Beginning with Return of the Secaucus 7 (1980) the films of John Sayles have been integral to the development of Independent Film in the United States. His films depict a world very different from the version offered by Hollywood. A screenwriter "for hire" for Hollywood, Sayles is also a writer of fiction and an occasional actor. To date he has directed 18 films.  ​ Sayles career as a storyteller began with his fiction. His first novel was Pride of the Bimbos (1975) followed by Union Dues (1978, nominated for National Book Award and National Critics Circle Award). His short story collection At the Anarchists Convention came next and then Los Gusanos (1990) followed by Dillinger in Hollywood (2004) and his epic historical novel A Moment in the Sun (2011). Yellow Earth (2020) Sayles most recent novel, was published by Haymarket Books.  ​ Fiction brought Sayles to the attention of legendary Director/Producer Roger Corman, for whom he wrote screenplays for such classics as Piranha, Battle Beyond the Stars and The Lady in Red. Continuing to work with filmmakers who had developed in the Corman school, he penned The Howling and Alligator, two works that helped to establish a new more self-aware horror film tradition.  ​ Screenwriting is still Sayles' primary profession, and credited or not, he has been able to work in a myriad of genres - Western (The Quick and the Dead ), techno-thriller (Apollo 13 ), Action (Men of War ), Monster Flicks (Mimic ), Romance, Historical Epic, Animated features, crafting over sixty screenplays-for-hire over the years. This has allowed him to work with Directors such as John Frankenheimer, Steven Spielberg, Jonathan Demme, Sidney Pollack, Billie August, Ron Howard, Sam Raimi, Joe Dante, Rob Reiner, and James Cameron among others, and get a view of their storytelling process.

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