Interview (Part 2): Matt Altman & Dave Matalon

My conversation with the writing duo behind the 2024 Black List script Three Hitmen and a Baby.

Action Comedy is my favorite cross-genre, so I’m always happy to see a script represented on the annual Black List. Thanks to Dave Matalon and Matt Altman, Three Hitmen and a Baby made the 2024 List which led to our hour-long interview.

Today in Part 2 of a 5-part series to run each day this week through Saturday, Dave and Matt share their affection for screenwriters William Goldman and Shane Black who use scene description to help create a fun read.

Scott: I tell my students all the time, Hollywood has operated for decades on the business principle: similar but different. They like projects that are similar to successful movies, but just different enough to stand on their own.

I was actually talking with Matt a little bit before the call. Action comedy was so popular as a cross-genre back in the 80s and 90s. Then it kind of fell away.

Dave: I think there’s no such thing as a bad genre. Just sometimes genres get saturated, or you’ll have a slew of bad movies in that genre, and so everyone gets gun-shy about them — and I don‘t believe anyone ever sets out to make a bad movie, by the way.

I think everyone sets out with the best of intentions, but they just don’t connect for some reason with audiences.

Then they’re suddenly deemed not bankable or not sellable. Then they sort of fall away.

Then someone comes along and goes makes a great movie in that genre, and suddenly they’re back again, “How about this genre?” We’re seeing that with the romcom in the last year or so.

Matt: Starting to come back a little, yeah.

Dave: It was considered dead for a while — no one wanted romcom. It was like, now it’s the new thing.

Matt: Yeah, new old.

Scott: Netflix did that thing like five summers ago where they dropped a bunch of romantic comedies…

Matt: Yeah.

Scott: All of a sudden… rom-coms are back.

Dave: Well, the crazy thing for a while buyers were saying it was a dead genre. I’m like, but every time my wife sees a romcom trailer , she’s like, I want to see that. So, I’m like, how could it be dead?

Matt: Yeah, and there’s really no genre that’s dead. It’s just…

Dave: Yeah, you make a good movie, any genre can sell anywhere.

Matt: Well, like you said, some do get oversaturated. There’s some that you’re like, OK, I’m tired seeing things that were dead.

Dave: Or, they’ll just be reactions are bad. Like, something does really poorly and loses money is like, suddenly there’s this risk aversion to it. But in my opinion, it’s just that movie, not the whole genre.

Scott: Several years ago, I interviewed a marketing person who worked at 20th Century Fox before Disney devoured the studio. I asked her, “Would you rather be responsible for marketing a movie that had a great story concept or an A-list actor?”

She said story concept because it makes creating a marketing plan so much easier because you’ve got the hook built in. It can cut through all the “noise” consumers confront with commercials, social media, and what-not. Like “Three Men and a Baby,” you get it immediately.

Dave: Our reps said it was the first script they ever pitched that they didn’t have to explain. Just say the title: “Three Hitmen and a Baby”.

Scott: That’s exactly right. Let’s talk about your script, it’s a fun read. Right up front, page one, there’s this scene description:

“Breathtaking interior. If you’re going to Pamplona, definitely visit, but maybe wait until this guy leaves.”

Then there’s this:

“Tom strides down between the time-worn wooden pews, designer shoes scraping the ancient stone — you can smell the notes of frankincense and the brewing action set-pieces in the air.”

You use a convivial narrative voice where you’re winking at the reader, basically saying, “C’mon, join us. This is gonna be a fun ride.” Is this your standard style or is this something you specifically chose for this particular project?

Matt: It’s pretty much our standard style. I mean, you do tone it toward a script. If we’ve done less comedic scripts that have less of that tone, and we won’t do so much, but even that, you want to make it fresh.

Dave: Just to piggyback off of what Matt said, even in that, we like to make sure that the description’s as juicy and fun to read as the dialogue, because it is a visual medium, but until you get there, people have to enjoy, and there’s a lot of other things they can be doing than reading your script.

You want to find ways to engage with the reader, to let them know, to get them in the mood, and find ways to get them to engage with the script.

Matt: I think both Dave and I are weird in our screenwriting careers, in that we actually have had the most success selling specs, not like doing jobs. I had one job adapting a YA novel for Lionsgate, but other than that, I’ve just sold specs.

Dave: Yeah, me too.

Matt: That’s what Dave’s done, and thankfully, so lately, we’ve been selling a bunch together, which has been a lot of fun.

Scott: Reminds me of that quote from William Goldman: “Screenplays don’t have to read like an instruction manual for a refrigerator. You can write them as a pleasurable read.”

Matt: He’s one of the first who had that kind of cool tone.

Dave: I remember being 16 and getting “Adventures in the Screen Trade [written by William Goldman]. I remember he had one of line in his script that stayed with me all these years was — “in the most amazing slow motion shot ever” (or something along those lines).

Matt: He did. He was great that way, and also Shane Black, of course.

Dave: Shane Black is phenomenal at that.

Matt: Had a huge deal with that.

Scott: God, I wish the “Nice Guys” had been a hit. Such a fun movie.

Matt: Yeah, It’s a great movie.

Dave: For me, at least, when I read scripts that have that kind of evocative description, it gets me in the headspace of the scene. It’s not just a trick to get you to like the script. It’s like it gets you in the frame of mind …You kind of start to really imagine what I’m imagining.

That’s I think the biggest challenge as a writer; I have all my references, and Matt and I, because we’re friends for so long, share all those references. But if you don’t, how do I get you in my headspace and help you see what I see efficiently without a long paragraph, which has been disengaged from anyway.

Tomorrow in Part 3, Dave and Matt discuss the three hitmen who play the leads in the story and how each evolved in the writing of the script.

For Part 1 of the interview, go here.

Matt and Dave are repped by Paradigm and The Gotham Group.

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