The Script Lab Podcast

Minhal Baig — Writer/Director of HALA and BOJACK HORSEMAN + Actress Geraldine Viswanathan

Guest: Minhal Baig is the writer/director of Hala, a deeply personal film about a teen girl struggling to please her Muslim family while navigating her sexuality. The film was nominated for the Grand Jury Award at Sundance earlier this year. Actress Geraldine Viswanathan is from Australia and currently stars as the lead character Hala. She can also be seen in the movie Blockers (2018) and the TV show Miracle Workers, also starring Daniel Radcliffe and Steve Buscemi. 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.

Christopher Pratt — Former Literary Manager Turned Screenwriter

Guest: Christopher Pratt is the author of Remember the Future: How Steve Jobs Used Time Travel to Think Different (Chaite Press, 2013). He wrote UNTITLED FAIRYTALE TEAMUP and adapted the graphic novel DEAD DAYS. In 2010, he Executive Produced the LIONSGATE film KILLERS, starring Ashton Kutcher, Katherine Heigl, Tom Selleck, Rob Riggle and Catherine O'Hara. He produced THE AIR I BREATHE, starring Forest Whitaker, Brendan Fraser, Emile Hirsch, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Kevin Bacon and Andy Garcia. He is set to produce the feature film GONE at Universal Studios and PHANTOM OF THE OPERA at Paramount. For ten years, he produced George Wallace LIVE – the #1 comedy show in Las Vegas. In addition to the show, Pratt helped develop a line of merchandise and alternate revenue streams. He became a brand consultant for CRI, which was responsible for over $300 million in annual real estate sales until 2009 when they sold to the Goldman Sachs Whitehall Fund. As a talent manager, he spent years developing screenplays with clients, sometimes making seven figure sales. “The intimacy of film still moves me,” says Pratt, “Some writers may be talented artists but they don’t understand the business. I hope to become excellent at marrying commerce and storytelling on the path to finding truthful, emotional connections for my audience.” Pratt is married to pro tennis player Jessica Roland, the couple has two daughters. 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.

Dan Ewen — Writer of PLAYING WITH FIRE

Guest: Dan Ewen is an L.A.-based writer, producer and longtime improv performer hailing from Athens, Georgia. His new film PLAYING WITH FIRE is currently playing in theaters. He is also both writing and producing the reboot of the ERNEST franchise. He has several feature and television projects in development at various studios, including 20th Century Fox and Universal. 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.

John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle — YA Authors of the Book that Inspired the New Netflix Film LET IT SNOW

Guests: John Green, author of THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, Maureen Johnson, author of TRULY DEVIOUS: A MYSTERY, and Lauren Myracle, author of UPSIDE DOWN MAGIC. The three authors came together to write the book LET IT SNOW: THREE HOLIDAY ROMANCES that has just been turned into a Netflix film of the same name. 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.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

Alfonso Gomez-Rejon — Director of THE CURRENT WAR: DIRECTOR'S CUT

Guest: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon is an Emmy-nominated director known for American Horror Story (2014), and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015). His stunning new film The Current War: Director's Cut tells the story of how three men, Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch), George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon) and Nicola Tesla (Nicholas Hoult), fought to bring electricity to the American marketplace in the late 1800s. 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.