How They Write A Script

Interview excerpts from some of the most notable screenwriters throughout the history of Hollywood. Another great resource to upgrade your understanding of the craft and inspire you at the same time.

Allen, Jay Presson (Marnie, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, A Star is Born)

Axelrod, George (Bus Stop, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Manchurian Candidate)

Bernstein, Walter (Fail-Safe, The Front, Semi-Tough)

Black, Shane (Lethal Weapon, The Last Boyscout, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang)

Brackett, Leigh (The Big Sleep, Rio Bravo, Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back)

Brooks, Richard (Blackboard Jungle In Cold Blood, Looking for Mr. Goodbar)

Chayefsky, Paddy (Marty, Network, Hospital)

Cody, Diablo (Juno, Jennifer’s Body, United States of Tara)

Dunne, Philip (How Green Was My Valley, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Last of the Mohicans)

Foote, Horton (To Kill a Mockingbird, A Trip to Bountiful, Tender Mercies)

Hayes, John Michael (Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, Peyton Place)

Hill, Walter (The Warriors, 48 Hrs., Aliens)

Kanin, Garson (Adam’s Rib, Pat and Mike, Born Yesterday)

Kasdan, Lawrence (The Bodyguard, Body Heat, Raiders of the Lost Ark)

Kaufman, Charlie (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)

Lardner Jr., Ring (Woman of the Year, Laura, MASH)

Lawton, J.F. (Pretty Woman, Under Siege, Blankman)

Lehman, Ernest (Sabrina, The King and I, North by Northwest, The Sound of Music, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Portnoy’s Complaint)

Lynch, David (Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive)

Maddow, Ben (The Naked Jungle, Men At War, No Down Payment)

Matheson, Richard (The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Twilight Zone, Stir of Echoes)

Mayes, Wendell (The Spirit of St. Louis, Anatomy of a Murder, Death Wish)

Meyers, Nancy (Baby Boom, Something’s Gotta Give, It’s Complicated)

Phelan, Anna Hamilton (Mask, Gorillas in the Mist, Girl Interrupted)

Sargent, Alvin (Paper Moon, Ordinary People, Nuts)

Schrader, Paul (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Last Temptation of Christ)

Silliphant, Sterling (In the Heat of the Night, Charly, The Poseidon Adventure)

Southern, Terry (Dr. Strangelove, Easy Rider, Candy)

Tally, Ted (The Silence of the Lambs, All the Pretty Horses, Red Dragon)

Taradash, Daniel (From Here to Eternity, Picnic, Hawaii)

Towne, Robert (Bonnie and Clyde, Chinatown, Shampoo)

Wilder, Billy (The Apartment, Some Like It Hot, Sunset Blvd.)