From time to time, just about every 'Vanity Fair' writer has a chance to sell rights to an article or a book to Hollywood.

All the way back in 1999, when I first stumbled upon the idea of a project tracking John Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson and all the major Depression-era bank robbers, I thought the subject was too big to be a single book. Instead, with a friend's help, I pitched the idea as a miniseries to HBO. To my amazement, they bought it.

I don't know the figures, but Hollywood must buy 100 rights for every movie that actually gets made.

Bryan Burrough Quotes