American producer of independent low-budget features turned screenwriter of Hollywood blockbusters. After working on the fringes of the industry for some years and then surviving the frustrations of one development deal after another, James V. Hart finally burst upon the scene with two back-to-back screenplays for two titans of contemporary American filmmaking--Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola. With the one-two punch of "Hook" (1991) and "Bram Stoker's Dracula" (1992), he was catapulted to the A-list of Hollywood screenwriters. Hart points to his family as "The Story Department"; his young son gave him the idea for the central conceit of "Hook": "What if Peter Pan grew up?" He followed as one of the contributors of "Muppet Treasure Island" (1996) and with Michael Goldenberg adapted Carl Sagan's sci-fi novel "Contact" (1997).