"'Slumdog' writer in 'Truckers' convoy"

So what do you do if you've just won an Academy Award for writing the screenplay of the movie phenomenon Slumdog Millionaire? Here's what screenwriter Simon Beaufoy is doing to follow up his date with Oscar:

The "Slumdog Millionaire" writer, who walked away with the Academy Award for adapted screenplay last month, is working on the script for DreamWorks Animation's "Truckers." The project is in the early development stages, and nothing is known about the story line.

Maybe Beaufoy is taking a professional tip from director Danny Boyle who flits between wildly different types of movie projects including Shallow Grave (2004), a comic thriller, Trainspotting (1996), a comic drama about heroin addiction, The Beach (2000), a big Hwood drama-adventure, 28 Days Later (2002), a horror-thriller, Millions (2004), a comic-drama starring two youths, and the aforementioned Slumdog Millionaire.

Maybe Beaufoy is fascinated about working in the field of animation.

Or maybe DreamWorks Animation hand delivered buckets of gold to Beaufoy's residence.

In any event, it's an interesting move by Beaufoy -- and not the first for an Academy Award winning writer:

The animation process is drawn-out for writers and involves years of give and take with storyboard artists, animators and executives as they provide input and create scenes. But Beaufoy isn't the first scribe to take the gold and dive right into animation: Michael Arndt, who won the original screenplay Oscar for 2006's "Little Miss Sunshine," packed his bags for Pixar to work on the script for the forthcoming "Toy Story 3" after winning his statuette.