Jeff Vintar attended the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop, where he published a series of cartoons in Random House's The Quarterly. Carving out a living as a factory worker, English teacher and transit bus driver, Vintar broke into the film business when he sold three original spec scripts in the span of six months.

The second screenplay, a twist-filled sci-fi love story called Spaceless, has become almost legendary in insider circles due to its reputation and long tortuous twenty-three year struggle through Hollywood's "development hell." With notable professionals calling it their favorite unproduced screenplay and online collectors always on the lookout for a copy of the script, it is often referred to as one of the Holy Grail scripts. It is a long-time favorite of Gore Verbinski, who directed The Ring, Pirates of the Caribbean and Rango.