Scott B. Smith

Novelist-screenwriter Scott B Smith burst onto the movie scene with his acclaimed script for Sam Raimi's "A Simple Plan" (1998), which he adapted from his best-selling novel of the same name. The thriller imagines what happens when three men happen upon the wreckage of a small plane and find within it $4 million. Greed, paranoia and plain bad luck conspire in an escalating body count to reveal the ultimately predatory nature of man. Raimi (who stepped in when John Boorman became unavailable) scored a hit with his first non-genre outing which concentrated on character development and real human emotions. Smith altered his original story for the film. allowing the audience to care more about the relationship of the brothers, saying: "Even though they have grown apart, they're still connected and I think that was a huge effort on the part of Billy Bob Thornton and Bill Paxton."

• Also Credited As:
  Scott Smith
• Born:
  in New Jersey, USA
• Job Titles:
  Novelist, Screenwriter

Significant Others

• Companion: . married; he and wife had moved from Brooklyn, New York to Berkeley, California, where he was working on his second novel at the time A Simple Plan opened in theaters

Education

• Columbia University, New York, New York, creative writing, MA

Milestones

• 1994 First novel, A Simple Plan , became a best-seller, staying on THE NEW YORK TIMES list for seven weeks
• 1998 Wrote screen adaptation of A Simple Plan , directed by Sam Raimi
• Lived in New Orleans while writing first novel
• Raised in Ohio