Video: Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith

The screenwriters of 10 Things I Hate About You, Legally Blonde, and She’s the Man share insights into their creative process.

Video: Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith
Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith and Karen McCullah

The screenwriters of 10 Things I Hate About You, Legally Blonde, and She’s the Man share insights into their creative process.

A few years back, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences ran a terrific series of video interviews called Creative Spark. Here is one featuring Karen McCullah and Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith (10 Things I Hate About You, Legally Blonde, She’s the Man, The House Bunny).

“You can’t write a movie without watching tons of movies and deconstruct them and figure out what makes them tick.” — Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith

Karen and Kiwi use index cards. In their case, they use 4x6" cards. Tack them on the wall? Put them on a desk? Nope. They organize them on the floor, get on their hands and knees, and break story.

And oh yeah, there’s Margarita Fridays!

Whatever it takes. Whatever works. Clearly, it works for Karen and Kiwi!