Neal Jimenez Gets On With It

When screenwriter Neal Jimenez (“River’s Edge”) joins the ranks of writer-directors this spring with “The Waterdance,” it will be with highly personal material. His script revolves around three men in a hospital’s spinal injury ward--the same kind of ward where Jimenez, a paraplegic, spent five months following a 1984 camping trip accident.

Jimenez, 30, will direct from a wheelchair.

“We’re working out ways to accommodate me,” he says, explaining that his former UCLA film school classmate, Mike Steinberg, will be assisting as co-director (and making his own directorial debut).

Eric Stoltz heads the cast of the $2.5 million “Waterdance,” which takes its title from a dream experienced by one of the characters. The story was inspired by Jimenez’s stay at Downey’s Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center after he broke his neck in the accident.

“It’s about facing up to the situation--and getting on with things,” says Jimenez, whose schedule has been filled with assignments--including the upcoming Bette Midler vehicle, “For the Boys”--since his “River’s Edge” screenplay was optioned not long before his accident.

“Waterdance” will tackle tough issues, including the effect of spinal trauma on romantic relationships, Jimenez says.

But he also promises: “This won’t be a downer, or one of those movies about overcoming adversity. This movie will have a lot of humor. And I’m proud to say there’s not one character who’s an athlete who has to figure out what to do with his life.”