Diablo Cody
After completion of her book, Cody was encouraged by Mason Novick to write her first screenplay. Within months she wrote "Juno", a coming-of-age story about a teenager's unplanned pregnancy. The Jason Reitman-directed comedy stars Ellen Page and Michael Cera.
Enter the Ninja
The film was initially conceptualized by martial artist and stuntman Mike Stone. He wrote the initial screenplay under the title "Dance of Death", that shared similarities to the popular novel "The Ninja" by Eric Van Lustbader, which at the time was being developed into a film by John Carpenter. The final screenplay was written by Stone, Dick Desmond, and an uncredited Menahem Golan. Originally, the role of Cole was intended to be played by Stone himself, but he was let go due to a lack of acting experience. Franco Nero, who had no prior knowledge of martial arts but was discovered by the producers attending a film festival in Manila, was cast instead, while Stone doubled for the more elaborate fight scenes. The film was shot primarily in the Philippines, with some additional footage shot in Japan. This was Sho Kosugi's first major English-language film role.