career. Now, for the first time in his life, he's out of his element when he falls for Danielle. The project originated four years ago when the screenwriting team of Brent Goldberg and David T. Wagner came up with a concept, and then a screenplay, about a high school student dating an adult film star. Producers Charles Gordon, Harry Gittes and Marc Sternberg sparked to the idea right away, and brought Luke Greenfield on board to direct after Gordon and Sternberg watched a screening of Greenfield 's 10-minute comedy film, “The Right Hook.” “I see a thousand shorts a year,” says Gordon, “but nothing as good as Luke's film.” Greenfield set to work on taking what he calls “a great concept” and making it his own, adding realism, danger and surprises. As development continued on THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, Adam Sandler hired Greenfield to direct the Rob Schneider comedy “The Animal,” which Sandler's company was producing. “I would call Chuck Gordon all the time, begging him, ‘Please wait for me!',” says Greenfield . “I couldn't stop thinking about the project. The second I finished production on ‘The Animal,' I was meeting with Chuck, figuring out how we could get THE GIRL NEXT DOOR made.” Greenfield and the producers brought in screenwriter Stuart Blumberg who, under Greenfield 's supervision, infused the story with a more realistic sensibility, fleshing out some characters and adding new ones. The project continued to move forward until, nearly four years after its inception, a read-through of the script landed a “green light.” |
