Unable to find a teaching position after earning an MA in Education from the University of Michigan, Lawrence Kasdan became an advertising copywriter, a profession he found so loathsome he refused to bring a second child into the world until he escaped it. Still, he labored at it for five years (even picking up a Clio Award along the way), first in Detroit and later in Los Angeles where he tried to interest Hollywood in his screenplays. Although he sold a script ("The Bodyguard") which would not make it to the screen until 1992, his screenplay for "Continental Divide" (1981) caught the eye of
Worked as advertising copywriter for W B Doner and Company in Detroit, MI
Joined Doyle, Dane, Bernbach Advertisers in Los Angeles, CA; wrote and submitted screenplays at the same time
Worked as a freelance screenwriter
1976
Sold first screenplay, "The Bodyguard"; remained unproduced until 1992 when it starred Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston; reportedly written as a Steve McQueen vehicle originally (date approximate)
