Joel Solomon has some advice for would-be screenwriters:

"Just because one agent or movie company might reject your story, don't give up."

After a pause, he reconsidered.

"Maybe that's not the best advice. It might save you a lot of headaches and stress to just move on to another project."

Mr. Solomon, a Squirrel Hill native and 1998 graduate of Allderdice High School, had his first film, "Foreign Exchange," released on DVD Sept. 9.

While he may be a little uncertain with his advice, he is one of the few screenwriters who can say his script has been made into a full-length film -- no small feat in today's movie industry. He's also a pretty funny guy.

Co-written with friend Elliott Phear, "Foreign Exchange" is about a group of high school seniors who host foreign exchange students as a way to coast through their last year of high school.

Mr. Solomon, 28, who now lives in New York City, called it "a teen comedy along the lines of 'American Pie.' "

He honed his comedy-writing skills while writing for the school newspaper at Pittsburgh Allderdice, but he said his greatest teacher wasn't in the English department.

Instead, he credits his gym teacher, Larry Neiberg, with encouraging him to write during two elective classes Mr. Solomon took his senior year.

"He let me get away with a lot of stuff I couldn't get away with in other classes, and he understood my sense of humor," Mr. Solomon said. "My English teacher didn't really get me," he added.

At Hofstra University, he took a short detour into sports broadcasting.

"You know the saying, 'You've got a face for radio?' Well, they told me I had a voice for print," Mr. Solomon said.

But before he graduated, he started writing for MTV's "Total Request Live." Since then, he's written for "The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn," Comedy Central and the MTV Video Music Awards, as well as for comedians Will Ferrell, Carson Daly and Jimmy Fallon.

In 2003, he finished the "Foreign Exchange" screenplay, based on an idea he'd had in high school.

"My agent said he thought he could get it made, but it would take time," Mr. Solomon said.

Years of meetings with movie executives and investors followed, and the film finally went into production in 2007 with Jennifer Coolidge, Ryan Pinkston, Clint Howard and Tanya Ramonde.

Mr. Solomon said many personal details he'd written into the script were changed or removed, including the Pittsburgh setting and references to his high school friends. But he said meeting Ms. Coolidge on the Hollywood set made up for a lot.

"She was Stifler's mom in 'American Pie,' so it was pretty exciting."

The best moment was when he saw a copy of his film displayed in the Virgin Megastore in Times Square.

"It was right next to 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin,' so I was in good company."

He conceded the movie wasn't likely to make him a dime.

"But maybe, somewhere, some kid in Iowa will see it and laugh."

Mr. Solomon said for now he's staying with television, but he hopes someday to move beyond writing teen comedies.

"Maybe I can move up to writing young adult comedies."

Although he lives in New York, Mr. Solomon said Pittsburgh will always be home, and he closely follows the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates.

"My friends from Pittsburgh are my lifelong friends," he said, adding that one pal offered to have a premiere party for his film in Little's shoe store in Squirrel Hill.

"But we didn't want to scare away the customers."

Mr. Solomon said his parents, Eric and Estelle Solomon, who still live in Squirrel Hill, are "pretty proud" of him -- even though they haven't seen his film.

"I'll give them a copy," he said. "Just as soon as I replace it with 'The Notebook,' " a romantic drama.

Upon reflection, Mr. Solomon said he did have some advice for young people:

"Be open to anything. I never thought this is what I'd be doing with my life, but I guess things work out the way they're supposed to."