The Fitzgerald Rule, waitress scriptwriter edition
She attended the University of Southern California and majored in business. Then she worked as an advertising copywriter, wrote travel brochures, took acting classes, and worked toward a degree in psychology.[1]
In 1978, while working on Romancing the Stone, Thomas was a waitress at Coral Beach Cantina on the Pacific Coast Highway.[2]
It took less than a week for her agent, Norman Kurland, to sell the script.[2] Kurland had sent it to several major studios. Actor/producer Michael Douglas and Columbia Pictures bought the script, though the film would later be made by 20th Century Fox.[2]
According to other accounts, the sale of the screenplay was a Cinderella story in itself: Thomas pitched the story directly to Douglas herself, when the actor happened to come into her cafe as a customer.[3] This account, however, is disputed.[4]
From Wikipedia. You can read about the Fitzgerald Rule here.
If you haven't seen Romancing the Stone, do watch it, it is excellent. Indiana Jones meets sarky, parody script. It has car chases, a boat in Manhatten, Danny de Vito, a priceless MacGuffin and a sequel. Directed by same man as Back to the Future. What more do you want?