Interview (Part 1): Leigh Cesiro and Erica Matlin

My interview with 2021 Black List writers for their script Cruel Summer.

Leigh Cesiro and Erica Matlin wrote the original screenplay “Cruel Summer” which landed on the 2021 Black List. Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with Erica and Leigh about their creative background, their script, the craft of screenwriting, and what making the annual Black List has meant to them.

Today in Part 1 of a 6-part series to run each day through Sunday, Leigh and Erica talk about their backgrounds and how their real life experience in a summer camp inspired them to write “ Cruel Summer.”

Scott Myers: Congratulations on making the 2021 Black List. Let’s dig into each of your creative background. Let’s just start with Leigh because you’ve been a bold and intrepid adventurer, evidently the first person to move from New York City to LA…

[Laughter]

So I think we need to start there. Where did this adventuresome spirit emerge in your life, and how did you become interested in writing?

Leigh Cesiro: I really am a trailblazer in that way. [laughs] I started out in advertising, as a writer. That’s kind of soulless writing but then through that, met a lot of people that did UCB, Upright Citizens Brigade in New York, and started taking improv classes and…