The Script Lab Podcast

Guests: Dawn Luebbe and Jocelyn DeBoer wrote, directed and star in the new feature film GREENER GRASS, a surreal comedy of manners that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Luebbe and DeBoer based this feature on a short film they made several years ago. They talk about the symbolism behind the over-the-top situations in the film, why all the characters wear braces on their perfectly straight teeth, and why one character's son turns into a dog. 

Host: Shanee Edwards graduated from UCLA Film School with an MFA in Screenwriting and is the author of Ada Lovelace: the Countess who Dreamed in Numbers. She recently won the Next MacGyver television writing competition to create a TV show about a female engineer. You can follow her on Twitter: @ShaneeEdwards

The Script Lab: For all the latest from The Script Lab, be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

And become a member of TSL 360 to enjoy the LARGEST screenwriting education content library, featuring masterclasses, deep-dive interviews, and lectures from Academy Award-winning screenwriters, TV show-runners, producers, literary managers, agents, studio executives, and leading educators – all in one place.

Guest: Max Eggers and his brother Rob Eggers wrote the screenplay for THE LIGHTHOUSE, with Rob directing. The movie is a hypnotic and hallucinatory tale of two lighthouse keepers (Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson) on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s. This is a Promethean story like you've never seen before. If you're a fan of Rob Eggers's first film, THE WITCH from 2015, you'll certainly like THE LIGHTHOUSE.

Host: Shanee Edwards graduated from UCLA Film School with an MFA in Screenwriting and is the author of Ada Lovelace: the Countess who Dreamed in Numbers. She recently won the Next MacGyver television writing competition to create a TV show about a female engineer. You can follow her on Twitter: @ShaneeEdwards

The Script Lab: For all the latest from The Script Lab, be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

And become a member of TSL 360 to enjoy the LARGEST screenwriting education content library, featuring masterclasses, deep-dive interviews, and lectures from Academy Award-winning screenwriters, TV show-runners, producers, literary managers, agents, studio executives, and leading educators – all in one place.

Guest: Timothy Greenberg. As executive producer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Greenberg won two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award. He received another Peabody for Comedy Central’s Endangered List. Prior to The Daily Show, he was named one of Shoot Magazine's "Up and Coming Directors” for his commercial work. He began his directing career in games, including Riven: the Sequel to Myst, one of the top-selling desktop games of all time. Other credits include HBO’s Problem Areas as writer and executive producer, and TBS’ The Detour as writer and director.

Greenberg is now the show runner of the current Netflix show Living with Yourself starring Paul Rudd.

Host: Shanee Edwards graduated from UCLA Film School with an MFA in Screenwriting and is the author of Ada Lovelace: the Countess who Dreamed in Numbers. She recently won the Next MacGyver television writing competition to create a TV show about a female engineer. You can follow her on Twitter: @ShaneeEdwards

The Script Lab: For all the latest from The Script Lab, be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

And become a member of TSL 360 to enjoy the LARGEST screenwriting education content library, featuring masterclasses, deep-dive interviews, and lectures from Academy Award-winning screenwriters, TV show-runners, producers, literary managers, agents, studio executives, and leading educators – all in one place.

Guests:  Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan again collaborate on the new animated film The Addams Family, having previously collaborated on Sausage Party in 2016. Vernon is best known for directing Shrek (2001) and Shrek 2 (2004), while Tiernan is best known for directing Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. They discuss finding the right tone and story elements to bring the beloved Addams Family to life in 2019. 

Host: Shanee Edwards graduated from UCLA Film School with an MFA in Screenwriting and is currently the film critic for SheKnows.com. She recently won the Next MacGyver television writing competition to create a TV show about a female engineer. Her novel, Ada Lovelace: The Countess who Dreamed in Numbers was published earlier this year. You can follow her on Twitter: @ShaneeEdwards

The Script Lab: For all the latest from The Script Lab, be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

And become a member of TSL 360 to enjoy the LARGEST screenwriting education content library, featuring masterclasses, deep-dive interviews, and lectures from Academy Award-winning screenwriters, TV show-runners, producers, literary managers, agents, studio executives, and leading educators – all in one place.

Guest: Kevin Smith is an American writer/director and actor. His first movie, Clerks (1994), was filmed in the convenience store where Smith worked and he was only allowed to shoot at night after the store closed. This movie won the highest award at the Sundance film festival and was brought to theaters by Miramax. He went on to make numerous films including Chasing Amy (1997), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), and Jersey Girl (2004). He returns with Jay and Silent Bob Reboot which I'm happy to report is hilarious. It’s an unconventional father/daughter love story that even has some tender, emotional moments. Kevin talks about of the origins of the characters jay and silent bob, working with his daughter and even shares how his heart attack last year empowered his career. 

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot will be playing on Oct. 15 & Oct. 17 in 600 theaters around the country. To get tickets visit: FathomEvents.com/reboot. 

Host: Shanee Edwards graduated from UCLA Film School with an MFA in Screenwriting and is currently the film critic for SheKnows.com. She recently won the Next MacGyver television writing competition to create a TV show about a female engineer. You can follow her on Twitter: @ShaneeEdwards

The Script Lab: For all the latest from The Script Lab, be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

And become a member of TSL 360 to enjoy the LARGEST screenwriting education content library, featuring masterclasses, deep-dive interviews, and lectures from Academy Award-winning screenwriters, TV show-runners, producers, literary managers, agents, studio executives, and leading educators – all in one place.

Guests: Brian C. Brown and Elliott DiGuiseppi initially got attention when their biopic about Shel Silvertein made the Black List, allowing them to take numerous meetings where they were able to pitch Lucy in the Sky to studio executives. Eventually, they earned the attention of Reese Witherspoon, who ultimately produced the film. Born and raised Ovieda, Florida, Brown and Elliott became best friends at the age of 12. They currently live in Los Angeles. 

Host: Shanee Edwards graduated from UCLA Film School with an MFA in Screenwriting and is currently the film critic for SheKnows.com. She recently won the Next MacGyver television writing competition to create a TV show about a female engineer. Her novel, Ada Lovelace: The Countess who Dreamed in Numbers was published earlier this year. You can follow her on Twitter: @ShaneeEdwards

The Script Lab: For all the latest from The Script Lab, be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

And become a member of TSL 360 to enjoy the LARGEST screenwriting education content library, featuring masterclasses, deep-dive interviews, and lectures from Academy Award-winning screenwriters, TV show-runners, producers, literary managers, agents, studio executives, and leading educators – all in one place.

Guest: Robyn Paris started her career as an actress and can be seen as Michelle in the cult favorite film The Room (2003), which inspired the 2017 film The Disaster Artist starring James Franco.  Now a writer/director, Robyn's experience has inspired her to make a funny mockumentary web series called The Room Actors: Where are They Now? For anyone who’s ever considered making a web series, Robyn shares some crucial information like how she crowd-sourced the funding through Kickstarter, the creative ways she marketed the web series and what opportunities have come to her as a result. And if you’re a fan of the movie The Room, she shares details of what working with Tommy Wiseau was really like.  

To watch Robyn's web series, visit theroommockumentary.com.

Host: Shanee Edwards graduated from UCLA Film School with an MFA in Screenwriting and is currently the film critic for SheKnows.com. She recently won the Next MacGyver television writing competition to create a TV show about a female engineer. You can follow her on Twitter: @ShaneeEdwards

The Script Lab: For all the latest from The Script Lab, be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

And become a member of TSL 360 to enjoy the LARGEST screenwriting education content library, featuring masterclasses, deep-dive interviews, and lectures from Academy Award-winning screenwriters, TV show-runners, producers, literary managers, agents, studio executives, and leading educators – all in one place.

About: The new film Haunt, written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, is the perfect follow up to A Quiet Place (2018) and scared the living daylights out of me. If you like haunted houses, oh-so-creepy masks and intense gore, you’ll love this more traditional slasher movie. I sat down with Scott and Bryan to find out how to write a character-driven horror film, and see if they could share any details about A Quiet Place 2, which is set to release in 2020.

Starring Katie Stevens (Faking It) and Will Brittain (William), Haunt centers around a group of friends who encounter an extreme haunted house that promises to feed on their darkest fears. The night turns deadly, however, as they come to the horrifying realization that some nightmares are real.

Guests: Bryan Woods was born on September 14, 1984 in Davenport, Iowa, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for A Quiet Place (2018), Haunt (2019) and Nightlight (2015).

Scott Beck was born on October 22, 1984 in Denver, Colorado, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for A Quiet Place (2018), Haunt (2019) and Nightlight (2015).

Host: Shanee Edwards graduated from UCLA Film School with an MFA in Screenwriting and is currently the film critic for SheKnows.com. She recently won the Next MacGyver television writing competition to create a TV show about a female engineer. Her pilot, Ada and the Machine, is currently in development with America Ferrera’s Take Fountain Productions. You can follow her on Twitter: @ShaneeEdwards

The Script Lab: For all the latest from The Script Lab, be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

And become a member of TSL 360 to enjoy the LARGEST screenwriting education content library, featuring masterclasses, deep-dive interviews, and lectures from Academy Award-winning screenwriters, TV show-runners, producers, literary managers, agents, studio executives, and leading educators – all in one place.

About: Set deep in the wilds of Appalachia, where believers handle death-dealing snakes to prove themselves before God, THEM THAT FOLLOW tells the story of a pastor (Walton Goggins) who digs deeper into his faith when he discovers his teenage daughter Mara (Alice Englert) holds a secret that threatens to tear their fragile community apart.

Written and directed by first-timers Britt Poulton and Dan Madison Savage, this film is a modern-day telling of Adam and Eve, with all the temptation and snakes of the archetypal story. Olivia Colman (THE FAVOURITE) plays Hope and packs an emotional punch that makes it one of the best performances of the year.

In the podcast, Poulton and Savage talk about the challenges of getting the film made and why writers really don’t need to go to film school.

Guests: Britt Poulton is a writer and director. After studying International Relations at UC Berkeley, she left politics to pursue film and completed her MFA at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. She wrote PROFILE, a female-driven political thriller that played at both Berlinale and SXSW in 2018. THEM THAT FOLLOW is her first feature-length screenplay and marks her directorial debut.

Dan Madison Savage is a writer and director. He was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and studied film history at Vassar College. After graduating, he moved to Los Angeles to complete an MFA at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. THEM THAT FOLLOW is his first screenplay and his directorial debut.

Host: Shanee Edwards graduated from UCLA Film School with an MFA in Screenwriting and is currently the film critic for SheKnows.com. She recently won the Next MacGyver television writing competition to create a TV show about a female engineer. Her pilot, Ada and the Machine, is currently in development with America Ferrera’s Take Fountain Productions. You can follow her on Twitter: @ShaneeEdwards

The Script Lab: For all the latest from The Script Lab, be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

And become a member of TSL 360 to enjoy the LARGEST screenwriting education content library, featuring masterclasses, deep-dive interviews, and lectures from Academy Award-winning screenwriters, TV show-runners, producers, literary managers, agents, studio executives, and leading educators – all in one place.

About: Today I speak with Hannah Pearl Utt and Jen Tullock, writers of the adorable indie comedy BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, which Hannah also directed. Hannah and Jen star as sisters from a dysfunctional family who discover their birth mother (played by Judith Light) isn’t dead, but alive and acting on a popular soap opera. Mandy Patinkin and Alec Baldwin also star.

I was excited to talk to Hannah and Jen because they developed their film through the illusive Sundance Filmmaker labs – something I’ve personally been rejected from numerous times. Luckily, Hannah and Jen share their advice on applying to the labs and the one thing that ended up being a game-changer and helped get them in.

Guests: Hannah Pearl Utt is an actress and writer, known for Before You Know It (2019), Disengaged (2016) and Partners (2015).

Jen Tullock is an actor and writer best known for the 2019 Sundance comedic drama "Before You Know It," which she co-wrote and stars in alongside collaborator Hannah Pearl Utt, Judith Light, Mandy Patinkin, and Alec Baldwin. The film, formerly titled "Stupid Happy" was a participant in the 2017 Sundance Director and Producer Labs. Their short film "Partners," which they also starred in, premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. In 2016 she co-wrote and starred in the Turner/Super Deluxe series "Disengaged," created with and directed by Utt. She was featured in the NBC Diversity Showcase and is the award-winning narrator of several New York Times best-selling audio books, as well as the voice of the title character in Emmy award winning short Henry.

Host: Shanee Edwards graduated from UCLA Film School with an MFA in Screenwriting and is currently the film critic for SheKnows.com. She recently won the Next MacGyver television writing competition to create a TV show about a female engineer. Her pilot, Ada and the Machine, is currently in development with America Ferrera’s Take Fountain Productions. You can follow her on Twitter: @ShaneeEdwards

The Script Lab: For all the latest from The Script Lab, be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

And become a member of TSL 360 to enjoy the LARGEST screenwriting education content library, featuring masterclasses, deep-dive interviews, and lectures from Academy Award-winning screenwriters, TV show-runners, producers, literary managers, agents, studio executives, and leading educators – all in one place.