While success in Hollywood usually takes years of long hard struggle, screenwriter Iris Yamashita reached the pinnacle of her career with her first script, “Letters from Iwo Jima” (2006), the Clint Eastwood directed war epic about the famed Pacific theater battle told from the perspective of the Japanese soldiers. Prior to landing the assignment, Yamashita had a day job as a web programmer while working on writing during her spare time. Her only recognition as a writer was taking first place at the Big Bear Screenwriting Competition with her script “Traveler in Tokyo” and publishing a couple
