A practicing physician in Britain, the Scottish-born John Hodge began a second career as a well-regarded screenwriter in the 1990s. He has also forged a working relationship with director Danny Boyle and actor Ewan McGregor. His first produced script, "Shallow Grave" (1994), was an original thriller centering on three Scottish roommates who take in a border who dies. The trio then discover a suitcase full of money and their greed and dark sides surface, revealing the superficial nature of privilege and breeding when money is involved. A critical success, the feature also marked Hodge's debut