Lutz and Smith (“10 Things I Hate About You,” “Legally Blonde,” “Ella Enchanted”) are one of the most successful female writing teams in movies today. And they attribute this success, at least partly, to working hard to make work seem like a vacation.
So on a recent weekday afternoon — at the 2 p.m. start of the day’s five-hour shift — Lutz efficiently popped a bottle of Leclerc Briant on the poolside deck of her expansive home. Immediately from around the corner came Smith’s hearty “Woo!” as Lutz filled opaque red flutes. Before long, Smith’s legal pad was in hand as she paced, jotted notes and acted out potential dialogue, while Lutz laid serenely still on a raft midpool as she worked out the movie in her head.
A trip to Lutz’s Puerto Vallarta time share early in their partnership in the mid-’90s seasoned the habit. “We outlined ’10 Things’ with a bucket of Corona between our legs on the beach,” says Lutz. “So we decided . . . to go with that.”
Right now, two of their rewrite jobs, “Bride Wars” and “The Ugly Truth,” are filming, and their original comedy, “The House Bunny,” will be released in August. Lutz also has a solo drama script called “Long Time Gone” shooting this summer, and Smith is producing “Whip It!,” written by Shauna Cross, for director Drew Barrymore this year.
Meanwhile, they both publish fiction — Smith writes young adult novels and Lutz “raunchy chick lit” — and they’re putting together a female buddy comedy pitch for “Bunny” star Anna Faris.
“She’s the sexy, horny one, and I’m the stunted adolescent,” jokes Smith of a partnership that has even endured a stint in couples therapy (no, they’re not actually a couple). “We’re like a walking female buddy comedy!”
Lutz chuckles and unleashes the cork on a bottle of Moët, its golden contents cascading over the rim.
“Woo!” go the ladies.
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