Tue, 28 June 2022
Based on George Saunders' short story Escape from Spiderhead, the Netflix adaptation follows inmates at a state-of-the-art penitentiary who volunteer as medical subjects to shorten their sentences. Paul Wernick describes the moment he and co-writer Rhett Reese were introduced to Saunders' story: "Jeremy Steckler was the executive [at The New Yorker] at the time. He put it in front of us when it first was printed about ten years ago, and we fell in love with it. We said, 'We're doing it. We have to write this.' We were so passionate about it... George had laid out what was the makings of a movie, but we had to expand it out."
Don’t forget to subscribe to the Write On Podcast on iTunes!
Direct download: Write_On_-_Rhett_Reese__Paul_Wernick_for_Spiderhead_mixdown.mp3
Category:screenwriting -- posted at: 4:49pm PST |
Tue, 21 June 2022
Created, written, and directed by Nida Manzoor, We Are Lady Parts follows a British punk rock band consisting entirely of Muslim women as they strive for musical success. Manzoor discusses the pressure of feeling like she was representing an entire community and how she ultimately decided to write from her own experience: "I'd had a few meetings as a new writer where I was sort of being asked to write about the suffering of being a Muslim woman or to portray it as being a victim, [which] didn't reflect my experience or the women I knew, and so I found that frustrating. I was like, all right, if I was going to examine this aspect of my identity, how would I do it? ... The frustration pushed me into developing something which is my dream show to make." Manzoor goes on to describe her connection to the story itself and how that ties into her creative roots: "I grew up in a very creative household old - a very musical household - which is why the show is sort of about a band, so I think music was my first passion. But then after doing a degree in politics, I realized very quickly I didn't want to have anything to do with politics; I wanted to be a filmmaker… and, you know, Lady Parts was really my first foray into writing and directing something that was really kind of myself and true to the kind of work I wanted to make." We Are Lady Parts is now streaming on Peacock.
Direct download: Write_On_with_Nida_Manzoor__mixdown.mp3
Category:screenwriting -- posted at: 9:24am PST |
Thu, 16 June 2022
Inspired by Stephanie Land's memoir Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive, Netflix's Maid follows Alex (Margaret Qualley), a young mother who escapes an abusive relationship and gets a job cleaning houses in order to provide for her daughter. Showrunner Molly Smith Metzler recalls the moment she knew she had to adapt the memoir for TV: "[John Wells] handed me the book, and I went home, and I read it that weekend, and I was like, 'Oh, no, I have to do this.' I say 'Oh, no' because I knew it was going to be very hard. It's an incredible memoir, but not a natural fit for television... I knew it was going to be hard to adapt, but I also couldn't picture anyone else doing it." Maid is currently streaming on Netflix. Don’t forget to subscribe to the Write On Podcast on iTunes!
Direct download: Write_On_-_Molly_Smith_Metzler_for_Maid_mixdown.mp3
Category:screenwriting -- posted at: 1:57pm PST |
Tue, 14 June 2022
Based on the Marvel Comics featuring the character of the same name, Moon Knight follows Marc Spector / Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac), two alters of a man with dissociative identity disorder (DID) who gets drawn into a deadly mystery involving Egyptian gods. Head writer Jeremy Slater discusses the series' approach to featuring a protagonist with DID and the creative challenges it posed: "It was the biggest creative opportunity and also one of the hardest things about the show. It's actually surprising how few characters we have in the show; it's really kind of only three. It's just that Oscar Isaac is doing so much as Mark and as Steven and commanding the screen as both sides of that system... on screen, it's just the actor, and they have to convey who's in charge and what's going on." Slater goes on to share what drew him to adapting this particular Marvel story and bringing a brand new character to the screen: "One of the reasons I gravitated towards Moon Knight was because he didn't have that former baggage... No one knows who the hell Moon Knight is; no one knows what his powers are; no one knows who his villains are. So for me, I view that as really creatively liberating, because we can come in here and put our own stamp on this." Moon Knight is now streaming on Disney+. Don’t forget to subscribe to the Write On Podcast on iTunes!
Direct download: Write_On_-_Jeremy_Slater_for_Moon_Knight_mixdown.mp3
Category:screenwriting -- posted at: 12:00pm PST |
Sun, 12 June 2022
Based on the novel Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s by Jeff Pearlman, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty chronicles the 1980s Showtime era of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team featuring notable NBA stars Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Series co-creator and showrunner Max Borenstein describes the challenges of having to imagine what certain moments and conversations looked like without having been in the room: "Our role is to take the things we know - I look at it as the tip of the iceberg... the role of the drama is to then imaginatively reconstruct what might have been or could have been underneath the surface, and oftentimes.. you're imagining your way into that room where you have no idea exactly what was said." Don’t forget to subscribe to the Write On Podcast on iTunes!
Direct download: Write_On_-_Max_Borenstein_for_Winning_Time_mixdown.mp3
Category:screenwriting -- posted at: 12:00pm PST |
Fri, 10 June 2022
Based on the novels by Julia Quinn, Bridgerton follows eight members of a powerful family in Regency-era England as they attempt to find love. Series creator Chris Van Dusen describes the pressure he felt writing season two after the overwhelming success of the first season: "There were a lot of expectations that were put onto it after it became Netflix's most-watched English language series ever, and it was embraced in such a huge way around the globe. I think going into season two, it [was] a very different thing from creating and producing and writing the first season of an unknown show." Don’t forget to subscribe to the Write On Podcast on iTunes!
Direct download: Write_On_-_Chris_Van_Dusen_for_Bridgerton_mixdown_1.mp3
Category:screenwriting -- posted at: 11:53am PST |
Mon, 6 June 2022
Set in modern-day America, Bel-Air is a re-imagination of the beloved sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, following a young Will Smith (Jabari Banks) as he makes his journey from the streets of West Philadelphia to the gated communities of Bel-Air. When asked how he got his start in filmmaking, series creator Morgan Cooper says, "I didn't grow up around filmmakers. I didn't know filmmaking was a career, a possibility. I didn't go to college; I didn't go to film school. I was 18. I had to just figure it out, and so I bought a little Canon T2i. After two days of spending time with that camera, I fell in love with it. I really caught the bug and I said, 'This is what I'm going to do for the rest of my life. There is no plan B.' And with that camera, I built my career."
Don’t forget to subscribe to the Write On Podcast on iTunes!
Direct download: Write_On_-_Morgan_Cooper_for_Bel-Air_mixdown.mp3
Category:screenwriting -- posted at: 3:47pm PST |
Thu, 2 June 2022
Featuring an all-star cast including Sara Bareilles, Busy Philipps, and Renée Elise Goldsberry, Girls5eva follows a one-hit-wonder 90s girl group as they try to reignite their pop star fame while simultaneously having to navigate their grownup lives. Series creator Meredith Scardino shares how she prepared for pitching the series to NBC: "I tried to watch as many things and listen to as many things as I could about pitching. I ended up watching Shonda Rhimes' masterclass on pitching, and something that she said put me more at ease when she was just like... 'You're a writer. They know you're not an actor... you don't have to be this incredible, incredible pitcher. You can just try really hard to convey what you want people to know about the show." Don’t forget to subscribe to the Write On Podcast on iTunes!
Direct download: Write_On_-_Meredith_Scardino_for_Girls5Eva_mixdown.mp3
Category:screenwriting -- posted at: 3:22pm PST |