Spotlight on the Screenwriters of 21 : Peter Steinfeld and Allan Loeb

It began as a small club at the prestigious university known as MIT. The MIT Blackjack Team consisted of a group of mathematically inclined college kids who set out to make card-counting history with their new, foolproof counting method. This club enjoyed such significant financial success, however, that soon enough, their exploits were turned into a book by Ben Mezrich, "Bringing Down The House."
A few short years later, this New York Times Bestseller was chosen for production as a movie. Which talented screenwriters were destined to make the transition from Bringing Down the House to "21"? Two fairly new Hollywood personalities: Allan Loeb and Peter Steinfeld.

Loeb's Obsessive Gambling Adds to 21

Allan Loeb knows a thing or two about gambling. Although he's sworn off gambling for good, Loeb used to be a gambling addict, who struggled with his inability to write successful screen plays and his inescapable desire to gamble away any money he did manage to earn. Just a few short years ago, Loeb was thousands of dollars in debt with a hopeless future looming ahead. To make up for his lack of success, Loeb often used casino gambling as an outlet, where he sometimes lost thousands of dollars in a few short hours of play.
It wasn't until Loeb turned to Gamblers Anonymous that his life took a turn for the better. "I had been giving so much emotional energy to gambling that only half of myself was out there writing, " said Loeb to the LA Times, "I started going to GA meetings, and the writing flourished. It had so much more energy and passion."
These days, Allan Loeb is one of the most sought-after writers in Hollywood. He recently wrote "Things we Lost in the Fire," which is now a DreamWorks film starring Oscar winners Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro. Also from Loeb comes "A Little Game Without Consequence" which will soon start filming with Cameron Diaz and Jim Carrey.
As for 21, it goes without saying that Loeb's inside knowledge of gambling and casinos will help make this movie a success.

From Best-seller Book to Box-Office Hit: 21

Peter Steinfeld didn't always dream of being a screenwriter. After a long trip through college (eight years), Steinfeld moved from job to to job, even taking the time to start his own greeting card company. It wasn't until he took a six week screenwriting workshop at NYU that his fate began to change.
"By the end of six weeks, I had written about eleven pages," said Steinfeld to the Writer's Guild of America, "My feeling was, I'm not sure if I'm any good, but I love this!" Those eleven pages became the opening act of his first screenplay, Drowning Mona. A short while later, Steinfeld embarked upon his first successful film, Analyze That, followed by an adaptation of the book Be Cool, a sequel to the box office hit, Get Shorty.

After his first successful adaptation, Steinfeld was more than happy to take on his next project: a screenplay for the popular novel, Bringing Down the House. This is now the movie 21. His newfound talent for capturing the essence of a written story in film format has proved an asset to the screenwriting team.

Expect great things from the new movie, 21, coming out in 2008. This film is bound to breathe new life into Ben Mezrich's captivating book.