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Who are you and what do you write?

We are Marianne and Cormac Wibberley (aka., “the Wibberleys” which is how we are now credited). When we first meet people in the business, sometimes they ask if we’re siblings. No, we are a married writing team. We’ve been married for decades and have been writing together almost as long.

Our most well known credits are the two National Treasure movies, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (with John August), and Bad Boys 2.

We are currently producing a project at Fox and writing the film adaptation of the video game Uncharted for Sony. Our daughter is a big fan of the game, so if we screw it up, we’re dead meat.

Where and when do you write?

Everywhere. Anywhere. Because we’re married, there is no separation of work and personal life.

We have three dogs: a Jack Russell and two rescue German Shepherds. Our Jack Russell is easy, but the two German Shepherds run our lives.

They hang out in our office, and our writing schedule is geared around their schedule. We walk them at least two miles a day, and a lot of that time is spent spitballing and brainstorming while watching for cats, motorcycles, squirrels, skateboarders, other dogs, and the dreaded ninja cyclist.

Yeah, sure, they look nice, but they bite. If we’re on a deadline, we get stressed. And when we get stressed, they get stressed and then bad things happen in the house.

As for our process as a writing team, we do actually sit in our home office and write everything together. Not a word gets typed without us both agreeing on it. This means a lot of our time is spent trying to convince each other why his line of dialogue or her bit of action is better. We pitch feverishly, act out scenes badly, and when all else fails, we draw pictures to convince the other how awesome his/her idea is.

Here are some other things we keep around the office to inspire us.

A prop gun from our first big movie, The 6th Day.

Han, Chewbacca, Sundance & Butch, and…a couple guinea pigs:

What software do you use?

The most important software we use is coffee. What is our favorite Keurig cup flavor? We have it narrowed down to four (but suggestions are welcome).

For screenwriting, we use MovieMagic Screenwriter (but we know how to use Final Draft as well).

Other software: iBooks, Kindle, and Dropbox. We just started using Pages, which is a surprisingly easy yet powerful word processor that you can use on your iPhone and iPad. We also like it because it uses the iCloud without us having to think about it.

What hardware do you use?

We are a Mac family. We have Mac laptops, a desktop, iPads, and iPhones.

But really the best piece of hardware we use are these giant Post-Its. We started using them recently instead of index cards so we can stick our ideas and story beats to the wall, cabinets, and bookshelves. No corkboard necessary.

We outline using Post-Its and keep the three acts up on our wall while we outline and write the script. The cards are constantly changing, however. Most times, by the time we get to the third act, the story’s been rebroken a dozen times.

What (if anything) would you change?

We’d like to be able to enjoy our time off, but instead, we just worry. If the phone’s not ringing, it means they hated the draft. And if we’re not trying to write something new, then we worry that like sharks who don’t swim we’ll die.

Who are you and what do you write?

My name is Brian and I mostly write comic books like Saga, though I sometimes slum it in film and television. Most recently, I wrote a pilot adaptation of Stephen King’s awesome Under the Dome for Dreamworks and Showtime.

Where and when do you write?

I leave my beautiful house and family every morning to write in a cheap flophouse apartment that I rent nearby. My favorite time to write is from midnight to 8am, but now that I have kids, I usually write from 9 to 5, like an average nobody. Like a schnook.

What software do you use?

Final Draft for film and TV, and I just switched to the Mac program Pages for prose and comics. It’s approximately one billion times better than Microsoft Word.

What hardware do you use?

An older MacBook Air and steno notebooks from Staples.

What (if anything) would you change?

About life? Less genocide, I guess. Everything else seems pretty nice.

(photo by Kevin Knight)

Who are you and what do you write?

My name is Malcolm Spellman. I’m a kinda black dude from the Bay Area (California). I write in various genres (drama, crime, comedy, whatever), and I write in television and film.

I don’t really have a “preference” in genre or subject matter though more than half my employment comes in working on comedies. Also my only real (shared) credit is a family comedy for Fox (Our Family Wedding). But, like many writers, I try hard to push myself out of any creative comfort zones, particularly when speccing.

Where and when do you write?

I write at home. I write from 8am to 4pm, though shit does vary. Ideally, I get most of my new pages done in the first part of the day, edit and rewrite during the second half of the day. This seems to be pretty common with writers. At least awesome writers.

I like to write in a reclined position. Unfortunately, this sometimes results in excruciating carpal tunnel so I’ve gotta switch it up. Ideally, I’m on the couch or in a recliner. When the pain starts, I work at a desk sitting upright.

Also, I work in my car pretty regularly. Especially when I’m editing/rewriting. Isolation, AC and reclining seats, great view of whatever, you can’t beat it.

What software do you use?

I use Final Draft. And I use Microsoft Word (for outlining or brainstorming when I’m stuck). And I mostly use the internet.

What hardware do you use?

I use an ergonomic keyboard and a wireless mouse. This allows me to sit my computer away from me and spread myself across various furnitures. The wireless mouse allows me to procrastinate online in a completely blobbed out position.

I also use paper and pencil. Again, like most awesome writers, I do a ton of editing as I go. I reread and rewrite my scripts in entirety almost daily. I like to do this with a hard-copy, so I do a lot of printing. I have one of those fast, bulky black and white laser printers that never breaks.

When I’m stuck, I sometimes like to write with pen on a blank page. I use a pillow to take naps in my car. But mostly, I bullshit on the internet.

What (if anything) would you change?

If we’re talking about my workspace, I wouldn’t mind trying to go work at an office. But I never will. Not unless someone makes me — like, if someone actually made another one of my movies and I had to be on set. Or if I was desperate for money and Derek Haas threw me a bone and hired me to work on his show. But beyond that, nothing will ever change.

If we’re talking in general, I would change a lot. I would like to stick to one arena of story-telling long enough to get a foothold. I seem to be emotionally and psychologically incapable of doing that, much to the chagrin of my reps.

Also, I would read more. That is probably the first thing I would do differently. I don’t read enough. It is a major weakness in my otherwise astonishingly powerful game.

Who are you and what do you write?

I am a screenwriter who has written a few sports movies including Hardball, Coach Carter and Real Steel. I have a movie coming out called Flight that stars Denzel Washington and is directed by Robert Zemeckis.

I also directed a movie I wrote called Dreamer, with Dakota Fanning and Kurt Russell.

Where and when do you write?

I write in the mornings in a little office above a hair salon in West Hollywood. My building is also connected to a synagogue and a fish restaurant.

Before having kids I used to write at home from midnight to 4 am. I loved that — the phone doesn’t ring. LA is very quiet at night; everything closes pretty early. Now if I’m not writing by 10am, I probably won’t write that day.

What software do you use?

I use Final Draft.

What hardware do you use?

A MacBook Air.

What (if anything) would you change?

If I could change anything it would be my stamina for the chair. Meaning, I used to be able to get in two three-hour writing sessions a day. Now a solid two hours is a good day.

Do something everyday, I try to tell myself. Just something everyday. Even if it’s just reading what you’ve written.