Screenwriter's Series: Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith

The Screenwriters Series will examine the filmography of a screenwriter with the hope of finding out what helped them break into the industry or continue to find success. "Story By" credits will not be used: only films with official WGA Screenplay credit per IMDb will be used. This includes screenplays with multiple writers that may or may not have collaborated.

THIS MONTH'S SCREENWRITERS: Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith

Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith met in 1995 while Smith was working at CineTel as their Director of Development and she covered one of McCullah's scripts. When McCullah moved to LA from Denver, the girls met in a bar and started writing a script. While that script didn't sell, they continued their partnership and began writing a teen comedy based on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew.

MOVIE: 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

Starring:

Heath Ledger as Patrick Verona

Julia Stiles as Kat Stratford

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cameron James

Larisa Oleynik as Bianca Stratford

David Krumholtz as Michael Eckman

Andrew Keegan as Joey Donner

Susan May Pratt as Mandella

Gabrielle Union as Chastity

Director: Gil Junger

Budget: $30 Million

Box Office:

Opened: $8.3M

Final: $38.1M

Plot:

Popular Bianca and her rebellious older sister Kat, at the insistence of their father, aren't allowed to date. When new kid Cameron arrives at school and becomes enamored with Bianca, he decides to help Kat find a guy so that he can pursue Bianca. Unfortunately for Cameron, Kat has a bit of a reputation and her attitude scares any suitor away. They decide to pay someone to take her out, with funding from rich kid and model Joey, who also has his eyes set on Bianca and thinks this is his chance to be with her. Enter Patrick Verona, with quite the reputation himself, who accepts the money and challenge of wooing the headstrong Kat.

The Script:

Wow did a lot change from script to screen! The script was much darker and more R-Rated than the film that reached theaters and there were a substantial number of changes made. Usually you don't see this much change that close to production, as the draft I was able to get my hands on is dated November of 97 and the film itself was released in March of 99. While the film's witty dialogue, fun characters, and basic plot structure is still there, here are some of the bigger changes and why the movie changed them for the better:

Cameron, while still a new kid, isn't a military brat who often moves schools and he also already knows French. In the movie, he went the extra mile to learn it as he was tutoring Bianca so that he could spend more time with her.

The English teacher is completely different and a very uninteresting character in the script. This could have simply been the casting of Daryl Mitchell but the humor of his exasperation with Kat along with his overall demeanor is missed in the script.

The cliques within the school are much more involved in the story and even help beat up Joey at the end in the script. The movie, while keeping the various cliques alive in the background, kept things uncomplicated and focused on the main characters. While it was nice to see them get some revenge on Joey, it wasn't necessary to the story being told.

Patrick's serenade takes place outside a classroom rather than on the sports field like the film. The song itself ended up changing, as they had initially wanted it to be "I Think I Love You." They were unable to use the intended song because it had already been used in Scream 2. Julia Stiles is rumored to have suggested the replacement of "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You." The movie very clearly wanted to mimic 80's romantic comedies like Say Anything... where the main character professes their feelings outside a window but the film chose to set it in a much more open and vulnerable place. Also, we wouldn't have the delightful image of Heath Ledger dancing through the bleachers without this change.

Mandella, everyone's favorite Shakespeare obsessive, takes her devotion one step further and is so disappointed with the selection of living men that she wants to commit suicide so she can be with Shakespeare. This is problematic and uncomfortable on so many levels and the movie wisely opts to keep the weird quirk about her character being obsessed with Shakespeare but not taking it any further.

Ms. Perky isn't writing her steamy novel. This might seem like a small and unimportant change but it's a fun aspect to the character in the film and Allison Janney plays it for maximum laughs. In the context of the greater story however, it's bigger because...

BIANCA AND KAT'S MOTHER IS SILL AROUND and she is the one writing it! If you've seen the movie you know how important of a change that last one is, as her being alive takes away from overall impact of the girls' home life on their persona and their dad's behavior. And to be honest it doesn't add anything to the story in the script.

If I were reading the script before production, it's easy to see what was so appealing. The dialogue is witty, the characters jump off the page and the modern take on a classic Shakespeare story is hard to pass up. Usually this many changes don't happen that far into development and the script will essentially be a mirror, with a tweak or two, with what ends up on screen. But in this instance, I think a lot of the changes that were made were for the benefit of the final product and made the film better than the script.

My Review:

This is still as clever and fun as you remember, with its hip and surprisingly age appropriate cast for a high school comedy. Heath Ledger made his American debut here and really makes an impact, bringing a humanity and unexpected depth to Patrick that is usually absent from these movies. His chemistry with Julia Stiles, also making her debut and audition take for Save the Last Dance, is electric and their tempestuous romance is better than most in these types of movies. I don't usually enjoy romantic comedies but this held up a lot better than I was expecting.

Critical reception:

69% on Rotten Tomatoes

Trivia:

According to Karen McCullah, the title comes from a diary entry she made in high school about a boyfriend called "Things I Hate About Anthony". When she and Kirsten Smith were writing the script for this movie, McCullah found the entry when she was attempting to revisit her memories of high school and they found their title. McCullah and Anthony are still friends and he not only likes the movie but is proud of being the inspiration for the title.

Up Next: Legally Blonde (2001)