Jack Dunn Derek Cianfrance, director and co-writer of “The Place Beyond the Pines,” told IndieWire at the New Directors/New Films festival that Bradley Cooper almost bowed out of the production after receiving a rewritten script. Just before principle photography began, Cianfrance brought in screenwriter Darius Marder to rewrite “every word” of “The Place Beyond the Pines.” Cooper was not pleased with the changes to his character, a police officer who kills off a compassionate thief (Ryan Gosling) at the film’s halfway mark.