Interview (Part 5): Laura Kosann

My interview with the writer who not only was named a 2021 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting recipient, but also had two scripts make the 2021 annual Black List.

Laura Kosann made quite a splash in Hollywood in 2021. In November, she was named a Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting winner for her original screenplay An Ideal Woman. Then in December, that script plus another screenplay Laura wrote (From Little Acorns Grow) were named to the annual Black List. If that weren’t enough, the good news continued when in April 2022, it was announced that Laura had been hired to adapt the female-driven comic book Mercy Sparx for MGM.

Laura was kind enough to carve out some time for us to talk about her background, the craft of screenwriting, and her screenplay An Ideal Woman.

Today in Part 5 of a 6-part series to run each day this week through Saturday, Laura talks about what it was like having two of her screenplays make the 2021 Black List.

Scott: What about that twist at the end? I don’t want to give it away. Could you talk more generically about that? Was that always there or did that emerge in the process?

Laura: That emerged in the process. I’d just had this epiphany while I was walking. The first part of the twist came to me and I was like, “Oh, of course.” I always knew that there was more to that beginning. I never just wanted it to be, she’s really upset about everything at the end, and she’s burning her house down.

It was the second part of the twist, which is obviously so tragic, that was my favorite part. The first part, I was like, “OK, there’s something there, but I’m not there yet.”

Scott: What I love about this, Laura, is that it is character-driven storytelling. You’re following the characters. Ray Bradbury’s got that quote: “I just follow their footsteps in the snow.”

Laura: I haven’t heard that. I love that.

Scott: I do want to make note of this, your script, From Little Acorns Grow, which is another 2021 Black List script. You really hit the trifecta here, Nicholl and the Black List twice. Both of them are period pieces. Is that a thing with you, or is it just these two stories just happened to be period pieces?

Laura: They were just back to back. I was just in that general time period, and I stayed in that realm. Not that it’s exactly the same time because Acorn is the ‘50s.

During Covid I read a lot of classic books. One was The Great Gatsby. Acorns came about because I felt like there was not a Great Gatsby that was from the female gaze. I was like, “Well, I’m already here, so let me just stay here for a while.” It was just a coincidence.

Scott: Let’s talk about the Nicholl experience. As part of winning it, you got to talk with Olivia Wilde. What was that like?

Laura: Oh. That was amazing. I love what she does so much. I loved the platonic love story between women in Booksmart. And I have been waiting for Don’t Worry Darling to come out for what seems like an eternity. She’s such a champion of women writers, women directors. It was inspiring to talk to her because I look up to her. She also is a Mom and I had just had my baby five minutes ago, so that part was really wonderful as well.

Scott: I’m teaching two classes at DePaul Film School this quarter for my undergraduates, the 101 intro class. We read scripts every week and do table reads. We’re doing Booksmart this week, because I think that’s such an awesome script. Next week, for my thesis students, they’re reading the script called The Ideal Woman.

Laura: That’s amazing! I hope they like it. [laughs]

Scott: I’m sure they will. Let’s talk about December 13th, 2021, which may not have a lot of meaning for people in the world, but for screenwriters, it’s a big deal. The second Monday of every December, that’s when the annual Black List comes out. Were you paying attention to that at all? Are you just hanging out with your kid? What was going on that day?

Laura: Of course, as a screenwriter, the Black List is always on your radar, but you’re always like, “Pie in the Sky, that would be amazing.” I wasn’t expecting it. I couldn’t believe it. The screenwriters that have been on The Black List are the people we all look up to. Emerald Fennell, Taika Waititi…I mean it’s just way too long of a list to even go through. So to actually be on there with two scripts was unbelievable. It was a good day.

Scott: It’s great. I don’t know if you saw the Oscar announcements. I guess it was yesterday. For the five sets of writers, from adapted screenplays, most of them were female.

Laura: Oh yes, I did see that.

Scott: It’s exciting.

Laura: It’s very exciting and incredibly inspiring. When Emerald won last year for a Promising Young Woman, I mean, nobody had won since Diablo Cody in… what?

Scott: Diablo won Best Original Screenplay in 2008.

Laura: Anyone who knows my writing knows that the stories I always tell are centered around the many dimensions of women that we don’t see enough on screen. And more women being behind and in front of the camera, continuing that progress, I want to be part of that. In whatever shape or form that means.

Scott: You even talked about this with Olivia that you do want to move into directing, writing and directing?

Laura: Very much so. I directed The Social Ones and it was an amazing experience. Incredible actors like Richard Kind, Stephanie March, Colton Ryan, Nicole Kang and Jackie Hoffman were in it. We won the Audience Award for Best Comedy at Cinequest Film Festival. And we sold the feature to Comedy Dynamics. I definitely want to keep directing.

Here is a video clip in which the Nicholl committee tells the 2021 Fellows they have won this year’s award.

Tomorrow in Part 6, Laura answers some screenwriting craft questions and offers advice for those writers trying to break into the business.

For Part 1 of the interview, go here.

For Part 2, go here.

For Part 3, go here.

For Part 4, go here.

Laura is repped by CAA and Heroes and Villains Entertainment.

Twitter: @LauraKosann

For my interviews with every Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner since 2012, go here.

For my interviews with Black List writers, go here.