Writing…my escape.
The answer to the question “why we write” is a million different things to a million different people. Some of us write to live, others write to maintain our sanity, or even as we watch it slowly slip away. …
Today, we talk to screenwriter Van Billet about how the past, present, and future have shaped his life as a writer. Van’s script, SAVING PARADISE (fka PENCIL TOWN) was discovered via the Black List website in 2018 and arrives in a theater or VOD platform near you on September 3rd — cheers to you, Van!
The Past
What was the first film that had a major impact on your life?
Growing up in Philadelphia in the 1960s, there was a theater close to my home that showed classic older movies. Every Saturday, I would buy a ticket early in the morning, and sit in the theater until…
The decision to dedicate my life’s work to writing didn’t come easy. As the child of a successful businessman, I found myself trying to live up to what I thought my father’s expectations were. He jump started my working career at the ripe old age of 12 and I’ve been…
Today we talk to Tom Levesque about how the past, present, and future have shaped his journey as a writer. Tom has found success on the Black List website, including an option for his script THE TELEVANGELIST — cheers to you, Tom!
The Past
What was the first film that had a major impact on your life?
It would have to be when Dad took me to see Terrence Malick’s THE THIN RED LINE. It was the first time I had seen any of Malick’s work and although I was only 10 years old…
I remember the first time it hit me. My eyes hadn’t adjusted to the light outside the theater yet, but something inside me was different. I felt lighter. I felt funnier. A movie screen had just administered the visual equivalent of nitrous oxide. …
WarnerMedia and The Black List have partnered to launch a pipeline initiative to provide visibility and feedback for aspiring professional screenwriters to identify exceptional writers for episodic content, with access to decision-makers and creatives within WarnerMedia.
Through the below partner organizations, WarnerMedia and The Black List will identify up to…
Today, we talk to Omid Iranikhah about how the past, present, and future have shaped his journey as a writer. Omid was selected as this year’s recipient of the Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship in Screenwriting by the Writer’s Guild Initiative and the King Family Foundation for his script, THE STONING OF A WHORE. Omid will receive a stipend, as well as mentorship from a prominent screenwriter as a part of the Fellowship — cheers to you, Omid!
The Past
What was the first film that had a major impact on your life?
When I was four, my dad brought home a bootleg copy of Sam Raimi’s first SPIDER-MAN film, and from the moment the end credits started rolling, I turned to my parents and declared, “I want to be…
As my dear friend Lauren Brown would say: It’s been a hard year.
I know, I know — a woefully inadequate statement to explain the Sisyphean struggle of this most impossible pandemic year, amidst the most stressful election of our lives and after one of the worst days in American…
Today, we talk to Kevin Bachar about how the past, present, and future have shaped his journey as a writer. Kevin’s script THE INHABITANT (fka BLOOD RELATIVE) was a featured script on blcklst.com in 2016, and eventually found its way to the right creative production team. THE INHABITANT is set to star Dermot Mulroney, Leslie Bibb and Odessa A’Zion and will be released later this year — cheers to Kevin and the entire cast and crew!
The Past
What was the first film that had a major impact on your life?
I remember seeing a movie called THE LOST WORLD, which was a kind of INDIANA JONES meets JURASSIC PARK. I would watch it every time it was on and to this day if I see it on…
