Any relation to actual truth is just a Hollywood coincidence

A few years ago, a friend of mine used a feature story that I’d written to work up a concept for a feature film. We both ended up going to the family of the boy I had written about and asked them if we could design a development deal. Since we had no money, dollars didn’t change hands, though there was a contingency for remuneration just in case something did get made.

Problem was, my friend was a lot more attuned to what Hollywood wants than I was. He immediately began pitching a story line that had little to do with reality. And I freaked. Ultimately, nothing happened. Such stories are a legion unless you have a really interesting twist, and that wasn’t the case. Unless, of course, we made stuff up. Which I really didn’t want to do.

All of which is my way of introducing this story about the making of the forthcoming film “The Social Network.” Apparently, the screenwriter, Aaron Sorkin , had no compunction whatsoever about inventing stuff about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg .

I guess that’s what it takes to be a Hollywood success.