Elmore Leonard Leonard also contributed one chapter (the twelfth of thirteen) to the 1996 "Miami Herald" parody serial novel "Naked Came the Manatee" (). Twenty-six of Leonard's novels and short stories have been adapted for the screen (19 as motion pictures and another seven as television programs). Aside from the short stories already noted, a number of Leonard's novels have been adapted as films, including "Get Shorty" (1990 novel, 1995 film), "Out of Sight" (1996 novel, 1998 film), and "Rum Punch" (1992 novel, 1997 film "Jackie Brown"). "52 Pick-Up" (1986 film) was first adapted very loosely into the 1984 film "The Ambassador"
Quentin Tarantino that he would try to get people to watch really cool movies." After Tarantino met Lawrence Bender at a Hollywood party, Bender encouraged him to write a screenplay. His first attempted script, which he described as a "straight 70s exploitation action movie" was never published and was abandoned soon after. Tarantino co-wrote and directed his first movie, "My Best Friend's Birthday", in 1987. The final reel of the film was almost completely destroyed in a lab fire that occurred during editing, but its screenplay later formed the basis for "True Romance". In 1986, Tarantino got his first Hollywood job, working