Shelton’s first produced screenplay was Under Fire, the 1983 political drama starring Nick Nolte and Gene Hackman, set against the Nicaraguan revolution.  

In 1988 he wrote the Oscar nominated screenplay Bull Durham, which was also his directorial debut. The script won numerous critical awards.

Blaze, 1989, starring Paul Newman and Lolita Davidovich, told the story of Louisiana populist, mad Governor Earl Long, and his affair with stripper Blaze Starr. This was followed by White Men Can’t Jump, 1992, with Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson, and Rosie Perez.     

His second big hit with Kevin Costner was Tin Cup, 1996, a romantic comedy set in the golf world, co-written with John Norville.

Other writing/directing credits include COBB, 1995, Play it to the Bone, 1999, and Hollywood Homicide, 2003.   Shelton has written a number of screenplays which were directed by others, as well as directing Dark Blue, 2002, written by David Ayers from a story by James Ellroy.

He is currently out flogging a golf script, a Mexican baseball script, and a boxing script, adapted from the novel Pound for Pound by F.X. Toole.