Gottlieb was first brought on as an actor in the film, playing the character of local newspaper editor Meadows, but as he and director Steven Spielberg discussed ideas for the script, he was invited to work as a screenwriter as well. Gottlieb recalled being given the official title and then traveling to location the next day. "Steven and I flew to Boston and Martha's Vineyard, to start shooting a script that had not been through its final rewrite and that was still largely uncast," he wrote. "As much fun as it was to be working a definite 'go' project (I had sold five screenplays already, but none had reached the screen), this was a little too close to 'go' for comfort."
