Reflections of Black List NYC Mini-Lab Writers

On the weekend of May 1–3, five writers gathered in New York City for an exciting event: The first Black List Mini-Lab. The writers — Arla Bowers, Hunter Burke, Joel Dorland, Ian McWethy, and Yvonne Paulin — had been selected on the basis of scripts they had uploaded to the Black List website and a personal statement about the story they were writing and their creative aspirations.

Over the weekend, they hung out with the Black List team — Franklin Leonard, Terry Huang, Megan Halpern, and Kate Hagen — met one on one with a quartet of notable professional screenwriters — Beau Willimon (HOUSE OF CARDS), Jessica Bendinger (BRING IT ON), Leslye Headland (SLEEPING WITH OTHER PEOPLE), and Michael Mitnick (THE GIVER) — attended the Black List Live! staged reading of the 2014 Black List script BIG TIME ADOLESCENCE, by Jason Orley and after-party, and participated in a six-hour group workshop session with me as their mentor.

Here are some reflections about their individual and collective experience from the weekend they spent together. Their observations are both illuminating and inspiring.

Mini-Lab Experience

Being chosen as one of five writers to attend The Black List’s NYC Mini-Lab provided an incredible experience and raised my writing skills to a whole new level. — Arla Bowers

This opportunity was a great one to breathe life back into our screenplay. And after this long weekend of discussions, I think we did just that. — Hunter Burke

The overall experience at the lab, as I’m sure the other writers will echo, was amazing. An environment like that, particularly for writers living outside of LA, is a rare opportunity. — Joel Dorland

The blacklist’s NYC mini lab was a rush. Informative, intense, brutally honest, eye opening and ultimately very encouraging. Armed now with a truckload of smart and incisive feedback, I feel ready to tackle a new draft of my script. (Also the food we ate was very tasty). — Ian McWethy

The Mini-Lab experience intensified my desire to get it right, to be true to my hero, and to work tirelessly until I do. I came home bursting with a motivating force that can only make my writing more authentic. And isn’t that the most we can ask for? — Yvonne Paulin

The Black List

First of all I got to meet the Black List team…these people are very important to me as the online Black List has been an invaluable tool so far in my writing career and is directly responsible for all the best relationships I currently have in Hollywood. Franklin, Megan, Kate, and Terry are really sweet and seem to function almost like a family unit. Anyone using the Black List can rest assured that they are in the caring hands of people who deeply give a shit about movies. — Joel Dorland

Kristina Zacharias, Hunter Burke, Franklin Leonard, Scott Myers, and Kate Hagen

I am forever grateful to the mentors and Black List team members who arranged and organized such an educational and inspiring weekend. What Franklin Leonard and his team are doing is truly incredible work in helping cultivate a new generation of writers. And “to be in that number”, as they say here in New Orleans, is the opportunity of a lifetime. — Hunter Burke

The Mentors

The time had finally arrived to meet the mentors. A truly rare, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was about to begin. Anticipation and fear mixed equally. Would the script hold up to scrutiny, would it be engaging, would it be good enough? This fear quickly faded as the mentors generously gave supportive and constructive notes. Each brought a unique perspective to our scripts and to writing in general. — Yvonne Paulin

IF YOUR CHARACTERS NAMES ALL SOUND THE SAME, IT WILL BE HARD TO READ: Give your characters names that not only have a different first letters, but are different sounding too. This will make reading your script a lot easier to read. For example, I had characters in my script named JOE, JAMES, and JAY. Boo!!!! (Jessica Berendinger) — Ian McWethy

The group of mentors were like four corners of a quadrant. Michael was incredibly detail oriented, going through the scripts point by point with lots of page notes that were very writer (or one could say user) friendly. Leslye’s notes were more in the vain of transmission — taking the script to screen, writing for the actors, the process of actually turning the script into a film. Jessica approached her notes from a studio perspective — broaching some typical issues and ideas they might be concerned with. Beau was interested in very simple philosophical underpinnings of the heroes in our stories. An incredible cross-section. I grilled the hell out of all of them, about all sorts of topics…process, business, dealing with reps, everything. I got amazing answers. — Joel Dorland

WHAT THE FUCK DOES YOUR CHARACTER WANT: Distill your main characters want into a single word. If you can’t do this, your script might be in trouble (And boy, was I in trouble. I could not do this!) (Beau Willimon) — Ian McWethy

From the fundamental question of what does your character NEED from Beau, to the specific page numbered notes from Michael, to the thematic discussions of my monster with Leslye, to “putting the teeth” back into dramatic moments with Jessica, all of the mentors provided pragmatic and supportive ways to spice up and complete my script. — Hunter Burke

I’M A BOY, BUT HOW DO I WRITE FOR A GIRL: If you’re a boy like me, send an early draft of your script to 2 or 3 female friends you trust (and maybe aren’t even in the industry), just to see if any red flags pop up. You want to write authentic, well-rounded female characters, but you’re a smelly boy, so you’re going to have limits. If you’re a girl, simply do the reverse! (Leslye Headland) — Ian McWethy

I was beyond impressed with their in-depth knowledge of my screenplay. I feel quite honored that they donated their own time to help me (me!) realize my potential with the craft of scriptwriting. Their opinions about my script varied quite a bit: I heard terrific suggestions that spun my story in a whole new direction. I heard probing questions designed to heighten my creative process. I heard page by page notes of what worked and what could be tweaked. And I’m thrilled to say that I also heard “I love your script! I would hardly change a thing!” — Arla Bowers

BEFORE GIVING NOTES ON A FRIEND’S SCRIPT, SAY THIS SENTENCE: “You don’t have to take these if you don’t want to.” This is something I usually practice, but I was reminded how encouraging it was to hear it from a professional writer. It made me want to take Michael’s notes even more, and set the tone for a relaxed and congenial notes session (Michael Mitnic) — Ian McWethy

The Workshop

By now our brains were swirling with information and inspiration. But it was disorganized — too fresh and too much. We hadn’t had time to digest and find direction. Then, in our wrap-up session with Scott Myers, we discussed the mentor advice and our comments on each other’s scripts. Scott pulled together all the information, focused our attention, and brought home the obligation we have to develop a character’s needs and the journey to achieve them. Teacher, mentor, philosophical guru — he gently and gradually brought us from a place of disorientation to a place of clarity. The experience was like being cocooned inside a supportive and nurturing environment. Nothing existed outside the lab — only the story and only the writing mattered. Because of the intense nature of the weekend workshop and the sustained closeness of the situation, the Lab participants bonded quickly. Like our fictional hero, we had been through an emotional journey over the weekend and had come out better writers, observers, chroniclers. — Yvonne Paulin

Then our workshop on Sunday, which was so much fun. Six hours together and I didn’t lag for a moment. Scott…well I’m sure you’ve had it all said to you already…it’s not just that you have this facility to teach screenwriting, so much that you are screenwriting. Even just chatting with you outside of that environment, everything in life always comes back to story. Anyways, I think that’s where all the writers, including myself, really began to access all the information that the mentors had provided in a useful way. The notes were like a dense jungle canopy and the workshop was where we all started hacking away at it with our machetes. And I think by the end of it, a path had started to materialize through that brush for all of us. — Joel Dorland

The amazing and insightful Scott Myers guided us through a six-hour session where we focused on each of our five scripts and shared notes from our one-on-one meetings. Aside from the wonderful sharing of ideas and the great camaraderie during Scott’s session, I relish the most important lesson of the weekend: Be true to your vision and trust yourself as an artist to tell the story you want to tell. — Arla Bowers

The NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies,
site of the Black List Mini-Lab workshop

FOLLOW YOUR BLISS: Scott told us this at the start of our group session on Sunday. This may be the most important thing I personally took away from the whole weekend. I’m someone who likes to say yes to everything. If a writing opportunity comes up, I will usually try it. While this had led me to some great opportunities in my writing career, it has also lead me to write projects that have made me pretty unhappy. For example, I thought I could write a buddy action comedy about an aimless man child and a genie (this was something actually pitched to me by a production company that I actually tried to write. For free). But it turns out I was capable for writing this, didn’t believe in it, and it made me miserable for six months. It’s important when you find yourself in these moments to take a step back, realize the time and effort of this script is not worth the benefits, and follow your bliss. Write something you are truly passionate about. Life is short, writing a script takes a lot of time. — Ian McWethy

My last thank you. Scott Myers, you are a saint. The Patron Saint of Lost Screenwriters and Stories. St. Scott. Thank you sir. On Sunday, script guru Scott Myers gave us writers a whole day of workshopping and discussion. It was in this discussion that we began to dissect our notes from the mentors and “go into the story”. This group discussion was hugely beneficial in sorting out the notes from our mentors. Taking ample time for each writer, we combed through strengths and weaknesses for each script. Normally that would be enough for any other script workshop. But not this one. We labored on, and through group discussion guided by Scott, formulated possible solutions for problems. In lieu of solutions, questions about artistically motivated decisions were posed. Never “this is the only right answer”. There was no sense of hostility or artistic arrogance. It was a creative cooperative with the ultimate goal of making your script the best it can be. And in my limited years as a writer, it was rare and encouraging to see that. — Hunter Burke

Speaking for myself, the workshop represented an interesting challenge. Five different writers with five different stories, each of whom had received detailed feedback from four writers with four different perspectives. How to sort through all that wonderful and wild web of feedback to see if we could discern individual paths Arla, Hunter, Ian, Joel, and Yvonne could start down as they made their way into the next part of their creative journey? But you know what? I think we did it. Digging into each of their stories, honestly critiquing them — what worked, what didn’t work — brainstorming possible angles that hadn’t been explored, suggestions flowing freely, many of them awesome, synthesis started to emerge. We didn’t solve everything, but each writer ended up in a place where they had a sense of direction.

The Black List is a remarkable outfit which continues to explore ways to support writers and open doors for them to Hollywood. Their workshops and mini-labs I’ve been fortunate enough to participate in have been a transformational experience for all of the participating writers — myself included!

Here’s good news: There are more mini-labs on the horizon! In cities across the United States and Canada. Be on the lookout for information on those soon!

Bottom line, kudos to the Franklin and the Black List team.

And Arla, Hunter, Ian, Joel, and Yvonne… I hope you embrace what we discussed as we closed our time together in NYC. You’ve shared a unique bonding experience. Let that be a foundation for you to continue supporting each other as a writers group.

Onward!