A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or studio.

Spec scripts have not always held as much cachet in the business as they do now. Ernest Lehman describes how his original script for North by Northwest was unusual at that point in his career:

If the writer of a spec script has an agent, the agent will identify a number of prospective buyers who may range from small independent producers to executives working in the major studios, and attempt to build up 'heat' under the script. The script is sent out simultaneously to all the prospective buyers in the hope of attracting a bidding war.

If the script sells, the writer may receive a payment of anything from a few tens of thousands of dollars to several million. If not, the script is sometimes dead in the water because it is now in the databases of the studios and development executives, and has been marked as having been 'passed' on.

John Truby is a screenwriter, director and screenwriting teacher. His first feature film as writer/director was All-American Boy. He has served as a consultant on over 1,000 film scripts over the past three decades, and is also known for the screenwriting software program Blockbuster (originally "Storyline Pro").

Truby argues that most teachers of screenwriting emphasize inner transformation of the characters but not the moral effect their actions have on others. He is critical of Syd Field's three-act “Paradigm” and has instead crafted his own 22-step outline. Truby's first book The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller was published in October, 2007 by Faber and Faber.

John Truby is the co-writer and story consultant on the recent Disney/BBC film AFRICAN CATS.

Alfred Gough III (born August 22, 1967) is an American screenwriter and producer.

Born in Leonardtown, Maryland, Gough graduated from St. Mary's Ryken High School (1985) and The Catholic University of America (1989). Gough attended the Peter Stark Producing Program at the University of Southern California where he teamed up with his writing partner Miles Millar.

Millar and Gough enjoyed early success with a script they wrote while studying at USC. “Mango", a buddy-cop story where a cop who was allergic to animals was paired with an orangutan, sold to New Line Cinema for $400,000. The film was never made but it brought the pair valuable publicity.

Al Gough and Millar have become prolific writers/producers. Their feature credits include the action-adventure “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” for director Rob Cohen, the hit action-comedy “Shanghai Noon,” starring Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson and Lucy Liu, as well as its sequel “Shanghai Knights,” directed by David Dobkin, “Spider-Man 2,” starring Toby Maguire, “Herbie: Fully Loaded,” starring Lindsay Lohan, “Lethal Weapon 4,” starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover and the recent “I Am Number Four,” produced by Michael Bay.

Miles Millar (born c. 1967) is a British screenwriter and producer. Miles is best known for co originating and writing the popular Tv series Smallville alongside his partner Alfred Gough.

Millar was educated at Claremont Fan Court School, and is a graduate of Christ's College, Cambridge, where he was Chairman of Cambridge University Conservative Association..

Millar attended the Peter Stark Producing Program at the University of Southern California where he teamed up with his writing partner Al Gough.

Millar and Gough enjoyed early success with a script they wrote while studying at USC. “Mango", a buddy-cop story where a cop who was allergic to animals was paired with an orangutan, sold to New Line Cinema for $400,000. The film was never made but it brought the pair valuable publicity.

Miles Millar along with his partner Al Gough are prolific writers/producers. Their feature credits include the action-adventure “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” for director Rob Cohen, the hit action-comedy “Shanghai Noon,” starring Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson and Lucy Lui, as well as its sequel “Shanghai Knights,” directed by David Dobkin, “Spider-Man 2,” starring Toby Maguire, “Herbie: Fully Loaded,” starring Lindsay Lohan, “Lethal Weapon 4,” starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover and the recent “I Am Number Four,” produced by Michael Bay.

Captain Nemo, also known as Prince Dakkar, is a character featured in Jules Verne's novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870) and The Mysterious Island (1874).

Nemo, one of the most famous antiheroes in fiction, is a mysterious figure. The son of an Indian Raja, he is a scientific genius who roams the depths of the sea in his submarine, the Nautilus, which was built on a deserted island. Nemo tries to project a stern, controlled confidence, but he is driven by a thirst for vengeance and a hatred of imperialism (particularly the British Empire) and wracked by remorse over the deaths of his crew members and even by the deaths of enemy sailors.

Nemo is Latin for "no one", and also (as νέμω) Greek for "I give what is due" (see Nemesis).

Nemo is, moreover, the Latin rendering of Ancient Greek Outis ("Nobody"), the pseudonym Odysseus employed to outwit the Cyclops Polyphemus.

Nothing concerning his past is revealed in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, except his having reason to hate the countries of the world, the apparent loss of his family at some point in the past.