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.