Award-winning filmmakers and multi-hyphenate screenwriting duo, Kaz and Ryan Firpo, spoke to me about their breakout Hollywood moment, writing Marvel's Eternals, and how to eat a whale.

The Firpos are cousins who grew up in Northern California – with a storied background in commercials and documentary filmmaking – who describe themselves as "filmmakers who write."

In 2017 their first feature screenplay, RUIN, topped The Black List (a showcase for film writers) making them a hot commodity in Hollywood. In addition to writing and directing their first feature, their original sci-fi screenplay MIMI FROM RIO was purchased in a bidding war by Netflix with Ridley Scott producing.

Their first entry for the MCU is the complex story, Eternals, about a race of immortals who help shape Earth's history and civilizations, and who must emerge from hiding after thousands of years to protect the world from the evil Deviants.

Stay calm and write on ...

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If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please "Follow" us to automatically see new interviews In this file The Firpos and I discussed:

• The importance of The Black List to launching their careers
• Working with Oscar-winner Chloe Zhao of Nomadland fame
• World-building vs. act-building in screenwriting
• Why you should read all the screenwriting craft books you can
• Having drinks with Angelina Jolie
• And a lot more!

Show Notes:

• Marvel Studios’ Eternals | Final Trailer

Bet Raise Fold: The Story of Online Poker Director: Ryan Firpo [Amazon]

Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee [Amazon]

Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting by Syd Field [Amazon]

Kelton Reid on Twitter

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