John Patrick Shanley won an Oscar in 1988 for writing the script for Moonstruck. He started as a playwright and has written more plays than screenplays. But he’s found success in both worlds. His play Doubt, A Parable won the Tony Award and was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 2005. And he’s nominated this year for adapting Doubt into a screenplay, and he also directed the movie. And he has Emmy & Golden Globe nominations as well. And just so you know he isn’t batting 1,000., he also has a Razzie nomination (worst screenplay) for his script for the movie Congo.
“I guess one of the biggest things I’d say about the difference between theater writing and film writing is that film writing requires endless structure. It’s just all about structure. And the way you do it is sort of these rectangular building blocks—the movie frame. And you build scene after scene into this burgeoning collage that you try to get moving in the same direction like a freight train to this inevitable conclusion. And you want to watch the pace of that build throughout so that you get that narrative pull.”
John Patrick Shanley
Moonstruck DVD commentary
P.S. Worldwide Congo made $152 million at the box office.
Screenwriting from Iowa 
[…] John Patrick Shanley won an Oscar in 1988 for writing the script for Moonstruck. He started as a playwright and has written more plays than screenplays. But his found success in both worlds. His play Doubt, A Parable won the Tony Award and was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 2005. And he’s nominated this […] Original Source… […]