Steven Zaillian

A veteran go-to script doctor in the industry, Steven Zaillian has contributed uncredited to screenplays on a number of projects over the years. They include Patriot Games (1992), Crimson Tide (1995), Twister (1996), Primal Fear (1996), Amistad (1997), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Black Hawk Down (2001), Road to Perdition (2002) and Body of Lies (2008). He was also called upon in post-production to rewrite some scenes for re-shoots of Salt (2010).

The similarity between the big directors I've worked with is that they allow the writer to find a way of doing what they want done without saying 'do it this way.' They describe what they want, then let the writer figure out a way to do it.