Todd Wallinger at 2011-02-02 16:33:05:

Scott Neustadter wrote a screenplay about a lousy relationship he had and turned it into (500) Days of Summer. It all depends on what you do with it.

The best part of the story is that after he finished the screenplay, he gave it to the woman who had treated him so shabbily to see what she thought of it. She loved it. Turns out she saw herself as the Tom character.

Burnsj at 2011-02-02 20:14:25:

I would say that also leads to the question of, can you write stories based on real world events/people even if you don't know them? The Social Network was a huge movie and most people know it's not factual yet uses actual names. Or what if you were writing a screenplay about a guy in Egypt during the riots and you wanted to have top Egyptian government officials in the movie? I heard there's a script about Carl Rove that's getting quite a bit of attention. Where is the line on these sorts of issues?

Nick West at 2011-02-03 01:07:32:

I'm actually doing this sort of thing right now. I figured if I made amalgams of people and events and added enough fiction I'd be safe.

So my script is real, but it's not real. It's loosely autobiographical. I'll be adding cinematic elements that may be more or less dramatic and traumatic than the real-life events.

I guess that's what Mr. Neustadter did with 500 Days.

Jeff at 2011-02-03 05:59:57:

"...protect you from an axe." HA! Nice!

I found out recently that they actually have turned a creepy event from Fatal Attraction into a term to describe a crazy female stalker...

"Uh oh... I think he's dating a Bunny Boiler!"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunny_boiler

See Elle Oh at 2011-02-03 12:07:18:

I wonder about blurring the lines between fact and fiction, too. I think a lot of it depends on how quick the person you're portraying is, in terms of will they know it's about them.

How much/what would need to change for Freeloading Bum Ex not to recognize herself? The screenwriter, or at least some early reader friends who know the real-life situation, should be able to answer that.

Nick West at 2011-02-03 17:22:21:

I'm actually reconsidering some of mine now. One girl in particular is a nut-job, but she's whip-smart too.

I could get myself a boiled bunny.