Write On: A Screenwriting Podcast Final Draft

“We had to go back to the ratings board five times. It was a long journey. You have to laugh sometimes, because we had some really grotesque imagery in our film. We even have a demon phallus in the film and nobody was worried about that. It was really the image of the vagina that was getting us that rating,” says Arkasha Stevenson, director, and co-screenwriter for The First Omen, about initially getting an NC17 rating from the Motion Picture Association. After much back and forth, the film is now rated R. 
The First Omen was written by Tim Smith and Arkasha Stevenson with Stevenson also directing. The film is a prequel to the classic horror film The Omen (1976) and stays true to the narrative that brings Damian, the antichrist, into the world. But keeping faithful to the original film proved to be challenging in a number of ways. 
“Because we grew up on The Omen,” says Stevenson, “it has such a special place in our hearts. We knew that it has such a special place every horror fan’s heart, too… We didn't want to tarnish anything, so trying to find a balance where we were trying to create something new, and have our own world, and characters and messages within that, but also pay homage to the original omen, and also have tie-ins and callbacks – it was interesting to try and figure out how to have a conversation with the original film,” she says.
We also discuss how the film explores the theme of control over women’s bodies and how the current political climate factored into the story considering abortion is such a hot-button issue. To hear more about the writing of the film and how Stevenson and Smith came to the project, listen to the podcast.   

Writer Michael Brandt is no stranger to the big and small screen.
 
Having written such thrilling films like 3:10 to Yuma, Wanted, 2 Fast 2 Furious and Catch That Kid, he is also the co-creator of NBC’s Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago P.D. and Chicago Justice. 
 
His latest film, which he adapted from the book, "Arthur: The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home," is a story of friendship and survival. The film stars Mark Wahlberg and Simu Liu. 
 
Final Draft sat down with Brandt to find out how this story of an adventure racing athlete who goes on a 435-mile journey through the jungle with his newfound friend, Arthur the dog, came to life. “Producer, Tucker Tooley, said, 'Here's this book. ESPN has done the story on this guy, but I'm not sure it's for you,'" said Brandt. "Meaning he didn't think I'd be into it. He gave me the one-line, and I said that sounds amazing.”
 
 We sat down with Brandt to hear about this heart-warming true story and how he brought it to the big screen. Listen to hear the full interview. 

"When I sat down to start writing it, I sort of like came up with air a couple of hours later with a movie," says writer/director Kobi Libii about the origins of his new satirical comedy, The American Society of Magical Negros. “I think it's kind of beautiful that people don't have a reaction that I recognize because my job is to be really honest, especially about stuff that is that I'm sort of afraid to say.”
Final Draft sat down with the writer/director to talk more about how he created this story about a man who is recruited into a secret society of magical Black people who spend their time making life easier for white people.  The film stars Justin Smith and David Alan Grier and releases into theaters March 15.
Listen to the podcast to hear more about Libii's journey in making The American Society of Magical Negros. 

“Just write a story you want to tell and don't try to write something which you think you can sell to somebody because that way is madness. You have to write what you want to write whether it works or not for other people. But if it's not authentic to you, it's doomed at some point along the road. So stick to your guns!” says award-winning writer, Andrew Bergman about writing your first spec script.
The Writers Guild of America East has again partnered with FilmNation and Final Draft for the NY Screenwriting Fellowship that fosters underrepresented New York screenwriters to help get them career mentorships as they navigate their way into the business. On today’s episode, I speak to two of the program’s mentors, award-winning screenwriter Andrew Bergman, best known for his script Blazing Saddles, and producer Caroline Kaplan, known for the recent Oscar-nominated animated film, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On. I also speak to their mentee, Irina Rodriguez about her journey as an emerging writer and what it’s like to get guidance from these two accomplished filmmakers. 
“I have always just felt like mentorship is such a big part of the independent film community and what we all do – it's really such a supportive community in that way,” says producer Caroline Kaplan, adding, “This program is really exciting because of how that they create it, both from an artistic mentorship and sort of a business mentorship so we can holistically help somebody… I think connection and community is what it’s all about.”
To hear more advice and what Andrew learned from working with director Mel Brooks, listen to the podcast.

“The movie in many ways is about creativity. And it's one of the reasons why I really love it. It's not just about an evil haunted teddy bear. It's about the power of imagination. There's a reason why the movie isn't called Chauncey - it's called Imaginary. It was really fun as screenwriters to just let our creativity run wild and think of all the different ways we could explore imagination and creativity through the lens of a movie,” says Jeff Wadlow, director and co-writer of Blumhouse’s new film Imaginary. 
 
In this episode, I talk with Wadlow and his co-writers, Greg Erb and Jason Oremland, about digging into scary tropes and how the character Chauncey the Bear evolved over four years of development and numerous script drafts. We also discuss how movies like Pan’s Labyrinth, Labyrinth, Friday the 13th and Alice in Wonderland served as inspiration and why horror films should be a good time. 
 
“I would tell people to make their horror fun. I think those very grim dirges that can sometimes get made as horror films – while they certainly are satisfying to a segment of the audience – they're not my favorite. I think you're going to have a lot more luck getting your movie made if you capture the fun of horror. There's no reason why you can't have a good time and be scared. It should be it should be a roller coaster,” says Jeff. 
 
 To dig deeper into Imaginary, listen to the podcast. 

“I would encourage anyone to lean into the specificity of their personal experience [when it comes to writing]. I mean, we're at a time now, fortunately, where everyone is more open to those kinds of stories… Look at something like Beef. The specificity of that storytelling is what makes it special. It's not like they come out with a logline, saying, ‘This is a story about Asian families.’ It's a story about two people who get involved in the road rage incident, but all of that is set in the context of a very specific community. That's what makes it really special,” says Albert Kim, Showrunner and Executive Producer of Avatar: The Last Airbender. 

Currently the most popular show on Netflix, Avatar: The Last Airbender is based on the animated Nickelodeon show that premiered back in 2005. There are many challenges going from a beloved animated show to live-action, but Albert Kim helms the show with integrity and his own personal cultural specificity. 

“One of the first notes I gave to the crew and our props and set department was: food is really important. We’ve got to get the food right. Asian families are often, a little reticent about expressing emotions. It's very uncommon, at least in my experience, for parents to tell their kids they love them. Instead, they express it other ways – for example, through food. Whenever an Asian parent comes and asks, ‘Have you eaten? Are you eating enough?’ It's their way of saying, ‘I love you.’ So, food has a lot of meaning in Asian communities,” says Albert.

Albert also talks about his unusual journey to become a TV writer and the surprising way he thinks Avatar: The Last Airbender can bring hope and joy to today’s world. To go deeper into the show, listen to the podcast.