More Tales from the Script

Billy Ray:
[Discussing being a screentwriter and a director] I got into writing with the idea that I wanted to work with great directors. I am not a great director, so it would be stupid to limit myself to only working with me. That'd be ridiculous.

Richard Wenk:
[Referring to director and producer Richard Donner] When I came up with the idea for "16 Blocks," I went to Dick first, to produce it... for me to direct. And, uh, he liked it so much that he didn't want me to direct it; he wanted to direct it.

Larry Cohen:
You know, everybody talks about the writer being the low man on the totem pole out here; that's nonsense. We get paid whether they make the picture or not. Director doesn't get paid if he doesn't make the picture. The actors don't get paid if they don't come to work. I get paid whether they make the movie or not. If they don't make it, so what? I'll write another one. The funny part about it is that, if the picture comes out, and it doesn't do well, nobody phones me and says, "Hey, Larry, the picture didn't do well. Would you send us back some of that money?"