Blacklisted

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Before Fifty Shades of Grey, before Venom, Kelly Marcel wrote a spec about a two-week standoff between Walt Disney and P.L. Travers, and it landed on the 2011 Black List.
This week on Blacklisted, Kelly joins me to talk about turning one of Disney's most closely guarded pieces of company history into Saving Mr. Banks.
We also get into her leap from Terra Nova to features, and why she still believes in writing the script nobody asked for.
And yes, saying 'no' to Stephen Spielberg...

Guest: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Kelly Marcel⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram
Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Chris Hill⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, X and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BlueSky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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

Useful links:
Disney Acquiring 'Saving Mr. Banks' - Deadline
Kelly Marcel Interview - Go Into The Story
Saving Mr. Banks (Script Review) - ScriptShadow
Emma Thompson Interview - Variety
Movie Structure Analysis - Helping Writers Become Authors

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

This week on Blacklisted, we're doing something new: bringing a writer and the executive who developed the idea with him into the same room, together.

Leo Sardarian and Joe Russo join me to talk about Nicholas — the 2013 Black List script that reimagines the man behind the St. Nicholas myth as the hero of a sprawling, Odyssey-style journey through the ancient world. Forget the sleigh and the workshop: this is Nicholas of Myra, a real 4th-century bishop, recast as a battle-tested wanderer fighting his way north.

The idea started with Joe. Leo and Joe walk through how it first took shape, how they built it together from concept to spec, the years of development that turned it into a Black List title, and the long road from page to greenlight — Nicholas is maybe soon to be headed to the screen as a seasonal mini-series.

We get into what that collaboration actually looked like: an executive and a writer shaping a passion project from the ground up, and what it takes to protect an idea like that inside the studio system without losing what made it special in the first place

Guest: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Leo Sardarian⁠⁠ on ⁠⁠ ⁠X⁠⁠
Joe Russo 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:
Leo Sardarian makes The Hit List 2017
The Expansion Project - Black List 2017
Atlas Review - Deadline
Joe Russo sells spec to Universal, Raimi and Peele - THR

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

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