Go Into The Story Interview: Michael Ballin and Thomas Aguilar

My interview with 2021 Black List writers.

Michael Ballin and Thomas Aguilar wrote the original screenplay “The College Dropout” which landed on the 2021 Black List. Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with with Mike and Tom about their creative background, their script based on a period of time in the life of Kanye West, the craft of screenwriting, and what making the annual Black List has meant to them.

Here are links to the entire 6-part series which has run this week.

Part 1: “People were amazed at all the movies Tom and I have seen in theaters. We saw everything.”

Part 2: “‘Let’s just write it, let’s just have fun.’ We jumped right in.”

Part 3: “You had the IP that is Kanye, people could access that, but we could show a different side you didn’t know much about.”

Part 4: “When we write, we say, ‘Let’s make sure we’ve found it, is there magic here? Is there magic in the screenplay?’”

Part 5: “But the truth is: there’s no same path for everyone. Everyone’s different, and it was great to see that on your blog.”

Part 6: “Who is this character? Could you cover his name and know it’s him? We try to take that approach with every character.”

Mike and Tom are repped by:

Mike Goldberg, Kyle Loftus, Adam Perry (APA)
Matt Ochacher, Michael Pelmont (New Wave Entertainment)

Twitter: @MichaelBallin, @Thomasraguilar

For my interviews with dozens of other Black List writers, go here.