Screenwriter Scott Moore's bachelor party with three of his Punahou classmates wasn't exactly as crazy as the one depicted in the hit movie he co-wrote, "The Hangover," but it was in Las Vegas — and it was a wild weekend.

"The Hangover" is about a bachelor party gone awry. Three groomsmen wake up in a trashed Las Vegas hotel suite without a clue to what happened the night before — and minus the groom. Moore says no one lost their memory, or the groom, during his Vegas party, but he did come home with six stitches in his head. Say no more. ...

Moore grew up on O'ahu and attended Punahou; he was just home in Honolulu for Punahou's reunion festivities.

Among the films he has worked on with his writing partner of 10 years, Jon Lucas, are "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" and "Four Christmases." Glamorous? Well, with a writers' strike looming, he and Lucas did lock themselves in a room with Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn to finalize their holiday screenplay.

The screenwriter answered a few questions about his experience on the hit movie, and with his film career:

Q. Is "The Hangover" based on personal experience?

A. My bachelor party wasn't the basis for the movie, but it did help inspire the movie. And yes, my three friends are all characters — they're really funny. ... Filmmaking is very collaborative. Everything I've written with any success has been with my writing partner, Jon Lucas. This movie was a collaboration with Jon and Todd Phillips (the director) and the three comedians, who all ad libbed, so by no means do I take credit for the whole movie.

Q. How did the movie come about?

A. Jon and I had heard the studio was looking for a script about a bachelor party, and we thought it was a really boring idea. We hit on the idea of a movie about a bachelor party but without the party, just the train wreck afterward. Hearing about it seemed funnier than seeing it. You don't see the party itself, you just imagine how crazy it could be, and your imagination creates the party — and it's crazier than the reality could ever be. Since people are imagining how bad it could be, they are inserting themselves into a previous party experience they've had. It's like a really good monster movie where you don't see the monster until the end. The monster you imagine is worse than anything you might see.

Q. How did you get interested in film as a career?

A. My first taste of filmmaking was in a "Fiction and Film" class at Punahou with (teacher) Doc Berry. I went on to get a degree in economics at University of Colorado because my parents pushed me to get a practical degree, but I took lots of classes in film.

Q. What is your process when writing with Jon Lucas?

A. I couldn't do this without a partner. We work in comedy, so it's invaluable to pitch ideas and lines back and forth. Sometimes we'll be in the same room and hammer out the idea and outline. Really, an outline — literally, like you learn to do in high school, with indentations and all that. It's usually about 25 to 35 pages, so we both know what the story is. Then he'll go off and write on his own and he'll pass the script to me and I'll do a pass and it will go back and forth a number of times. When we're close to production, we'll break it up and he'll work on one scene and I'll work on another scene. He'll delete a joke and put his in and then I'll delete a joke and put mine in and it goes back and forth and back and forth and then we'll call each other and argue about it.

Q. What is your advice to people looking to break into the Hollywood film industry?

A. If you love movies, go for it, it can be really fun. Hard work and tenacity will eventually pay off. On the other hand, if you can find a job in Hawai'i, any job, Zippy's, whatever, stay there — packing bentos and surfing beats L.A. traffic and smog every day.

Q. Any Hawai'i movies on the horizon?

A. I've been dying to find an idea for a movie that could be shot in Hawai'i, with cultural references. Maybe a cross between "Whale Rider" and "Napoleon Dynamite." There are so many great stories in Hawai'i that don't get national attention.