WGA Winner Arndt Writing Toy Story 3

[Posted by Cynthia Littleton]
It’s the kind of heartfelt “thank you for believing in me” that every motion picture lit agent hopes to get at this time of year. On Sunday night at the Century Plaza Hotel (where else?) Bill Weinstein of Endeavor got the big shout-out when Michael Arndt earned the laurel from the scribe tribe for original screenplay for Fox Searchlight’s “Little Miss Sunshine” at the WGA Awards. “The only thing that separates me from being up here and living in my mother’s basement is Bill Weinstein,” Arndt observed, noting Weinstein’s early enthusiasm for “Sunshine” and his support through the long years of trying to get the movie made. Arndt also shed some light on the Robert Towne-”Sunshine” connection, especially for those of us who didn’t know there was one. But through the magic of awards-show serendipity, it was Towne who presented this year’s WGA original screenplay award, and in fact Towne confirmed backstage that he’d been an early supporter of Arndt’s after reading the original “Sunshine” screenplay some years back. How’d the famed screenwriter of “Chinatown” get a hold of the nascent screenwriter’s work? “Through my niece,” Towne explained backstage, without offering further explanation. As for next steps, Arndt said he’s now busy working for Pixar/Disney (on the script for “Toy Story 3”) and then will get busy on writing his next original screenplay idea. Pressing Arndt for details on what that idea might be while he was still on the high from winning the WGA trophy (heavy as it is) was pointless. He wasn’t talking, just basking.