I'm Paul Sokal, a physician who traded the white coat for the writer's chair after decades of patient care. When the pandemic era slowed life to a halt, I found a box of WWII letters my father wrote from the Pacific theatre, and a remarkable true story jumped out at me. I retired from medicine after more than forty years, and I couldn't shake the sense that history deserved to be told. A friend, Rex McGee—a protégé of Billy Wilder and screenwriting instructor at SMU—pulled me into screenwriting, and that's how this new chapter began. I write character-driven dramas, historical features, thrillers, and grounded comedies that explore moral ambiguity, institutional power, and the human cost of difficult choices. My work has received recognition from Table Read My Screenplay, Scriptation Showcases, Screencraft, Filmmatic, Page International, ISA, and Emerging Screenwriters.

Paul Sokal

I'm Paul Sokal, a physician who traded the white coat for the writer's chair after decades of patient care. When the pandemic era slowed life to a halt, I found a box of WWII letters my father wrote from the Pacific theatre, and a remarkable true story jumped out at me. I retired from medicine after more than forty years, and I couldn't shake the sense that history deserved to be told. A friend, Rex McGee—a protégé of Billy Wilder and screenwriting instructor at SMU—pulled me into screenwriting, and that's how this new chapter began. I write character-driven dramas, historical features, thrillers, and grounded comedies that explore moral ambiguity, institutional power, and the human cost of difficult choices. My work has received recognition from Table Read My Screenplay, Scriptation Showcases, Screencraft, Filmmatic, Page International, ISA, and Emerging Screenwriters.

Available to hire

I’m Paul Sokal, a physician who traded the white coat for the writer’s chair after decades of patient care. When the pandemic era slowed life to a halt, I found a box of WWII letters my father wrote from the Pacific theatre, and a remarkable true story jumped out at me. I retired from medicine after more than forty years, and I couldn’t shake the sense that history deserved to be told.

A friend, Rex McGee—a protégé of Billy Wilder and screenwriting instructor at SMU—pulled me into screenwriting, and that’s how this new chapter began. I write character-driven dramas, historical features, thrillers, and grounded comedies that explore moral ambiguity, institutional power, and the human cost of difficult choices. My work has received recognition from Table Read My Screenplay, Scriptation Showcases, Screencraft, Filmmatic, Page International, ISA, and Emerging Screenwriters.

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Experience Level

Intermediate

Work Experience

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Education

M.D. at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
September 1, 1974 - June 1, 1978
B.A. at Franklin & Marshall College
September 1, 1970 - June 1, 1974
Internal Medicine Residency at UT Southwestern Medical School
July 1, 1978 - June 30, 1981

Qualifications

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Industry Experience

Media & Entertainment, Healthcare, Professional Services, Education