Laurence Dworet, M.D. (usually just credited as Laurence Dworet) is an American
screenwriter
A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based.
...
.
In 1990, he and his writing partner
Robert Roy Pool
Robert Roy Pool (born 1953) is an American screenwriter, best known for his authorship of the motion pictures ''Outbreak'' (1995), starring Dustin Hoffman, and '' The Big Town'' (1987), starring Matt Dillon. He also received a "story by" credit ...
sold their spec screenplay ''The Ultimatum'' for $500,000 against $1,000,000 if a film was made. It was the story of
terrorists who plant an
atomic bomb
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
in an American city and threaten nuclear devastation unless their demands are met.
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...
described it as one of the three most exciting scripts he had ever read and was going to direct it, but the script became bogged-down in
endless rewrites.
Using his medical background, Dworet and Pool wrote the screenplay for ''
Outbreak'' which they sold to producer
Arnold Kopelson for $250,000 as he wanted a rival virus picture to Fox's ''
Crisis in the Hot Zone
A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...
''. Kopelson then paid
Ted Tally $500,000 to rewrite the script.
An interview with Dworet can be found in
William Froug's book ''
The New Screenwriter Looks at the New Screenwriter''.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dworet, Laurence
American male screenwriters
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)