The New Yorker recently published a profile on Scott Frank, shedding some light on the career of the writer-director, including his impressive $300,000 weekly fee as a Hollywood script doctor.
Despite being a credited screenwriter on films by renowned directors such as Steven Soderbergh, Barry Sonnenfield, and James Mangold, Frank has made a name for himself as a script doctor, responsible for polishing and reshaping pre-existing scripts in Hollywood. His extensive work includes putting finishing touches on nearly 60 films, including blockbusters like “Saving Private Ryan,” “Night at the Museum,” “Unfaithful,” “The Ring,” “Gravity,” and many of the “X-Men” movies.
Frank’s work often involves character development, with 90% of his script doctor requests focusing on refining and deepening the characters in a film. His extensive work has included enhancing relationships between characters, developing backstories, and refining the emotional depth of the story.
Not all of Frank’s attempts to salvage a script end up working, as seen in his involvement with the “Scarface” remake and the hectic rewrite of “Catching Fire” just weeks before production. However, his talent and ability to adapt to the needs of a script have made him a go-to choice for many producers and executives in need of script troubleshooting.
Despite his success as a script doctor, Frank is also venturing into television, with the upcoming series “Monsieur Spade” on AMC, and a new project with Netflix based on author Jussi Adler-Olsen’s crime novels.
For more insight into Frank’s career and his work as a script doctor, the full profile can be read in The New Yorker.