Call the doctor!
by yrnej | created - 08 Sep 2016 | updated - 20 Feb 2017 | PublicThe script doctor, that is. A script doctor is a screenwriter or playwright hired by a film, television or theater production to rewrite an existing script or polish specific aspects of it, including structure, characterization, dialogue, pacing, theme, and other elements. Script doctors generally do their work uncredited; they are usually brought in for scripts that have almost been "green-lit," during the development and pre-production phases of a film.
Which of these script doctors have worked on your favorite movies?
Discuss the list here
1. Judd Apatow
Producer | Girls
Judd Apatow is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and comedian. He directed The 40-Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, This is 40, Funny People, Trainwreck and The King of Staten Island. He also developed the television shows Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared, Girls, Love and Crashing. He is ...
Liar Liar (1997), The Wedding Singer (1998) and Bruce Almighty (2003).
2. Paul Attanasio
Writer | Quiz Show
Paul Albert Attanasio (born November 14, 1959) is an American screenwriter. He is a 1981 graduate of Harvard College, where he lived in Currier House, and earned his law degree at Harvard Law School in 1984. Paul is known for Homicide: Life on The Street (1993-1999), Quiz Show (1994), Donnie Brasco...
Speed (1994), Air Force One (1997), Armageddon (1998), Patch Adams (1998), Town & Country (2001) and The Bourne Ultimatum (2007).
3. Shane Black
Actor | Predator
Considered one of the pioneer screenwriters of the action genre, Black made his mark with his Lethal Weapon (1987) screenplay. He also collaborated on the story of the sequel, Lethal Weapon 2 (1989). Each successive script he turned in had a higher price attached it, from The Last Boy Scout (1991) ...
Predator (1987), Crimson Tide (1995) and Iron Man (2008).
4. Scott Derrickson
Producer | The Black Phone
Scott Derrickson is an American filmmaker who is known for directing horror films such as Deliver Us from Evil, Hellraiser: Inferno, Sinister and The Exorcism of Emily Rose. He also directed the superhero film Doctor Strange starring Benedict Cumberbatch. He decided not to direct Doctor Strange in ...
Dracula 2000 (2000), The Messengers (2007) and Scream 4 (2011).
5. Carrie Fisher
Actress | Star Wars
Carrie Frances Fisher was born on October 21, 1956 in Burbank, California, to singers/actors Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. She was an actress and writer known for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return ...
Hook (1991), Sister Act (1992), Lethal Weapon 3 (1992), Last Action Hero (1993), The River Wild (1994), Outbreak (1995) and The Wedding Singer (1998).
6. Scott Frank
Writer | Logan
Scott Frank was born on March 10, 1960 in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Logan (2017), Out of Sight (1998) and The Lookout (2007).
Saving Private Ryan (1998), Knight and Day (2010) and The Thing (2011).
7. Ben Hecht
Writer | Notorious
Ben Hecht, one of Hollywood's and Broadway's greatest writers, won an Oscar for best original story for Underworld (1927) at the first Academy Awards in 1929 and had a hand in the writing of many classic films. He was nominated five more times for the best writing Oscar, winning (along with writing...
Twentieth Century (1934), A Star Is Born (1937), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), Gone with the Wind (1939), Stagecoach (1939), Foreign Correspondent (1940), Cornered (1945), Gilda (1946), Rope and Cry of the City (1948), Strangers on a Train (1951), Angel Face (1952) and Cleopatra (1963).
8. Tom Mankiewicz
Writer | Ladyhawke
Tom Mankiewicz was born on June 1, 1942 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was a writer and director, known for Ladyhawke (1985), Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (1980) and The Man with the Golden Gun (1974). He died on July 31, 2010 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
The Deep (1977), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Superman (1978), Moonraker (1979) and Superman II (1980).
9. Elaine May
Actress | Small Time Crooks
Elaine May (born under the name Elaine Iva Berlin) is an American actress, comedian, film director, playwright, and screenwriter from Philadelphia. Her professional career started in the 1950s and is still ongoing. She has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. She ...
Reds (1981), Tootsie (1982) and Labyrinth (1986).
10. Alexander Payne
Director | Nebraska
Director, producer and screenwriter Alexander Payne was born in Omaha, Nebraska. His parents, Peggy (Constantine) and George Payne, ran a Greek restaurant. His father is of Greek and German ancestry, and his mother is of Greek descent; the family name was originally Papadopoulos. He is the youngest...
Jurassic Park 3 (2001), Meet the Parents (2002) and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007).
11. David Rayfiel
Writer | Three Days of the Condor
David Rayfiel was born on September 9, 1923 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for Three Days of the Condor (1975), The Firm (1993) and Sabrina (1995). He was married to Lynne Schwarzenbek, Maureen Stapleton and Lila Garrett. He died on June 22, 2011 in Manhattan, New...
The Slender Thread (1965), This Property Is Condemned (1966), The Way We Were (1973), Three Days of the Condor (1975), The Serpent's Egg (1977), Death Watch (1980), Yentl (1983), Out of Africa (1985), The Morning After (1986), 'Round Midnight (1986) and The Interpreter (2005).
12. John Sayles
Writer | Lone Star
A bright child, John Sayles began reading novels before age 9. A Williams College grad in 1972, he shunned a corporate career to work various blue-collar jobs, moving to east Boston to take a factory job. He wrote stories and submitted them to various magazines, and the Atlantic Monthly gave him ...
Apollo 13 (1995), Mimic (1997) and The Mummy (1999).
13. Aaron Sorkin
Writer | The West Wing
Aaron Sorkin grew up in Scarsdale, a suburb of New York City where he was very involved in his high school drama and theater club. After graduating from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater, Sorkin intended to pursue a career in acting. It took him only a short time to ...
Schindler's List (1993), The Rock (1996), Excess Baggage (1997) and Enemy of the State (1998).
14. Tom Stoppard
Writer | Shakespeare in Love
Tom Stoppard was born on July 3, 1937 in Zlín, Czechoslovakia [now in Czech Republic]. He is a writer and producer, known for Shakespeare in Love (1998), Brazil (1985) and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990). He has been married to Sabrina Guinness since 2014. He was previously married ...
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Schindler's List (1993), Sleepy Hollow (1999) and The Bourne Ultimatum (2007).
15. Quentin Tarantino
Writer | Reservoir Dogs
Quentin Jerome Tarantino was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. His father, Tony Tarantino, is an Italian-American actor and musician from New York, and his mother, Connie (McHugh), is a nurse from Tennessee. Quentin moved with his mother to Torrance, California, when he was four years old.
In January of...
It's Pat (1994), Crimson Tide (1995) and The Rock (1996).
16. Robert Towne
Writer | Chinatown
Writer, director, producer, actor. Born in Los Angeles, California, USA, and raised in the seaport town of San Pedro. Got his start acting and writing for legendary exploitation director/producer Roger Corman. Came into his own during the 1970s when he was regarded as one of the finest ...
Bonnie and Clyde (1967), The Godfather (1972), The Parallax View (1974), The Rock (1996) and Armageddon (1998).
17. Joss Whedon
Producer | Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Joss Whedon is the middle of five brothers - his younger brothers are Jed Whedon and Zack Whedon. Both his father, Tom Whedon and his grandfather, John Whedon were successful television writers. Joss' mother, Lee Stearns, was a history teacher and she also wrote novels as Lee Whedon. Whedon was ...
Speed (1994), The Quick and the Dead (1995), Waterworld (1995), Twister (1996) and X-Men (2000).
18. Steven Zaillian
Writer | Searching for Bobby Fischer
Steven Zaillian was born on January 30, 1953 in Fresno, California, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993), The Irishman (2019) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011). He is married to Elizabeth Zaillian. They have two children.
Clear and Present Danger (1994), Twister (1996) and Mission: Impossible (1996).
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