Curated playlist
Jewish 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.
- 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…
- Stanley KubrickAfter copycat crimes and death threats, Stanley Kubrick pulled A Clockwork Orange from release in the United Kingdom.
- 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…
- Bryan BurkBryan Burk co-founded Bad Robot Productions with J. J. Abrams in 2001. He became its Executive Vice President.
- 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.
- 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.
- James FrancoFor five weeks, James Franco spent twelve hours a day in a gully built as a film set, and he left it only to use the lavatory. Between takes he read books, including academic textbooks, just to keep busy. The American actor and filmmaker…
- Damon LindelofBefore writing professionally, Lost creator Damon Lindelof read other people's screenplays for film studios.
- Jonathan KasdanJonathan Kasdan first appeared on screen in 1983, playing the son of Harold and Sarah in The Big Chill, a film made by his own father. Today his name appears in credits as a screenwriter, director, producer and actor. The path between…
- 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…
- 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…
- Charlie KaufmanEvery company rejected Charlie Kaufman's script for Being John Malkovich. Spike Jonze later agreed to direct it.
- 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…
- 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…
- James MangoldJames Mangold studied acting because his CalArts teacher urged him to. It gave him a feel for performance.
- Jonathan TropperJonathan Tropper built the series Warrior from an original idea left behind by Bruce Lee.
- Jon FavreauJon Favreau named his company after the golem of Jewish folklore. It can protect or destroy, like technology.
- Lawrence KasdanLawrence Kasdan's script The Bodyguard was rejected 67 times. It later made more than $411 million worldwide.