Hollywood screenwriters pretend to be Seth Rogen just to get their script read

The number of scripts that go through Hollywood is quite phenomenal. To stand out, you either have to know someone or be someone, that’s how the game works.

No wonder, then, that two writers decided to impersonate two someones so the powerful Hollywood elite finally took note of their script.

Despite being told by assistants their script was good, Los Angeles-based screenwriters Jonathan Witz, 25, and Jeremy Spektor, 29, pushed couldn’t find any buyers for The Kosher Nostra - a crass comedy about struggling screenwriters who work for Uber part-time to pay the bills and end up accidentally being getaway drivers for the Jewish mafia.

To get noticed, they named their characters after their favourite comedians - Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, James Franco and Aziz Ansari - hoping the actors would one day read their script.

However, their plan failed. No one was biting. So they came up with a new tactic: put Rogan and writing partner Evan Goldberg’s names on the script, along with production company Point Grey.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, dozens of studio executives began to take notice, the script circulating quickly around Hollywood’s finest filmmakers.

Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, Will Ferrell, Megan Ellison, Scott Stuber, and Mark Gordon all received a copy, sent out via email. The duo called themselves Danny Goldstein, and ended correspondence with a United Talent Agency signature.

However, their plan was foiled. Sources told the aforementioned publication that Rogan’s team were made aware of the script and their legal team sent a letter to ‘Goldstein’ demanding the Point Grey name be removed.

"We’ve all heard the myth about a young Spielberg slipping onto the Universal lot,” one of the screenwriters told THR. “This was about getting our script past the ‘gatekeepers’ and into the right hands.” Better luck next time guys.