Reflections of 2020 Black List Feature Writer’s Lab Participants

Writers who participated in this year’s Black List Feature Writer’s Lab reflect on their experience.

Every year since 2013, the Black List has held a feature writer’s lab. The first two years, they took place in Las Vegas. In 2015, they were long weekend events in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Toronto. From 2016–2019, week-long sessions were conducted in Los Angeles.

The 2020 iteration was different. Of course, it was different. It’s 2020, when everything is different.

Due to the pandemic, this year’s feature writer’s lab was a virtual experience with multiple Zoom meetings spread across the month of September. The writers met with agents, managers, and studio execs, held a Q&A with Lindsay Doran (The Story Whisperer), a virtual reunion of Black List lab alumni, and individual mentor meetings with a who’s who of Hollywood screenwriters: Andrew Ahn, Max Borenstein, Stephany Folsom, Mark Fortin, Emily Gordon, Aline Brosh McKenna, Michael Mitnick, Phyllis Nagy, Scott Neustadter, Elliott Owen, David Rabinowitz, Jac Schaeffer, Erica Schreiber, Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith, Victoria Strouse, Jack Thorne, Mattson Tomlin, Chris Weitz, and Beau Willimon.

Then there was me. I have been a mentor and workshop facilitator for every single Black List feature writer’s lab stretching back to the first one in 2013. This year, we had three sessions together: two workshops specifically focused on each writer’s script project, plus, a PowerPoint presentation on pitching I’ve been conducting at the lab since 2017.

In sum, despite the limitations created by the virus, the writers had… well, let them tell you about it.

Brandon Carbaugh

You know that feeling after you spend the day at an amusement park, and then later you’re laying in bed, and when you close your eyes, it still feels like you’re riding a roller coaster?

That’s a little what it’s been like, taking part in the Black List Lab.
 
 Over the course of a month, I had the surreal pleasure of meeting a group of insanely talented writers, whose collective knowledge of nuts-and-bolts screenwriting craft is downright staggering. I got to hang out with giants like Liz Hannah and Lindsay Doran, and watch their pets wreak havoc in the background of Zoom calls — truly the great societal equalizer. And I received priceless personal notes (and compliments I still can’t quite believe) from industry mentors like Andrew Ahn, Michael Mitnick, and Jack Thorne — writers whose work I adore, and would never have dreamed of meeting just a few months ago.
 
 Most importantly though, I’ve made lasting friendships with a bunch of nerds who are as hopelessly head-over-heels obsessed with this beautiful, frustrating, esoteric thing as I am. I have no doubt that every single one of them will be making headlines in years to come, and I cannot wait to cheer them on. 
 
 Ben, Filipe, Terence, Dan, Birdie, Nicole, Joe: 
 
 Y’all rock. Knock ’em dead out there.
 
 From the bottom of my heart, thank you to Scott, Megan, Franklin, Caroline, everyone else behind the scenes at the Black List, all of our mentors and guests, and my fellow lab writers. It was a life-changing privilege I look forward to living up to.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some revisions to get to…

Terence Carter

Wow. Those three little letters is how I can describe the Blck List Feature Lab. The moment I received the consideration email from Megan, I knew my life would change. There’s so many things to say about the 2020 Feature Lab and every last moment has left an everlasting impact on me. Franklin Leonard, a man who I’ve followed for years on social media, is literally out here doing the Lord’s work. He doesn’t have to do this. Franklin should be running a movie studio, making billions of dollars in the box office and hell, maybe one day he will. But for now, he cares about one thing and one thing only — establishing the next generation of writers. He hates receiving praise, but I’m gonna give my bro his flowers anyway. Mr. Leonard — you are a straight up king, angel, boss, legend — doesn’t really matter what order you list it, you’re all those things plus more. Thank you for creating this. Thank you for opening the door for people that look like me and you. Thank you for the lighthouse that allows writers of all walks of life to navigate the troubled waters of this business. Just thank you.

Now, Franklin ol’ cool ass can’t do this by himself so he went full Nick Fury and assembled a team that practically rivals the Avengers. Megan Halpern, who ran the day to day operations of the Feature Lab, is one of the kindest, loving and most endearing people I have ever met. Don’t know if the perfect person exists, but Megan Halpern is on the shortlist. She took a team of hopeless writers and gave them hope. I can’t thank her enough for that. Megan’s assistant, Caroline Johnson, is also a bag of hearts. Though we didn’t have a super extended conversation, Terry and Kate were also very welcoming and when the worst year in everyone’s lives comes to an end, I hope I have an opportunity to get to know them better. And then there’s Scott Myers. Sigh. What can be said about this man? I’ve learned more about screenwriting in the two Zoom sessions we had with him than in the decade I’ve been writing. Scott is a straight up master, a sensei if you will. For those lucky enough to be accepted into future Feature Labs, prepare to have your world nuked by Scott Myers. There’s no doubt in my mind that his teaching has made me a better writer. We all should be lucky that Scott isn’t using his top tier talent in another industry — we would suffer greatly without his absurd level of knowledge and theory. It’s an honor that he even knows me, let alone bless me with resonant information.

The mentors I was paired with were innumerable. David Rabinowitz (BlacKkKlansmen), Matson Tomlin (Project Power) and Chris Weitz (Rogue One) were amazing with the notes and knowledge they provided. I cannot thank them enough for taking time out of their busy schedules to participate. I’m just a weird black dude from the West Side of Chicago and to have some of the best screenwriters Hollywood give me feedback on my work is something that I will never, ever forget. In addition to that, we got a chance to speak with one of the coolest people in Hollywood, Liz Hannah (The Post, All The Right Places). We talked about basketball and screenwriting and it was epic. The Blck List also gave us a chance to speak with two film executives, Rachel Rovner and Brittany Hapner. Super nice, super smart. Two of the best in the business and it’s not even close. Future labbies, I’m telling you right now — Rachel and Brittany are far from greedy execs waiting to run you over with their Benz. They naturally give a fuck about people and to know they work in the business is inspirational. Chris Coggins, a talent manager, was dope too. Like Rachel and Brittany, Chris is kind in this mad, mad business of Hollywoodland. And then to really blow our socks off, we had a Zoom call with a living legend — Lindsay Doran, a film executive responsible for some of the greatest films ever made. My goodness. What a human. Lindsay Doran is the damn GOAT (greatest of all time). It was an out of body experience listening to her speak about relationships in storytelling. Something that I will remember for the rest of my life.

And finally — my fellow Labbies. Contemporaries. Man, oh, man. What. A. Group. Brandon, Nicole, Filipe, Ben, Dan, Birdie Big Time and Hotline Joe — it feels like I’ve known these people for years. We’re all on this insane journey together and the fact that I have a group of talented people rooting for me is the greatest feeling ever. These are some of the kindest, smartest people I have had pleasure of knowing. Just absolutely amazing people. Nicole’s level of scene description and scene building is some of the best you’ll ever read. Period. Ben and Filipe were made in a test tube in Sidney Lumet’s secret lab. Pure masters of grit. Birdie and Dan are fully adept at world building and Speilbergian levels of spectacle. Same can be said about Brandon — this dude doesn’t waste a word on page. Joe has mastered the contained thriller/horror genre. I hate keeping my characters in the same room over multiple scenes and this smart bastard does it over a whole movie. Very impressive. All these people. Thank you so much for your notes and thank you for entering my life. All of you. It is a privilege to call you my friends.

This is the part where I’m supposed to talk about the good food and cool mansion we stayed at. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen — for the first time (and hopefully the last) the Blck List Feature Lab was held virtually. Yeah, it sucks we didn’t get drunk and laugh every night but damn, we still laughed and I’m sure someone who was drunk during one of these sessions. Add the fact we were blessed with memories that will last a lifetime and I think it was the same as being together.

Now, let’s get to work. People need two things — a COVID vaccine and stories. I’m not a scientist so that leaves me with one choice — tell some stories.

Birdie Corl & Dan Maskin

Birdie and I had no expectations for the Black List Lab — not because we are particularly optimistic people, but because we had absolutely no idea what we were getting into (if we were one of Scott’s archetypes, we would be “Rookies”). However, between our fellow participants, mentors, and the Blacklist team, the Lab exceeded any expectations we could have conceived.

Writing features, even as a writing team, can feel isolating. The Lab introduced us to a group of fellow writers who made the writing process feel less lonely. Not only are all six fellow participants great screenwriters, they offered thoughtful and productive feedback on our script. On a professional level, we feel privileged to be mentioned in the same company. On a personal level, we are happy to call them Zoom friends and hopefully one day, in a post-Covid-19 world, real-life friends.

When our mentors were revealed, we were absolutely stoked! Elliott Owen, Scott Neustadter, and Kiwi Smith each provided detailed and constructive notes on our script. They also gave us insightful, pragmatic, and encouraging industry advice. They made us legitimately excited to tackle our next draft and also tackle the oft soul-crushing entertainment industry.

To quote Almost Famous, Scott Myers is a golden god. During Scott’s sessions, we discovered our own internal conflict — a desire to follow his rules by “just listening” vs. taking detailed notes so as to not forget a single word. Scott gave us new ways to think about plot, theme, and especially, especially character. We weren’t just workshopping our Lab script, we were workshopping our craft and everything we write going forward will always be guided by Scott’s advice.

Finally, Birdie and I are extremely grateful to Franklin and Megan for selecting us and putting together an outstanding virtual Lab. We know Covid-19 presented them with unique challenges — despite all the bells and whistles that we apparently missed out on (crazy locations, fancy dinners, and copious alcoholic drinks), we cannot imagine a more fulfilling experience than the one we had.

We are excited to be Black List alumni and we look forward to toasting the future successes of all involved!

Filipe Coutinho & Ben Mehlman

In a year dominated by a constant stream of anxiety and bad news, we were caught completely off-guard when we opened our emails and there it was — the chance to interview for the much coveted Black List Feature Lab Fellowship! Having considerable experience, we knew not to get overly-excited. In Hollywood, the line between elation and disappointment is razor thin. And so we tried to keep each other grounded. It was a “pleasure just to be considered”, as they say.

A week or so later, elation came. We were officially selected as fellows, and couldn’t wait to get started. Of course, given the pandemic, sessions occurred via Zoom and over an extended period of time, as opposed to the usual week-long crash course. While the in-person experience is irreplaceable, the new time-frame provided a great opportunity to further internalize and appreciate the well of knowledge we were absorbing with each passing session. It certainly helped that the environment cultivated by the Black List was inspiring, supportive, and focused on heightening our qualities as writers. And our fellows — all incredibly talented, thoughtful, and undoubtedly future household names — contributed greatly to making this one of the most significant experiences we’ve had since embarking on our Hollywood journey.

In addition to our fellows, we met a series of awe-striking, kind-hearted, and passionate luminaries who made time in their busy schedules to give us words of advice and impart knowledge that will certainly change the course of our careers. For this, we are eternally grateful. Allow us to highlight Megan, Franklin, Caroline, and everyone at the Black List. Their support of writers and the writing process is wholly unique, and we are beyond privileged to be a part of the community they’ve built. One of the pillars of that community is Scott Myers, who mentored us throughout the lab with his vast insight, creativity, and encyclopedic knowledge of character and story, all the while being kind but brutally honest (our favorite!). Then, we found in Beau Willimon, Jack Thorne and Elliott Owen not only mentors, but writers who understand story in a way few people do. We still don’t quite believe these legends took time to read our script and offer constructive criticism, but they did, and even went so far as to lend us their brains to strategize our futures. To top it all off, we got fireside chats with Lindsay Doran, Liz Hannah, Brittany Hapner, Rachel Rovner, Chris Coggins and several Fellowship Alums. Their perspectives challenged us and opened our minds to a whole new set of possibilities. In retrospect, it has become clear that this fellowship is as much about the writing as it is about equipping you with tools to achieve who you want to be in Hollywood.

We look forward to the day when we are on the other side of this madness, and are finally able to have a drink with our fellows, give hugs, and properly celebrate having participated in one of the finest opportunities Hollywood has to offer.

See you on the big screen.

Nicole Feste

I had lofty expectations for my Black List Feature Lab experience. I hoped it would cure my quarantine funk, pluck me from my deep hole of despair, and arm me with a fiery sword of confidence to fight my mortal foe, Imposter Syndrome. And yet somehow, my experience transcended everything I imagined!

When we heard the tales of past lab participants rolling up to beautiful Los Angeles mansions and dining in hip local restaurants, our humble Zoom room began to feel a little less glamorous. But the joke’s on them; they might have gotten a week of wisdom and camaraderie, but we had the pleasure of our lab experience being stretched across a glorious month of evening Zoom meetings and sporadic getting-to-know-you virtual coffees with our fellow lab participants. This lab became a bright light in the tunnel that is stay at home mundanity and continues to be a beacon of hope that this long writing game could end someplace okay.

I knew going into the lab that I’d receive a collection of solid notes that would likely send me off on a polish resulting in a moderately improved version of my feature. I was not prepared for the goldmine my legendary mentors, the guru that is Scott Myers, and the collective genius of my fellow Lab mates had in store for me. The notes I received on my script challenged me so deeply as a writer that they scared me for a lot of reasons. Firstly, the depth of the feedback I received was something that could only be achieved by veteran writers with a mastery of this craft and many years in this industry. These notes were god tier; they had a complete and total understanding of my intent and forced me to dig deeper into the heart of what I was trying to accomplish. I soon realized I wasn’t about to embark on a leisurely polish; it was time to prove I had chops. No pressure.

The behemoth task ahead of me aside, the most terrifying part was that these brilliant notes were given to me out of a faith that I could execute them. Me? Attaining that level of artistry? And the craziest thing was that this faith was not confined to a couple of people; this faith was shared by every face in every square on my computer screen from the incredible and supportive Black List team to the mentors — Phyllis Nagy, Jac Schaeffer, and Scott Neustadter — who, by some stroke of good luck, chose to devote their sacred time to reading my weird little script. They were all united by this idea that each one of us had the potential to hone this craft and do the damn thing out there in the world. I left this lab feeling more empowered than ever in both my written craft and the way I conduct myself as a professional in this industry. I carried with me this unshakable feeling of, “Oh, I might actually be able to do this.” And that glimmer of hope, my friends, is priceless. Thank you to everyone involved in the Black List Feature Lab for giving me that gift. I’m so happy to be a part of this family forevermore!

Joe Kirchoff

Even in an ordinary year, screenwriting can be an isolating practice. So much of the work feels like bumbling through the dark with your hands outstretched, grasping for something solid. For those of us lucky enough, we discover the same is true of the business of screenwriting, and often of life in Los Angeles as a whole. We begin the journey in a teeming crowd, but the longer we press on, the more lonesome the trip becomes. The books, the maps, the road markers only accompany you so far. Soon you’re in the wilderness, led only by the faded tracks of the writers who went before you.

The Black List Feature Lab has been an absolute beacon, a guide through the weird, dark land of screenwriting. It’s immediately obvious that the Black List team has cultivated a network of some of the most friendly, empathetic, talented people working in Hollywood. Between the incredible Black List team itself and the countless amazing guests we hosted from every corner of the industry, we spent a month in truly incredible company. The notes I received on my script from my mentors (David Rabinowitz, Andrew Ahn, Mark Fortin) were easily the most thorough and insightful I’ve ever received. Equally significant was the sense of understanding and camaraderie I found with each of them. They knew implicitly where I was in the journey because they had spent years there themselves.

In addition to our many talented guests, I can’t begin to express my gratitude for Scott Myers and the phenomenal master classes he taught. Scott is an endless font of storytelling wisdom, and it seems absurd we were able to sit in on these lessons without paying some gratuitous tuition. It’s almost as absurd as if he were to put all this wisdom into some kind of internet repository for all the world to access.

I can’t speak long about the lab without praising the most invaluable aspect: my fellow participants. Even through the filter of Zoom meetings, the chemistry of this group was immediate. The Black List team accomplished something amazing in bringing this group together. I have no doubt this lab is the beginning of a lifelong group friendship, each member a formidable ally in writing. My only suggestion for the team is that they please tone down the quality of the writers in future — every single one of these people is so talented it will make you sweat.

I mentioned earlier that screenwriting can be an isolating practice. The Black List Lab taught me that it doesn’t have to be, even in a year like this. Thank you to the entire Black List Team, all of our incredible guests, and every one of my fellow participants. I hope one day we can help the next generation of writers find their way forward.

As you can see, these writers had a powerful experience in this year’s Black List lab. It speaks to the passion and talent each writer brought to the month-long event that they managed to engender an intense bond, one I trust they will keep for years to come.

Special kudos to the Black List team spearheaded by Megan Halpern and Caroline Johnson for pulling together a terrific lab event. And, of course, Franklin Leonard whose vision inspires all of the numerous Black List educational opportunities for writers.

Finally, my own shout out to the 2020 Black List Feature Writer’s Lab participants: Y’all, I look forward to the day when we can get together and greet each other in person. Hugs — if that’s permitted — and copious drinks. An opportunity to celebrate this time in which Fate brought us all together.

In the meantime, you know what to do. Write!