Film and theater are two mediums that might seem similar in that they both involve dramatic storytelling in which writers, directors, and actors create a dramatic experience for the audience. However, there are major differences between writing for the stage and writing for the screen. As a general rule of thumb, the average dialogue scene in a screenplay should be about three minutes long, whereas on stage, continuous dialogue scenes go on for hours.
For this reason, it isn't as common as one might think for playwrights to become filmmakers. Here are 10 examples of writers who transitioned from stage to screen and made their own films.
Kenneth Lonergan
Kenneth Lonergan began his career as a playwright. His first full-length play is the hilarious and heartfelt tragicomedy This is Our Youth, and he's since published five additional full-length plays, many of which have received rave reviews on Broadway and elsewhere. His knack for combining deep sadness with biting humor has made itself known in his screenplays as well.
He wrote the films Analyze This and Gangs of New York, and directed his own screenplays for the acclaimed Margaret, You Can Count on Me, and 2016's Manchester by the Sea, for which he won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter was a British playwright whose career spanned five decades. His quirky plays established him as one of the theater's most distinct voices. He adapted several of his works for the screen, where they were produced as TV movies. He directed a handful of these, and also directed the feature film Butley in 1974, which was an adaptation of a Simon Gray play, starring Alan Bates and Jessica Tandy. Pinter remained active in both film and theater until his death in 2008.
Neil LaBute
Neil LaBute is infamous for his no-holds-barred battle of the sexes plays, which often involve ruthless cruelty. Some of his work has been criticized as misogynistic, though men and women seem to land equal blows against each other throughout his body of work. He directed screen adaptations of two of these plays, In The Company of Men and The Shape of Things.
He's also directed dark comedy films like Nurse Betty and Death at a Funeral, and in 1997 he wrote and directed his own drama-comedy film Your Friends and Neighbors, chock full of his signature caustic wit.
Elaine May
Elaine May was a woman of many talents. She began her career as one half of the improv comedy team 'Nichols and May,' in which she performed with great Mike Nichols, the great theater director-turned-filmmaker. She wrote several plays throughout her career, including the one-act Hotline, which ran on Broadway as part of an anthology called Death Defying Acts.
She also directed four feature films, including her own screenplays for Ishtar and Mikey and Nicky. She also directed the Oscar-nominated 1972 comedy The Heartbreak Kid, which was written by legendary playwright Neil Simon.
John Patrick Shanley
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright John Patrick Shanley has written great scripts for both the stage and screen. He directed the big-screen adaptation of his most famous play, Doubt, in 2008. He recently directed Wild Mountain Thyme starring Jon Hamm and Emily Blunt, which was based on his recent play called Outside Mullingar.
His film career dates back to the 1980s when he won an Oscar for his Moonstruck screenplay. He also wrote and directed the bizarre but endearing comedy Joe Versus The Volcano starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in 1990. He's also penned scripts for action films like Alive and the Michael Crichton adaptation, Congo. He's had a truly eclectic career, working in multiple genres for both film and theater.
Preston Sturges
Preston Sturges had a unique career in booth theater and film. His first play, The Guinea Pig, opened in Massachusetts and moved to Broadway. His second play, Strictly Dishonorable, was a massive Broadway hit in 1929, which earned Sturges $300,000, a massive haul for the time. Based on this success, he was hired by Paramount to write screenplays.
Sturges was one of the first writer-directors in Hollywood, thanks to his own business savvy. He famously sold his script for the 1940s The Great McGinty to Paramount for $1, in addition for the chance to direct it. He ended up winning an Oscar for the screenplay and went on to direct a total of 14 films.
Martin McDonagh
Martin McDonagh is one of the most distinct writers of his time, for both the stage and the screen. His first play, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, premiered in 1996. He penned several more Irish plays before his American debut, The Pillowman, hit Broadway in 2005, putting him on the map in the United States.
He won an Oscar for his short film Six Shooter in 2004 and went on to write and direct three feature films: In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. His plays and his films are both known for his pitch-black humor and violent content, and he's received much acclaim in both mediums.
Aaron Sorkin
Nowadays, Aaron Sorkin is regarded as one of the best writers in film and television. He got his start in the '80s as a playwright, with his play A Few Good Men premiering on Broadway in 1989. When that play was adapted for the screen by director Rob Reiner in 1992, it launched Sorkin's career as a Hollywood screenwriter. He went on to pen several more screenplays throughout the '90s, before creating the television series Sports Night in 1998, and then, of course, The West Wing, in 1999.
He's since written several screenplays, including The Social Network, which won him an Academy Award. In 2017, he made his directorial debut with the crime drama Molly's Game, and in 2020 he directed his script for The Trial of the Chicago 7.
Mike Leigh
British writer-director Mike Leigh has written 22 plays since his stage debut The Box Play in 1965. He's also written and directed 13 films, including Topsy-Turvy, Secrets & Lies, and Vera Drake. He's been nominated for 7 Academy Awards, 5 times as a writer, and twice as a director. He's remained active as both a playwright and a filmmaker for decades. His most recent stage work, Grief, premiered in London in 2011, and his latest film Peterloo was released in the UK in 2018.
David Mamet
Perhaps no playwright has made a bigger impact on film than David Mamet. His breakthrough play, American Buffalo, received showcase productions in 1975 and made its Broadway debut in 1977. His 1983 drama Glengarry Glen Ross won a Pulitzer Prize, and three years later he would write and direct his film debut, House of Games.
Since then, he's written dozens of scripts for film, television, and theater, and has amassed a total of 20 film and TV directing credits. His notable screenplays include Homicide, Hannibal, and The Edge, and his recent plays include Race, The Anarchist, and China Doll.