This is a transcript of SYS 484 – Working With Owen Wilson On Paint With Brit McAdams .
SYS_484_Brit_McAdams
Welcome to Episode 484 of the Selling Your Screenplay Podcast. I’m Ashley Scott Meyers, screenwriter and blogger with sellingyourscreenplay.com. Today I am interviewing Brit McAdams, who just did a cool film called Paint starring Owen Wilson. We talked through this film and how it all came together for him. Like a lot of filmmakers. He wrote this script many years ago, he got some interest in it, people seem to like it, but it still took a long time for him to actually get it into production. So, stay tuned for that interview.
SYS’s a six-figure screenplay contest is open for submissions, just go to www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/contest. Our regular deadline is May 31st. So, if your script is ready, definitely submit now to save some money. We’re looking for low budget shorts and features. I’m defining low budget as less than six figures. In other words, less than 1 million US dollars. We are also running an in-person Film Festival in tandem with our screenplay contest this year. It’s for low budget films, shorts and features. So, if you have a low budget shorter feature, definitely consider submitting that as well. The festival is going to take place here in Los Angeles from October 6th to the 15th. If you produce a short film or know someone who has, by all means please do submit it. Shorts are easy to program. So, we’re definitely looking for short films features as well. But the short films are usually easy to slide into the festival. As I said, we’re in Los Angeles. So, if you want to Los Angeles screening for your film, this is a great way to do it. To learn more about that you can go to sellingyourscreenplay.com/festival, and if you want to learn more about our screenplay contest, just go to sellingyourscreenplay.com/contest. If you find this episode valuable, please help me out by giving me a review in iTunes, or leaving a comment on YouTube or retweeting the podcast on Twitter or liking or sharing it on Facebook. These social media shares really do help spread word about the podcast, so they’re very much appreciated. Any websites or links that I mentioned the podcast can be found on my blog in the show notes. I also publish a transcript with every episode in case you’d rather read the show or look at something later on. You can find all the podcast show notes at www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/podcasts and then just look for episode number 484. If you want my free guide How to Sell a Screenplay in five weeks, you can pick that up by going to sellingyourscreenplay.com/guide. It’s completely free. You just put in your email address and I’ll send you a new lesson once per week for five weeks along with a bunch of bonus lessons. I teach the whole process of how to sell your screenplay in that guide. I’ll teach you how to write a professional logline and query letter and how to find agents managers and producers who are looking for material. Really is everything you need to know to sell your screenplay just go to sellingyourscreenplay.com/guide. So, now let’s get into the main segment. Today, I’m interviewing writer director Brit McAdams. Here is the interview.
Ashley
Welcome Brit to the Selling Your Screenplay Podcast. I really appreciate you coming on the show with me today.
Brit McAdams
Thanks for having me, Ashley.
Ashley
So, to start out, maybe you can tell us a little bit about your background. Where do you grow up? And how did you get interested in the entertainment business?
Brit McAdams
I’m from Chappaqua, New York, which is about 45-minutes north of New York City. I would say in terms of how to get interested, I would say if there’s sort of a moment in my life where… it’s okay, I’ll start with my dad. My dad was a pilot for pan-am but he always wrote and so he would read me his books at night and stuff. And for the most part, they’ve never been published. But he’d read Thorne Stock Quarry or these things to me and read passages from his a lot of books that were never published. He has been published since which is pretty great. Ken McAdams is his name. So, I’ve always really liked that. I always loved hearing him read his work to me. My mom was a theater major in college and so I always had an appreciation for theater. For my 18th birthday, we saw Les Mis which was I wanted to football. So, I come from that, my family has always been interested in the creative side of things. I would say maybe the moment that I didn’t really realize was going to resonate with me so much as a kid was when I was in high school, I went to see a movie called the Gate, which is these little sort of creatures. And my friend, Luca who was with me really hated it. And it was I think it’s the only movie I’ve ever walked out of. He was like, we’re going to leave. So, we laughed, and then we walked into there’s just another movie starting and we walked in and sat down and I’d never heard of it. And it started the most magical thing started happening and I was like, I just thought it was a trailer for another movie until Raising Arizona came up as the title and I was like, oh, that’s something I’ve never seen before, like, that thing. And I just couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe that world and how. So, I in terms of, I don’t know, that’s a cherry picked three parts of my life.
Ashley
Yeah, yeah. So, it sounds like you had a kind of a creative parents and so there was definitely sort of a nurturing of creativity in that world.
Brit McAdams
Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I think in terms of my parents always wanted me to do whatever it was that I wanted to do, which is great. You know, I was a terrible college student. But my application essay to college got published. So, I could always sort of be like, getting out of college, when it’s embarrassing when it’s like, you know, they’re like, oh, what do you want to do? And you’d be like, oh, you know, I guess I might want to be a writer because you know, I might application essay got published. So you could be, you’d have that sort of caveat of like, I can sort of say I want to be a writer without actually thinking I deserve to be a writer or whatever, you know. So that sort of made it a little bit easier just the fluke of that happening.
Ashley
Gotcha. And just, let’s just, I mean, I was looking you up on IMDb. I noticed one of your first credits looks like a documentary called Trivia Tab, just briefly, so that your first foray into sort of professional filmmaking?
Brit McAdams
Yeah, I mean, I was in terms of an actual movie. Yes. And so, I directed a lot of commercials and, you know, written other sort of TV shows and stuff, but like trivia shows, but yeah, in terms of the first feature, it was trivia town, which was my friend, Patrick Katie, who’s the cinematographer on Paint. And I did that together. It was really his movie that I helped him with. But it was terrible. Just in that I mean, I love the film, but we shot 450 hours’ worth of footage, which is you know, if you ever think making a documentary is going to be easier than writing a script. Don’t shoot 450 hours of footage. Because you have to watch it. I mean, like in pairing that down to 90 minutes it’s years. It’s horrible. So yeah, don’t do that.
Ashley
Gotcha. So, let’s dig into your latest film called Paint starring Owen Wilson. Maybe to start out you can just give us a quick pitch or logline. What does this film all about?
Brit McAdams
Well, Carl Naugle. Owen Wilson plays Carl Naugle. Carl has had the number one painting show on PBS Burlington, Vermont, for 22 years. He’s never had a reason to change until the station hires a younger, better painter who steals everything and everyone he loves.
Ashley
So, the obvious inspiration is artists like Bob Ross. And I’m curious just to get your thoughts like, where does this idea come from? And I throw this out there, especially with Owen Wilson, like, why didn’t you get some rights from the estate of Bob Ross and then make something that actually used his name, as opposed to using something that’s sort of loosely inspired by it?
Brit McAdams
Well, so I wrote the film in 2010. And oddly enough, at the time, Bob Ross was not part of the Zeitgeist like it was just Bob Ross had sort of, you know, the resurgence of Bob Ross has been pretty remarkable. So, when I wrote it, I would explain it like; Do you guys remember Bob Ross, who this PBS painter and people would be like, oh, yeah. But it’s different than now. So, I liked the idea of, you know, watching Bob Ross as a kid, he was… the ability that he had to take whatever moment that you were in and overwhelm it and overpower it, with his whisper and him taking you into this world, an al-encompassing world of speaking softly and transfixing an audience with turning brushstrokes into a remarkable landscape. The power that he had over me as a kid was singular in nature, like there was no one else like him. And so, as I got older, I worked at VH One when I was in my early 20s, and I did promos there and so in the world of promos, you ask famous people to do things they don’t want to do. And so, I met a lot of artists who I loved musicians, it was a music channel at the time. And so, they didn’t want to see me at all. And a lot of them made known that they didn’t want to see me at all. So, you know, it was one of the things where it was the question of loving the art without loving the artist and sadly, you know, a lot of my heroes turned out to not be the nicest people. David Bowie was a great guy. And other people were great, but some people who I loved as musicians, were just not the best people. So, you know, sort of the idea of those worlds of what if an artist who has incredible, incredible power over people and has the gift to create things and transfix an audience didn’t ultimately use that power for good? And what would that world look like? And it was sort of a combination of that. And also, having been at VH one where I saw these rock stars, and a lot of them aged rock stars on that channel, this idea of, if you are a rock star at an early age, would you ever be able to evolve beyond that? If you hadn’t really had your teeth kicked in along the way, like if you hadn’t failed along the way, could you evolve beyond who the world told you, you were at age 22? So, you know, that’s sort of the genesis of the idea of sort of combining those worlds.
Ashley
I’m curious too, you mentioned this sort of Bob Ross resurgence in just sort of pop culture recently. And I’ve noticed this as well. And when this came across my desk, the first obviously looking at him is over there making a movie about this. And when I did a little bit of research, it seemed to me that the people that were his partners, because there’s a Netflix documentary, or Hulu documentary that I watched maybe a year or two ago, and my understanding was that they own 90% of the artwork that he did, because he would do like three paintings of the same thing for the show. So, they hold 90% of the artwork. So, it always seemed to me that they were the ones behind this PR push, because you just see articles and stuff. And the paintings weren’t really going up in value. But it seemed to me that they were the ones that were potentially behind this PR push. But how did you kind of attach yourself to this? And then did you ride some of that way? Did you have a script that nobody wanted to make in 2010? But then in 2020, with this resurgence, all of a sudden, you sort of caught this wave?
Brit McAdams
Well, I don’t think so. It’s odd, because the script, sort of snuck its way onto the blacklist in 2010, which is a list of sort of the highly regarded unproduced screenplays, and we got greenlit right away, we got greenlit. And things were great, like think we were going to make the movie and just falling apart ever since. So, it’s basically a solid decade of it falling apart. I think writers out there will appreciate that at one point, I refinanced a used car to pay bills, which anytime you’re refinancing a used car, you know, you really hit rock bottom. So, there’s some lean years in there. And, you know, it’s a script that people liked, and I had an honest conversation with an agent who’s not my agent, I met Uta, and it was another agent at Uta, and she said, there’s a reason this movie doesn’t go away, it’s because people love the script. And she said, you know, for the most part as agents, we do our due diligence, which is we get a script, and we send it out to people who might make it. And then we hear back from people lukewarm response, or whatever. And then everything politely goes away, and no one really addresses the not upgrade script in the room. And she said, this scripts is different than that. And that’s why people keep fighting to get it made. I’ve written other scripts along the way, sadly. So, you know, I think that’s the reason it stuck around is that it people liked the script. And in a lot of ways, I feel, I’m aware of how hard that is and it’s as luck as much as anything that it did resonate. And also, a big part of it was that I continued to work on the script. And I think the script got better too. And with the world changing, especially with me, too. The script changed with that as well. And sort of the world of comedy has really changed over the last decade or so. And I things that I thought were funny in 2010, I don’t now, and I think also, you know, just my understanding of my place in the world and in a lot of ways how the world is changing, and I need to change the script change because of it and ultimately really found its heart it felt that gets even after I made some big changes to it after Owen was attached, which people told me I was crazy to do, but I knew it was the film would really suffer. It just had there elements of it that were, as far in the past as the Owens character Carl Naugle was.
Ashley
I’m curious, and we can talk about specifically this project. But I’d be curious to just to sort of get your general advice on this topic. When you wrote the script in 2010, did you always keep yourself attached as a director? And I asked that, I mean, obviously, by that point, you had some success. So it wasn’t like you’re a total newbie, but I get writers who are newbies, or maybe they even have a credit or two, and they want to attach themselves as a director. But just talk about that journey. How did you keep yourself attached as director? Did you come in and out? Was it mandatory were you not going to sell the script, unless you were attached as director?
Brit McAdams
There were definitely points in there where I gave up on the directing side of it, you know, there were I mean, it’s a long time, like, and there were other, I had some I’m not going to say name, but there was one person specifically, who came on board as a producer for a beat and wanted to direct it, which I sort of found out. I was like, oh, that’s what’s happening. But I also said, and to my agents credit, I said, in the middle, I was like, should I just not direct this like, and my agent, Blair Cohen at UTA was like; No, you’re going to direct this? Like, I don’t know if she’d necessarily knew it would take this long. But I think I made some so many mistakes in getting this made. Along the way, I’ve learned so much I would do anything to get anything made like I would, if someone else wants to make it and wants to direct instead of you, I think let them direct it honestly, like I like, you’re, you’re going to have more than one script. So, and people are going to pay attention to the other ones if you get something made. So, I think in some ways, it’s like, it’s tricky, like, how do you bet on yourself? Do you bet on yourself to be the director? Or do you bet on yourself to get something made and know you can direct the next thing? Like, you know, I’m really happy with paint. Like, I’m really happy. Like, I love the film. I love the world. I love every part of it. Would I trade that for this movie coming out 10 years ago without me as a director? I don’t know. I don’t know. Like, you know, if that director was much better than me. Yeah. Right. Like you know, it’s tricky. I think it’s also impossible. So, I think my like, even now, like, I’ll get if people send me scripts, some people will be like, will you sign this NDA? Or it’s like, I’m just trying to help you. Like, I’m not trying to rip you off. I don’t know. I think in any ways, anytime you can make something easier, like, the people who made this film are good people to work with. And they made stuff easy. So anytime you can be someone who makes something easier. Be that person. And then also, anytime you can get something made, get it made. Like, don’t be precious with it. Because it’s going to go away. I mean, be precious with it in terms of like, do the best possible job you can but like, get it made. It’s so hard to get stuff made.
Ashley
Yeah, yeah, for sure. I think that sound advice, and I hope people are really listening to that. So, what was sort of the turning point? You had this script for 10 years, there were some false starts producers coming, producers leaving. What was the turning point that actually got this thing into production? Was it attaching Owen Wilson? Was it getting a specific producer that had the juice to get it made? What would you sort of attribute that final piece that actually got this to the finish line?
Brit McAdams
Owen. And next question. But no, I mean that jokingly. So basically, for a film, you need either a producer, a director, or a star. And so, I have no juice as a director. So, I don’t like you’re not going to invest in me. We didn’t really have we had producers who are good. But it really is the star. And so you sort need one of those things. And so, a lot of times what’s really, really hard and all of this is that, for the most part, like there are very few stars that have any value, financial value. So even people who are like I love that guy won’t get you money, or more woman, which is even worse, like it’s so depressing when you’re like, we got this incredible cast and it’s like, okay, you got to make a movie for half a million or whatever. Like, so you need one of those things like you need. You know, if Judd Apatow comes on as producer, you’re set. Like if Owen Wilson as an actor, you’re set, like if Wes Anderson is going to direct it, you’re set, but you need sort of one of those three, and it’s pulling off however, you can figure out who that person is then you go from there.
Ashley
Yeah, yeah. Sound Advice again. So, what’s the release schedule going to be for Paint? Do you know when it’s going to be put out?
Brit McAdams
Yeah, so it’s April 7th and it’s a wide release. So, we’ll be everywhere. So, we’re really excited. And yet IFC is releasing it. And they’ve done an incredible job. So, yeah, we’re nationwide and required viewing for everyone listening.
Ashley
Perfect. Perfect. And I just like to wrap up the interviews by asking my guests, is there anything you’ve seen recently, HBO, Netflix, Hulu that you can recommend to our screenwriting audience?
Brit McAdams
White lotus. So, White Lotus, and I don’t know if anyone’s brought that up before but so Mike White was involved in paint, he’s the creator of white lotus, he was involved in paint for a while. And he’s such a smart guy and such a good guy. But the examination of toxic masculinity is like a college course on writing in that show, so if you break down that show, and look at toxic masculinity from every single vantage point, like if you were like to create a world like here’s every sort of side and attribute of toxic masculinity, take that attach it to a character and have that informative character. Like it is genius. Like it almost like, it’s so genius that it feels simple. Like it feels like a simple world to put together. If you could be like; Oh, if you take some issue in the world, and you’re like, here’s every side of it, like here’s the … you know, an agent, misogynist, here’s a prostitute, here’s a woman looking to get ahead in a male dominated world. Like it’s like every single side of toxic masculinity. And so for me, that show is just … in a second season, I’m sorry, of White Lotus, it’s the second season and that it’s just genius. So, if you ever want to learn how to put together your own show, or world like that, to me it is such a good example of because you can break it down, like you can just break down of like, here’s every angle. That’s it. And I’ve never heard him interviewed or anything about it. So, I don’t know that. I could be completely wrong also. But I think that to me is from a writing perspective is just flat out genius.
Ashley
Okay, perfect. Yeah, that’s a great recommendation. I have heard good things about it. What’s the best way for people to just keep up with what you’re doing? Twitter, Facebook, a blog, anything you’re comfortable sharing, I’ll put in the show notes.
Brit McAdams
I think just come to my house. Great.
Ashley
Do you have a website for the film or anything? We can put it out here.
Brit McAdams
Yeah, there’s a Paint Movie. Yeah, it’s just paint.movie.
Ashley
Perfect. Yeah, I’ll round that up. And I’ll put that in the show notes so people can click over. Brit, I really appreciate you coming on and talking with me today. Good luck with this film. And good luck with all your future films as well.
Brit McAdams
It was great talking to you. Thanks so much.
Ashley
Thank you. We’ll talk to you later.
Brit McAdams
Okay, bye.
A quick plug for the SYS screenwriting analysis service. It’s a really economical way to get a high-quality professional evaluation on your screenplay. When you buy our three pack, you get evaluations at just $67 per script for feature films, and just $55 for teleplays. All the readers have professional experience reading for studios, production companies, contests and agencies. You can read a short bio on each reader on our website, and you can pick the reader who you think is the best fit for your script. Turnaround time is usually just a few days, but rarely more than a week. The readers will evaluate your script on six key factors; Concept, Character, Structure, Marketability, Tone, and Overall Craft which includes, Formatting, Spelling and Grammar. Every script will get a great pass, consider or recommend, which should help you roughly understand where your script might rank if you were to submit it to a production company or agency. We can provide an analysis on features or television scripts. We also do proofreading without any analysis. We will also look at a treatment or outline and give you the same analysis on it. So, if you’re looking to vet some of your project ideas, this is a great way to do it. We will also write your logline and synopsis for you. You can add this logline and synopsis writing service to an analysis or you can simply purchase this service as a standalone product. As a bonus, if your screenplay gets a recommend or a consider from one of our readers, you get to list the screenplay in the SYS select database, which is a database for producers to find screenplays and a big part of our SYS select program. Producers are in the database searching for material on a daily basis, so it’s another great way to get your material in front of them. As a further bonus, if your script gets a recommend from one of our readers, your screenplay will get included in our monthly best of newsletter. Each month we send out a newsletter that highlights the best screenplays that have come through our script analysis service. This is monthly newsletter that goes out to our list of over 400 producers who are actively looking for material. So again, this is another great way to get your material out there. So, if you want a professional evaluation of your screenplay at a very reasonable price, check out www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/consultants. Again, that’s sellingyourscreenplay.com/consultants. On the next episode of the podcast, I’m going to be interviewing writer, director and also actor – Franklin Rich, who just did a cool low budget sci-fi film called The Artifice Girl. It’s about an AI bot that is created to hunt down online sexual predators, but it ends up going terribly wrong. There’s so much in the news these days about AI. So, it’s a very timely film. We do talk a little bit about that the timeliness of the story. We dig into the story and just how he wrote the script and then how this project did come together for him. So, keep an eye out for that episode next week. That’s to show thank you for listening.