Wanted: Comprehensive list of books featuring screenwriters

H/T to Tom Peterson for turning me onto this book “Tales from the Script”:

Few modern art forms are as misunderstood as the craft of screenwriting, because the collaborative nature of filmmaking and the dominance of celebrity actors and directors obscures the contributions of screenwriters. So if you’re a writer eager to break into Hollywood or simply a movie buff excited to hear the stories behind your favorite films, this unique nonfiction book/documentary film project will captivate you with insights into the wild and mysterious world of Hollywood screenwriting.

Enjoy inside conversations with the men and women who dreamed up some of the world’s most beloved movie characters. Learn how they surmounted the incredible odds against breaking into Hollywood, and discover the myriad ways in which they transformed their ideas into films that topped the box office, launched the careers of major stars, and earned them Oscars. The stories behind the storytellers are as exciting, surprising, and inspirational as the narratives of their celebrated films.

Revel in the exploits of Shane Black (Lethal Weapon), John Carpenter (Halloween), Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption), Nora Ephron (When Harry Met Sally…), William Goldman (The Princess Bride), David Hayter (Watchmen), Paul Mazursky (An Unmarried Woman), Bruce Joel Rubin (Ghost), Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver), Ron Shelton (Bull Durham), and dozens of other Hollywood writers. For the full list, click here.

In addition to name-brand talents, Tales from the Script features newcomers whose stories prove that talented people can write their way into the top ranks of the movie industry. There’s Justin Zackham, who decided to write one last script before giving up on his flagging movie career; the script became The Bucket List, a sleeper hit starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. There’s Ari B. Rubin, a second-generation screenwriter who skipped his law-school entry exam to finish a screenplay that got optioned by Robert Redford. There’s Duncan Tucker, who scraped together money from real-estate ventures, friends, and family to make Transamerica, the bold story about gender issues that netted leading lady Felicity Huffman an Oscar nomination.

Tales from the Script puts readers into the trenches of the Hollywood development process through colorful stories about Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman, Adam Sandler, Joel Silver, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and many more. Entertaining, startling, and uplifting, this collection is a pure pleasure for those who dream of writing the Great American Screenplay — it’s a master class taught by those who made that dream come true.

I thought I’d seen all of the screenwriter interview books — I own most of them. But perhaps there are some others I don’t know about. So if you’ve know of a book that features interviews with screenwriters, please post in comments. Let’s see if we can put together a master list. Here’s what I have:

“Backstory 1: Interviews with Screenwriters of Hollywood’s Golden Age” (1988)

“Backstory 2: Interviews with Screenwriters from the 1940s and 1950s” (1997)

“Backstory 3: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 60s” (1997)

“Backstory 4: Interviews with Screenwriters from the 1970s and 1980s” (2006)

“Backstory 5: Interviews with Screenwriters from the 1990s” (2009)

“Screenwriters on Screenwriting: The Best in the Business Discuss Their Craft” (1995)

“Screenwriter: Words become Pictures: Interviews with 12 screenwriters from the golden age of American movies”(1987)

“The Screenwriter Looks at the Screenwriter” (1991)

“The New Screenwriter Looks at the New Screenwriter” (1992)

“The Craft of the Screenwriter: Interviews with Paddy Chayefsky, William Goldman, Ernest Lehman, Paul Schrader, and Robert Towne” (1981)

“Screenwriter: Word Become Pictures” (1987)

“Screenwriters’ Master Class: Screenwriters Talk About Their Greatest Movies” (2005)

“American Screenwriters: The Insider’s Look at the Art, the Craft, and the Business of Writing Movies” (1993)

“Oscar-Winning Screenwriters on Screenwriting: The Award-Winning Best in the Business Discuss Their Craft” (2002)

“Classic American Films: Conversations with the Screenwriters” (2007)

“Conversations with Screenwriters” (2000)

“Why We Write: Personal Statements and Photographic Portraits of 25 Top Screenwriters” (1999)

“The Craft of the Screenwriter” (1982)

“Story and Characters: Interviews with British Screenwriters (2003)

“Women Screenwriters Today: Their Lives and Words” (2005)

“African-American Screen-Writers Now: Conversations with Hollywood’s Black Pack” (1996)

And while you’re at it, you can go here to browse through the How They Write A Script series of GITS posts, extracts from just such screenwriter interview books.

And of course, don’t forget The Dialogue Series of DVDs.

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