lee appeared in his first film as a baby. By 18, he had been in 20 films in Hong Kong.
Irving ThalbergIrving Thalberg ran MGM's production, yet his name never appeared on screen while he lived.
William WylerDirector William Wyler once made Henry Fonda do forty takes of one scene. His only note was the word again.
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.
Will SmithWill Smith turned down the lead role in The Matrix to make Wild Wild West. He later called that choice a mistake.
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.
Buster KeatonBuster Keaton's deadpan face began when he stopped laughing in his father's vaudeville act.
Ken BurnsKen Burns was nearly nine when neighbors handed his family six twenty-dollar bills.
Robert RodriguezRobert Rodriguez paid for his first feature by joining medical testing studies. El Mariachi cost $7,000 in 1992.
Bradley CooperBradley Cooper was a kid who dreamed of moving to Japan to become a ninja. Later came twelve Academy Award nominations.
Walt DisneyIn 1928, Walt Disney lost his hit cartoon rabbit Oswald to Universal. Only Ub Iwerks stayed, and Mickey Mouse followed.
John LasseterDisney fired John Lasseter in 1984 after he pitched a film blending hand-drawn art with computer backgrounds.
Stephen Glover (screenwriter)Donald Glover hired his younger brother Stephen to co-write Atlanta with no TV writing experience.
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…
Stanley TucciStanley Tucci Jr. gave a college classmate a nickname that the man has carried ever since. The classmate was Irving Rhames, and the nickname was Ving. Tucci handed it over while the two of them studied acting together at a state university…