Blacklisted

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This week on Blacklisted, we're joined by screenwriter Kat Wood, whose spec script Ruby made the 2020 Black List and sold to Amazon Studios and 87North in a competitive situation.
Kat's path here is its own story - she started as a BBC broadcast journalist in the UK before breaking into Hollywood with sci-fi specs Envoy and Genus, both of which sold to Amy Pascal's Pascal Pictures.
We dig into how Ruby took a familiar genre - the assassin thriller - and found a fresh way in, the process of getting a female-led action spec noticed in a crowded market, and her meteoric start directing Maggie Gyllenhaal in a short film on Venice Beach! If you're working on a genre spec and wondering how to make a familiar premise feel new, this one's for you.

Guest: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Kat Wood⁠ on ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠X⁠
Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Chris Hill⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BlueSky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠storyandplot.com/blacklisted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for a 10% discount on Tom Vaughan's fantastic screenwriting courses.

Useful links:
Fantastic Four - Trailer
Jameson Short Film - Home (8 mins)
Ruby Spec Sale - Deadline
David Boxerbaum Talks About Ruby Sale - Into The Story
Ruby Review - Scriptshadow
Envoy Spec Sale - Deadline
Genus Spec Sale - Deadline
Pete Spec Sale - Deadline
Kat Wood Signs With Range Media Partners - Variety

​Visit the new Stan Store @ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠stan.store/blacklisted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
​Subscribe to our extended interviews on Spotify ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

This week we're joined by writing partners Lou Howe and Todd Bartels, whose Dolly Parton origin story Dumb Blonde landed on the 2022 Black List - and whose next collaboration just got a lot bigger. Their Anthony Bourdain feature Tony, directed by Matt Johnson and starring Dominic Sessa, hits theaters from A24 this week, and we get into what it actually looks like to go from a beloved-but-unproduced script to a movie in theaters.
We trace their partnership all the way back to high school, where the two met and first started acting before they ever thought about writing together professionally. From there we dig into the mechanics of co-writing - how they split scenes, fight for lines and banish widows - plus the very different challenges of cracking a music-icon origin story versus a pre-fame character study of a guy everyone thinks they already know.
If you've ever wondered what a writing partnership actually looks like day-to-day, this one's for you.

Guest: ⁠⁠⁠Todd Bartels on Instagram and X
Lou Howe on ⁠Instagram⁠⁠ and X
Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Chris Hill⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BlueSky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠storyandplot.com/blacklisted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for a 10% discount on Tom Vaughan's fantastic screenwriting courses.

Useful links:
Tony - A24 Trailer
Tony - Official Website
Tony - THR Review
Tony - Cast Conversation (YouTube)

Visit the new Stan Store @ ⁠⁠⁠⁠stan.store/blacklisted⁠⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to our extended interviews on Spotify ⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠.

What does it look like when a spec script becomes a Spielberg film? Ask Liz Hannah.
In 2016, Hannah — a first-time feature writer who'd spent four years in development before switching to the page — wrote a script about The Washington Post's decision to publish the Pentagon Papers. She wrote it because the story of Katharine Graham, the first female publisher of a major American newspaper, was one she couldn't shake. Her best-case scenario was getting an agent. Instead, the script placed second on the 2016 Black List, landed at Amy Pascal's desk, and sold the day after Pascal read it. Weeks later, Steven Spielberg called. Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks followed.
We get into what drew her to Graham's story in the first place, how she found a personal way in to such a monumental piece of American history, and how she defied ‘one in a million’ odds to get her first movie made by Steven Spielberg.

Guest: ⁠⁠Liz Hannah⁠ on Instagram⁠
Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Chris Hill⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BlueSky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠storyandplot.com/blacklisted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for a 10% discount on Tom Vaughan's fantastic screenwriting courses.

Useful links:
The Making of The Post - YouTube
Liz's Writing Office Set-Up - Variety
Episode Link - Post producer, Trevor White
Episode Link - Post producer, Allan Mandelbaum
Liz Hannah Interview - The Washington Post
Overall Deal with Sony TV - Deadline
'The God of the Woods' - Mini-Series Press Release

Visit the new Stan Store @ ⁠⁠⁠stan.store/blacklisted⁠⁠⁠
Subscribe to our extended interviews on Spotify ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

Aaron Karo wrote a Black List script about a toy that turned into a bomb scare.
This week's guest is comedian, author, and screenwriter Aaron Karo, whose spec Tickle Me Elmo landed on the 2024 Black List.
On paper, it's the story of how a $28 vibrating plush toy nearly tanked a toy company's supply chain, and turned suburban parents into brawlers. Off paper, it's personal — Karo's father was a Tyco executive who carried the first Tickle Me Elmo prototype through airport security, where its internal mechanism read as an explosive on the X-ray and he had to disarm it — by tickling it — in front of armed guards.
Aaron and I get into how you build a movie around a toy instead of a person, the rise of the corporate biopic and what it took to get a spec this specific onto "the list."

Guest: ⁠Aaron Karo⁠ on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠X ⁠and ⁠TikTok⁠⁠
Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Chris Hill⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BlueSky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠storyandplot.com/blacklisted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for a 10% discount on Tom Vaughan's fantastic screenwriting courses.

Useful links:
Man of the Year Podcast
Black List 2024 - Variety
Elf Unwrapped: Behind The Scenes of a Modern Christmas Classic - HarperCollins
Aaron Karo: Ruminations
Aaron Karo: Books!
The Buddy System - Audible

Visit the new Stan Store @ ⁠⁠stan.store/blacklisted⁠⁠
Subscribe to our extended interviews on Spotify ⁠⁠here⁠⁠.

What happens when the line between life and art disappears completely?
That's exactly what happened to today's guest, Julia Yorks, writer of the 2024 Black List script The 7 Guys You Date Before Marriage, about a newly single woman diving back into the dating pool after the collapse of a ten-year relationship.
Here's the twist: that exact heartbreak happened to her between the first and second drafts.
She's been remarkably open about it, chronicling the whole thing for her 75K+ followers across social media.
But this isn't just a story about heartbreak; Julia just sold the project to Sony.
Find out how she turned tears into a sale in today's interview.

Guest: Julia Yorks on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠X and TikTok⁠
Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Chris Hill⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BlueSky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠storyandplot.com/blacklisted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for a 10% discount on Tom Vaughan's fantastic screenwriting courses.

Useful links:
ScriptWell: The Community for Screenwriters
Go Into The Story: Interview
Eat, Cry, Write - by Julia Yorks (Substack)
Shyamalan's 'The Happening' Deserves Another Chance - Den of Geek
Jack Reacher and Sandy Hook - Guardian