This is a transcript of SYS 524 – Writing Action and War Movies With Jesse Mittelstadt .
Welcome to Episode 524 of the Selling Your Screenplay Podcast. I’m Ashley Scott Myers, screenwriter and blogger with sellingyourscreenplay.com. Today, I am interviewing screenwriter Jesse Mittelstadt, who just wrote the feature Murder Company which is a World War Two action film starring Kelsey Grammer. We talked through his early credits, how those came about. And then we dug into this latest project and how that film got greenlit, so stay tuned for that interview.
SYS’s six-figure screenplay contest is still open for submissions just go to www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/contest. Our final deadline is approaching which is July 31st. So, if your script is ready, definitely submit now as this is your last chance for the year. 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’ve got lots of industry judges reading scripts in the later rounds, we’re giving away 1000s in cash and prizes. We have a short film script category 30 pages or less. So, if you have a low budget short script, by all means, submit that as well. Once again, if you want to learn more about the contest more about the judges, more about how it all works or potentially enter just go to www.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 in 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 look for episode 524. If you want my free guide How to Sell a Screenplay in five weeks, you can pick that up by going to www.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 a 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 www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/guide. So, now let’s get into the main segment. Today, I am interviewing screenwriter Jesse Mittelstadt. Here is the interview.
Ashley
Welcome Jesse to the Selling Your Screenplay Podcast. I really appreciate you coming on the show with me today.
Jesse Mittelstadt
Yeah, hi. Thanks for having me.
Ashley
So, to start out, maybe you can tell us a little bit about your background, where you grew up? And how did you get interested in the entertainment business?
Jesse Mittelstadt
Sure, yeah, I grew up in the northeast and New England, Vermont. And from pretty early on, I was interested in storytelling, I think it started out. I think when I was the youngest, I had the idea of being a novelist. And then that sort of morphed into getting into comic books and eventually movies. And that’s kind of where I landed, went to film school, and then for a number of years was working other jobs while I was you know, writing and trying to getting that off the ground and eventually was able to make it a full-time gig.
Ashley
Yeah. So let’s talk about that transition right out of college. What was sort of your job? And how did you make that transition into just getting your scripts out there getting some of these first credits and actually turning it into a profession.
Jesse Mittelstadt
Early on, you know, I was continuing to work on film shoots, and you know, doing the student film thing at first and working literally, like retail jobs and whatever I had to. I grew up basically in the middle of nowhere, but I moved to New York City at that point for school. And that’s where I was based. And I was also into animation. I was did a lot of drawing back then. So, I kind of ultimately got on some shoots, doing storyboards, and then started kind of doing some Script doctoring working with directors. And you know, I just kind of throw my ideas out there and kind of found some good collaborators. And so, you know, I was course, trying to get going as a writer, and director myself, so just kind of kept pursuing that. And then, yeah, that turned into, you know, writing some spec screenplays and kind of getting some indie projects off the ground with the people I was working on working with, and then just kind of kept going from there.
Ashley
Gotcha. So, at what point it sounds like you went to film school. At what point though did you decide you want to be a writer, and you started really writing scripts and spec scripts and that sort of stuff? Was there a moment or did you always sort of know that you wanted to be on the writing end of things?
Jesse Mittelstadt
I think so. Yeah. I guess maybe before you really have a lot of experience. It’s different for everybody, but you have the idea of just making movies. Sometimes you just have this really generalized idea of like being the director and being in charge, but I always love the idea side, the storytelling side, and you know, and then I think people kind of find some specialties or they’re comfortable with and getting through that. But yeah, I think I was always interested in that. And just, you know, the genesis of the idea, and, you know, just the storytelling really. So, and it’s also it’s fun, because it is so collaborative, and he kind of, I learned that like, kind of getting out of your own room and, you know, spit balling with other people. And that just became a really fun part of it for me. So, yeah.
Ashley
What were some of your first attempts at trying to be a professional screenwriter? I’m just sort of looking just like, what are some of the things that you did in work? What are some of the things you did and didn’t work? Were you doing query letters to agents and managers? Were you entering contests? Were you using services like the blacklist ink tip? Just what was sort of those early stages look like? It sounds like you were working on some student projects, or indie projects, sort of at the same time, but were you doing some sort of standard screenwriting things, contests in the blacklist and that sort of stuff?
Jesse Mittelstadt
Right yeah, I never really went the contest route. I mean, I think I was lucky enough to fall in with some people who were getting some stuff produced. And for a long time, we were just working on spec stuff and working on getting our own productions off the ground. And, you know, if I had if I had it to do over again, maybe I would go more that route, or at least be more disciplined about getting my stuff out there every way I could. Because, you know, definitely, there were some long dry periods. And you know, it was difficult, but it was really just a matter of finding ways or being delusional enough to stick with it. But yeah, I think it was finding the right creative partners, and then sort of, honestly, other connections and opportunities sort of growing through them. I mean, like, we’ll talk about Murder Company later. But like in that particular instance, I mean, that grew out of just kind of relationship on another project, where I just sort of crossed paths with someone, you know, who liked what I’d done on that movie. And then he looked me up one day, and we started talking about another project, which didn’t get produced. But then, several years later, we started talking about this one, and, and this one happened. So, a lot of stories like that, you know, a lot of like, hit and miss. But yeah, it’s just kind of like, you’re always so focused on the quality. And I’ve definitely been guilty of, you know, becoming obsessive about like a certain project that feels like it’s the one or it needs to be the one and forgetting that, like, it’s a volume business in a lot of ways in terms of like, you’re not going to bat a 1000. So, you know, you need to take as many swings as you can. I guess it’s sloppy metaphor, but you know what I mean?
Ashley
Yeah, yeah, no, I think that’s sound advice. So, let’s dig into some of your early projects. Just quickly, we can sort of just talk about how they got going. I’m always curious, I noticed one of your first IMDb credits as called Across the Hall. And there’s a short version, and then a feature version. This is something that, you know, we’ve heard in Hollywood, certainly, since as long as I’ve been out here is that, oh, you can make this short film, and then you know, send it to a film festival, whatever, and then get funding for a feature. I think Bottle Rocket very famously did that. There are some real famous examples, but maybe you can talk through that process a little bit. How did you get sort of involved with the original film across the hall? And then how did that ultimately end up turning into a feature film?
Jesse Mittelstadt
Yeah, sure. Of course, with that one, that is actually one of the projects I kind of alluded to earlier, where I can’t even remember exactly what I was doing at the time. It was not long after I was out of film school, but I was working in Brooklyn, I was a campaign, I was like a communications director on a few political campaigns there. I was doing speech writing and stuff like that. But also other odd jobs, I guess. And that was a project where someone was looking for a storyboard artist, and it was like a friend of a friend. And I just threw my hat in the ring and started working on that. And over the course of that project, I got to know you know, the rest of the team. And the script was kind of in flux. They weren’t really happy with where all of it was. And so, I remember one night, I just, you know, I was up doing the storyboards at like, two in the morning, and I decided to just kind of give the script or rewrite, and just gave it to them on a whim. And yeah, they really liked it. And kind of brought me in in that capacity. And we ended up making that film. And then yeah, that did get made into a feature couple years later, but that was, you know, that was a nice, like, Adrian Grenier starred in that short film, and it was kind of a random occurrence, but he was doing entourage at the time, which was really big. You know, this was back in you know, late 2000s, I guess. So. Or mid-2000s, late-2000s. So yeah, it was just kind of like that that got us some exposure. And then you know, we were pitching other projects and everything, but because we had that short film, that was the one that we were able to get off the ground as a feature. And you know, that helped lead to other things.
Ashley
Gotcha. So, now as you’re working as a storyboard artist, and I know this is a common occurrence for, you know, people that are trying to break in as writers, they’re working at a production company in some other capacity. How, how do you? Did you just become good enough friends with these folks? So, you knew, because I mean, you could theoretically step on some toes by bringing them a rewrite of script, hey, you know, I rewrote your script for you, you know, that could be that can be taken two ways. Oh, thank you very much. You could also be taken as like, who does this guy think he is? How do you know, just when it’s appropriate to make those kinds of sort of aggressive moves and push your career forward like that?
Jesse Mittelstadt
Yeah, that’s a good question. Because you don’t want to be oblivious to those things. And I think it is kind of reading the room and sort of where your relationship is at. I also think sometimes it’s worth just taking a shot. Like if you’re doing it in earnest, you know, it hopefully, it won’t be taken the wrong way. But you know, that was, of course, the cliff-notes version, in terms of I don’t even really remember. I think I tried to be delicate in it. But it was very much like – Hey, listen, I had some ideas. You know, I know you guys, we’ve been talking about this, because, you know, I was working on the boards, and they were just sort of some blank spots. And so, I really just tried to pass it off as like, you know, here’s, here’s some ideas and just trying to help not obviously lobbying for like, you know, you guys want to pay me for this, or I don’t know, just not making it weird. And yeah, and it just, I think it resonated, you know, for whatever reason, or luckily enough, like, so that was a big help. And, yeah, I mean, it’s always in the back of my mind, like, you know, working professionally, having that level of respect. And like when opportunities come along, kind of checking the blind spots, and just making sure you’re not stepping on people’s toes.
Ashley
Yeah. Sound Advice. So maybe you could just give us a quick sort of a Cliff’s Notes version of how did it go from a short to a feature? Did you enter it in a bunch of festivals? Did you just make some connections? What was sort of those moments that took this from short film to greenlit feature?
Jesse Mittelstadt
I think, you know, that’s why I referenced Adrian Grenier at the time, he had some heat on him. And so like, I remember when we were shooting that was actually in New York City, and he was shooting, The Devil Wears Prada at the same time. Like I remember him, like, you know, we were rapping and like he would be headed over to that set. So, I think that helped get some exposure. Also, I believe Sony, came in as like, sort of a backer, or they wanted to use the film as a promo. I think I’m not sure exactly how that panned out. To be honest, I can’t remember. But like, we had some corporate eyes on it. And so, like that particular director, good friend of mine, Alex Merkin, I think you know, that caught him, you know, helped him climb the ladder a little bit. And we kept working together. And so, like I said, we I, you know, again, I thinking back to those days, we had a couple other scripts that were like, oh, man, this, you know, let’s put all of our eggs in this basket, this is going to be great. That didn’t end up happening. But you know, even then some other ideas get spun off from that. But based on the strength of that short, we were able to keep pushing it, you know, we wrote a feature script for it. And when the right opportunity came along, we kind of had that package to show, you know, we had a whole new cast and everything for the feature. But you know, I think that’s just definitely the short was the proof of concept that really helped.
Ashley
Yeah. So, let’s talk a little bit about your relationship with Alex Merkin. I noticed you did you’ve written a bunch of movies that he has directed. Maybe you can talk about that a little bit. So, you just met him on across the hall, basically, working as a storyboard artist, you guys became friends. And then now he sort of trust you as a writer. Is that sort of the gist of it?
Jesse Mittelstadt
Yeah, yeah. You know, I mean, I was, you know, in New York City, studying film, and, you know, getting to know some other, you know, people and I think, through an actor that I knew, I met Alex, and then, you know, that’s when I just was doing the boards forum and just kind of helping them cobble together the film. And yeah, we just worked really well together. So, you know, and believe me, it was a slog for like, you know, it’s not like it was the tap was just on a steady flow of work or anything, you know, there were long spells where we were just kind of, you know, and that was the loss speaks a lot to my kind of growth evolution as a writer or becoming a professional, just kind of understanding the daily grind of it. But yeah, we just kind of always kept collaborating and pushing different projects, and we were fortunate enough to get a few different ones made we still work together, you know, is always talking about, you know, the next thing was the business has continued to change over the last decade plus, I mean, you know, more quickly than ever now. But yeah, and I think and then other connections, like I was saying before arise through that collaboration so it becomes an I’m not the world’s greatest networker by any means, but that kind of just helps push things along.
Ashley
So, let’s talk about Altitude starring Dolph Lundgren and Denise Richards. This was a film I actually remember I was at AFM, the year this was coming out and the posters were all over the place that year. And this a very, and this is not disparaging, because I mean, I’ve written a lot of these movies that end up at AFM, but altitude is very much sort of an AFM movie. It’s sort of an action, low budget action independent film. You’ll obviously it’s very cast, driven with Dolph Lundgren and Denise Richards, maybe you can talk about that project a little bit. How did you get involved in that? And as I said, it’s a film that really checks a lot of those boxes for the sort of low budget independent films, genre films, and maybe you can speak to that a little bit. How did this come about? And sort of what was your intention with this one?
Jesse Mittelstadt
Yeah sure. And, you know, upfront, I’ll say like, everything you just described is spot on, and my kind of my understanding of that genre and that business model. I mean, that’s something I sort of learned along the way of making that film. And getting into that, you know, that script in that production, and sort of understanding the dynamics of like, needing an Dolph Lundgren, and you know, how much of the budget goes to a name like that, and everything else, as far as you know, creatively. For me, it was sort of like an unapologetic, like 90s action movie was kind of the idea of like, something that is, you know, self-consciously over the top, but not trying to be ironic or cynical, just trying to have a lot of fun. And yeah, it was built for that model of like, fairly contained. It’s an airplane heist movie. So, it fits the budget. And again, like some of these movies that weren’t in particular, like, knowing what the budget truly was, like, they did amazing work in terms of making it look, I think, a lot bigger. And so I mean, again, like every project, it was its own learning experience. But with that one, I believe, you know, Alex knew these producers who were kind of looking for a project like that to fit the model. And we pitched them on that. And, you know, they hammered out the script and a few weeks, and it came together pretty quickly and pretty smoothly. Yeah, and that’s kind of how that went down.
Ashley
Gotcha. And let’s do the same thing for no escape room. How did that one come about? And sort of what was your intention with that?
Jesse Mittelstadt
Well, that was a project that originated the Sci Fi network. And, you know, it ended up going to Netflix and doing pretty well. But that was something where an Alex directed that one as well. They needed a script very quickly, because I believe we first started talking about it, maybe in April. And it had to premiere in October. So I, you know, got on with a producer and with Alex. And, you know, they had sort of the contours of like an escape room based horror film. And, you know, we brainstormed a story. And I got on that. And, and that was that was a lot of fun. And again, each one of these is like learning time to really treat it like a job and really just sort of adapt to the parameters of like, this is the time you have and doing the best you can with it. And then again, leaning on your creative partners because they pour a lot into it too. And it’s like, you never want to just take it and run and hide thinking you’ll just wow, I’m like a complete draft. I’ve done that. Try that method many times.
Ashley
Yeah, yeah. Okay, so let’s dig into your most recent film Murder Company starring Kelsey Grammer, maybe to start out you can just give us a quick logline or pitch. What is this new film all about?
Jesse Mittelstadt
Yeah, well, this is what we’re to film. It’s about a small group of airborne soldiers who get, you know, miss their drop zone gets separated from their unit and the opening hours, the D Day invasion. And they get cobbled together in sort of a mixed unit of troops from different parts of the 82nd airborne, and they get tasked with escorting a member of the French Resistance, a sniper deeper into France behind enemy lines, so we can take out a high value target that’s going to help, you know, open things up for the US invasion and the troops that are still stranded on the beaches.
Ashley
So, where did this idea come from? What was the genesis of this story?
Jesse Mittelstadt
Well, this was you know, talking to another producer, who I’ve worked with before, who was essentially interested in doing a World War Two movie. And you know, I knew a fair amount about the genre and the history and kind of have the story The idea in mind that I pitched him, you know, based on some, I mean, of course D Day, you know, real-life events. But within that, you know, the microcosm of what I just described, based on some real-life events. Yeah. So we just we agreed on that I wrote it. And, again, they did a hell of a job, bring it together really quickly.
Ashley
Was there some things as you’re dealing with this producer, obviously, with an independent film budget, and just sort of the scope of the film is always sort of an important thing? Was there anything that he gave you like, listen, we got to keep this. We’re not I mean, the D, the Saving Private Ryan, you know, we’re not going to have that opening scene where they stormed Normandy beach. But was there some of those discussions? And I’m just curious, like, what sort of advice you know, what, what did you learn from this producer talking to him, as you sort of develop the idea that maybe we can pass on to other writers that sort of want to write in this independent genre film?
Jesse Mittelstadt
Yeah, you know, I sometimes I think I almost err too much on the producer side, especially in some of these recent projects that I’ve done, where you can get very self-conscious about imposing those limits on the story. And a lot of times, in my experience, it’s like people would like to see you push it, as long as you’re being real realistic in the sense that it’s just not completely far gone, like you are writing Saving Private Ryan, but really just following the story and, and trying to put the biggest version of it on the page. I think, you know, it’s definitely worth, you know, studying the genre and the model of some of these other films and kind of understanding why they do what they do, or why they have to do what they do. And in thinking of that as just your canvas, where it’s like, those restrictions don’t have to be a bad thing at all. And they can take a load off your shoulders in terms of like, okay, that’s sort of decided for me, like we, we can’t do this and that, but within this smaller kind of sandbox, we can be as creative as we want.
Ashley
What were some of the other films, you mentioned, sort of other films in the genre? What are some of the other films that you looked at, in preparing to write this or as you were writing it?
Jesse Mittelstadt
Well, I say that, but I mean, you know, I had sort of internalized the same things that, you know, you’ve referenced Saving Private Ryan, that one still looms so large, and so influential, I think not just on World War two movies, but action films in general. But I looked at I honestly looked at some older films, like the big red one, of course, Band of Brothers had done kind of the story of the 100. And first airborne, really authoritatively, and I don’t think I even revisited that, but I’d seen it I’d read some of those books. And there’s so many smaller movies, I don’t know if I can call out just one. But again, I think for me, sometimes you get in your head, like, okay, I’m going to write this story, I’m going to go do all this research. Sometimes that falls by the wayside. So, it’s such a benefit to just always be doing your research just absorbing, you know, storytelling and whatever form you know, whether it’s podcasts, or of course, movies, but books, everything else, so that you just sort of buildup that base, almost, you know, it’s part of your unconscious kind of though process.
Ashley
Yeah. So, let’s talk about your writing process a little bit. Where do you typically write? Are you have a home-office, you go to Starbucks with the ambient noise? And when do you typically write Are you a morning person, night person, just what is your writing schedule look like?
Jesse Mittelstadt
Schedule wise, definitely a morning person is another hard lesson that I’ve learned over the years. Because I think I used to write when I felt like it, or like, you know, I’d write late into the night, but really being on that schedule. And it’s such an amazing feeling. To have it be like 10am, or noon and feel like you’ve already got a good day under your belt. Like if you did nothing else, you would be in a decent place, and then everything else is kind of gravy. So I don’t start super early, I know that people get going at four or five in the morning, but that’s not me, I do write do most of my work in the mornings. And then the afternoons can be for, you know, just kind of letting stuff process or taking notes or doing some more reading, keeping your head in it. And that’s and that’s been in terms of my process. That’s been the biggest thing that like you’re told right from the beginning, but I feel like at least for me, it’s something it took years to sort of internalize in terms of like, not just kind of knowing the road, like this is the work ethic you need or this is the schedule, but just sort of really feeling it and believing it, you know, because it’s so easy to feel like, I just don’t have it today. You know, I can’t do it today. And you know, because it’s a weird mix right of business and just being creative. But imposing those deadlines, whatever. I mean, like, in terms of process being on a deadline, like I just wrote a script a few weeks ago, in a week. That was kind of it was a rewrite, but it was essentially a page one job and A few years ago, I don’t know, I think I would have been so intimidated to do that. And really, it’s like, nature abhors a vacuum, right? So if you have like a year to write something, it’ll most likely take you a year. A week is an extreme example. But like, suddenly, then like writing something in four weeks, you know, kind of a Normal Draft schedule is not doesn’t seem so crazy.
Ashley
Yeah, for sure. So, let’s talk about just outlining versus actually writing script pages. What does your process look like? Do you spend a lot of time with index cards or an outline sort of just mapping things out, versus how much time do you spend actually in Final Draft, cranking out screenplay pages.
Jesse Mittelstadt
Final Draft is definitely the last stage. For me, that’s almost kind of like a second pass. Because I and I don’t I don’t find a lot of people to do this. But I do write longhand exclusively. And then basically, I fill up, those little like eight by five notepads are just small enough, you can fit in your back pocket, because I do pace around a lot when I’m writing and go to different locations. I do like privacy. When I’m writing, I didn’t really mention that before. But I’m not a Starbucks guy, I have a really hard time with distractions, I can create my own distractions like it can really help to have music or TV on as long as I can control it. Because then I might need silence. But basically, what I do is I do outline, I’m not a big note, card person, I’ve tried it many times, it can be very helpful. Certainly, when you’re collaborating with other people, whether it’s, you know, whatever software you like, you know, getting on the whiteboard, and everything. If you’re working remotely, all that stuff is really helpful. I basically sketch out, I tend to do three passes on a first draft, like I sketch out the outline, which is sort of those major beats, and then if I hit on a scene that suddenly in my head, I’ll just write it out. And then I’ll kind of do another pass and fill in a lot of those blanks. And then the third pass is kind of like what I think of as the first draft, where you’re actually really finalizing pages, and you’ve got a complete screenplay. And then I have to type it up, which is actually kind of like, you know, even though it’s a first draft, it’s almost like you’re doing a little polish, you know, I mean, I just kind of tried to do that quickly, and not get too hung up on it. But you know, I know what your experience is. But sort of like looking at the first edit of a film a lot of times when I’m doing a first pass like that, and it hits me the wrong way. And I’m like, oh, my God, what have I done? And then once I, it’s all typed up, it’s like, okay, this isn’t so bad. This is actually, we’re close.
Ashley
And so, what is your development process look like? The first question is, when do you know when it’s time to start showing other people? And then what does that development process look like? Do you have some other writer friends, you know, Director, friends, producer, friends that you send scripts to you get notes, and you start to work through an actor’s just what is your development process look like?
Jesse Mittelstadt
Well, I think it does vary from project to project, I don’t always, you know, I don’t have like a particular family member or confidant that I always go to, might help. But you know, I will talk to, you know, close friends, family, you know, about just bounce ideas off them or kind of start spontaneously, you know, let it making them suffer through, like my really incoherent pitch or wherever it’s at. But, again, based on some of the projects I’ve done, there’s been situations where, you know, you kind of have to submit, like, the 20 pages as you go. And because you know, that, like, sometimes the scheduling is like, they need to know, like, you’re on right path, or, you know, I’ve worked with producers who really just appreciate that, you know, and it’s like, and I think it helps if you have the right report, review, establish that relationship. So you don’t have to, the problem I had is that fear of being judged on those pages alone, like, you know, if this is a bad batch, whatever, they’re going to think, you know, and once they sort of, first of all, that’s silly, I think, but once you have, like, established a little bit of that relationship, it becomes a lot easier, because, you know, they’re not afraid to tell you when you’ve gotten wrong, you’re not afraid to hear it, because, you know, you’re kind of on the same page. So that really helps. And it just alleviates the pressure. Like, again, I’ve been in those situations where you’re really pressing against a deadline or whatever. And it just builds up that feeling of like, if I don’t deliver, I’m really in over my head. So, you know, just trying to be open with whoever you’re working with. But at the same time, I think, you know, once you’ve earned that trust, I’ve definitely had projects where I just will put together a whole draft and, and just hand it over. And you know, and that’s part of the process as long as you know, you know, you’re going to do another round of notes or two and yeah, so I guess it does vary, or it has for me, anyway.
Ashley
Yeah. So, on Murder Company. You worked with a director Shane Dex Taylor. It didn’t seem like just looking at your IMDB you had worked with him before. So maybe you can speak to that a little bit. When did Shane come on to this project? Did you in the producer already have a draft done? And then what does that process like, look like working with a director? Who is new? Did you have a prior relationship with them? And how do you just sort of navigate that relationship if he has ideas that want to be, you know, implemented into the script.
Jesse Mittelstadt
So, in that case, we did have a draft beforehand. And I think, you know, it was, you know, on the strength of the draft that we, you know, did casting and brought him on. And, you know, we had an introductory call, and then just sort of, like, had some follow up calls and just chatted, but in that case, so we didn’t have a prior relationship, but we got along really well. And that was sort of a situation where, you know, to a large degree, I had to, you know, just put the script in his hands in the hands of the whole team and just, you know, have confidence that they would do the best with it that they could, that they make it better. And there were, of course, notes coming in as far as like, you know, we did some changes, just sort of through that process. And then I think they, you know, there was a fair amount of work with the actors and everything, and I wasn’t, that’s when I wasn’t on set, they shot that overseas. And, I mean, I’ve been lucky enough working with Alex and, you know, some of those situations where, you know, I’ve been able to be on set and sort of contribute. But as a writer, I think sometimes I don’t know, it’s not always fun to be on a movie set if you don’t have a job. And it’s one thing to visit, but if you’re hanging around every day, you really want to, hopefully be involved. Yeah. So, in that case, I mean, I think they just did an amazing job. And, you know, we communicated as needed, basically. But I just kind of look at it as my job, just do the best work possible upfront to sort of make my case for these things and give them the blueprint. And then again, especially with that film, a lot of Exteriors a lot, you know, again, another demanding schedule, and I think that they, you know, adapted as they needed to, to some of the locations and everything. And I think, you know, it was all better for it.
Ashley
Yeah, yeah. So, what were some of the lessons you learned from writing this screenplay? Are there some specific things that you came away with, that you’ll sort of bring to your next project that you can point to?
Jesse Mittelstadt
You know, I mean, I did do a fair amount of research for this one, just given the nature of it. And I kind of knew that going in. So we set up a schedule where I had a little group breathing room for that. But a lot of times, it’s you, whatever place you’re in, you end up doing, a lot of the work gets concentrated in the smaller amount of time within that larger schedule. And so I think, you know, what I learned on this one is something I’ve been learning for a while where it’s like, just don’t be afraid to dive in. I mean, it’s so much easier to do the bad version first, which often ends up becoming, you know, pretty good, good on the page, as long as you’re not too precious with it. I feel like a lot of times, especially in the past, I’ve had to sort of psych myself out, like, it’s like, okay, you have four weeks to write the script, or eight weeks or what have you. But it’s like, I got to take these first couple of weeks to just like, get my head. Right. And just that’s procrastination. Right. And that’s, I guess that’s part of the process, too. But, but yeah, just like, in the case of this one, I was able to sort of deep in like, just, you know, get into a lot of that material, just reading some history, three and everything, but, but just learning like no, just start running into those problems sooner and figuring out like, what don’t you know, or what’s not working? And you know, and that’s something that’s one of those things. I feel like you’re always told, but it’s like, it is truly hard to just internalize that in a way where it becomes an instinct, where it’s like, oh, no, this is real. This isn’t just, you know, screen screenwriting advice like that you read in the book. It really does. It’s like muscle memory. You know, it really does. It all helps. Yeah,
Ashley
yeah. What’s your what is your approach? Speaking of screenwriting books, what is your approach to screenplay structure? If you read you know, Blake Snyder has a very clear sort of inciting incident act breaks midpoint, that sort of stuff. Are you do you follow something more along those lines? Or is it more of an intuitive process?
Jesse Mittelstadt
I think it feels intuitive. Like I was just saying about everything else, like it feels intuitive, once you have really internalized that, that stuff, like the Save the cat, stuff is, is true. I mean, that’s like become kind of the lingua franca like the common I encountered that so often. It’s such an easy way to talk about, you know, the fun and games and, and not that it’s he even innovated that, but he put it in such a concise way. That’s great. And then again, I’ve done some TV projects, where it’s like a different beast, you know, like the eight-act structure, depending on what you want to call it, but it’s like, you’re even more mindful of like the page count and where certain things need to fall. But I find that once you sort of, kind of accept that’s kind of the general rules you can, it just feels like you’re Telling the story and I don’t really pay too much attention to that in terms of structure. But you’re, you’re just aware of it in the back of your head, because it’s not so much like, oh, this has to happen on page 25 is just like, oh, if I’m on page 34, and I’m not there yet, like, yes, it’s just naturally, you know, nine times out of 10. It’s like, you’re not doing what you think you’re doing. And of course, it’s like the classic, you know, the best examples where those rules are broken, it’s like, those are not necessarily, you know, you don’t want to assume you’re going to do it, as well as whatever, you know, Master director is in your head that doesn’t follow those rules, and the editor tools of convenience, right, but like, in terms of those conversations, collaborating, it really helps. Just kind of, you know, certain things are assumed, and then you can really get into the meat of what, you know, you really want to be doing. Yeah, so I don’t know if that makes sense. But.
Ashley
Yeah, no, absolutely. So and let’s talk about genre requirements. You know, now that you’ve been through it, the first piece of this is maybe like, when you went into this, were there some things you were sort of trying to accomplish just in terms of genre? I mean, with action films, you sort of hear the advice, there’s got to be sort of set piece every 10 pages or something along those lines. Obviously, this is World War Two. So maybe there’s some other things that you sort of have to lean into. But maybe you can kind of give us some advice. If someone wants to write sort of a low budget independent World War Two, screenplay, what are some of the things that you would advise them to think about?
Jesse Mittelstadt
Well, you know, in this case, trying to think of not giving you like the cliched answer, it definitely started with the story in terms of I think what was the biggest help, is winning on a plot, and then a structure built on that, that really maintained its momentum. Like that was such a big help in terms of like, just the dominoes falling, and like getting, you know, jumping from one action scene to another and just kind of hitting that rhythm that didn’t feel forced. And I guess, like, it’s a war movie, it’s really easy at any point for somebody to just pop up, and a gun battle starts or what have you, are the you know, just run into the next obstacle. And, you know, I guess you can simplify it to that, but just really feeling like it’s purposeful, like this is inevitable in the storytelling, this leads to that leads to that. So, I mean, what you say for sure, like, if you’re writing an action fulfilling, just like, if you’re writing a horror movie, like you need any action, you need scares. I mean, the horror example is interesting, because I’ve done quite a few of those too. And it’s like, it’s surprisingly simple to write what feels like an incredibly scary story. And then someone else will read it and feel like, well, this is a drama, like, you know, like, what am I you know, and so, I think, being mindful of that, I know one of the notes from the producers, you one of the some of their kind words, were just like, you know, you didn’t forget to have fun. Like, they were really happy with the fact that it wasn’t that it was, you know, what it set out to be in terms of an action film sort of wrapped inside a war story.
Ashley
So, now that you’ve been doing this for a few years, what advice would you have for screenwriters looking to break in? Just any ideas? Just what would be your approach? If you were starting out? Now? What would you be doing?
Jesse Mittelstadt
Well, like I said before, I mean, I think taking advantage of everything that’s out there, sort of making that part of your process, and also not getting sort of beaten down by it, if in terms of, you know, submitting it wherever you can screenplay contests, of course, with social media. And I mean, I guess, I, you know, I directed a short film a few years ago, that’s, that’s on YouTube that, you know, did really well, it’s on the Dutch channel. And that was just like, I mean, we didn’t have that when we were doing my first short film. So, I think that it’s like, you can almost be overwhelmed by all those opportunities. But the heart of it, I would say, it’s the same old advice of just continuing to put in the work and just try to not get caught in. And this is just speaking to my own experience, where you get caught up in the idea phase and the ideation of like how awesome something’s going to be. And then once you try to start putting it down on paper and committing it, committing to something, it, it feels very limiting, like, you’re slowly chiseling away all the other versions that it could be that made it seem so great. So, and I still, you know, because you’re busy with other things, you have stuff on the back burner that it’s hard to get to. So you turn around, and it’s like, some idea that you were so excited about has just kind of been living in the back of your brain for years. And, you know, that’s where it will stay trapped. Just think of it that way. Like, it’ll just die a quiet death there unless you can find a way to let it out. So it’s really helpful to just keep working and doing just putting stuff down. You know, for me, it’s literally still putting stuff down on paper, but just sitting down, or however, you know, whatever your process is.
Ashley
Yeah, yeah. So, you mentioned a couple times in the interview that you after college, you went to New York City, you’ve lived in New York City. Are you still in New York City to this day?
Jesse Mittelstadt
Well, you know, I went to city for school, and I keep one foot in the door there. But I, you know, I’m also in New England. And so, I kind of go back and forth, I grew up, like I said, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. And I found that it’s really helpful to spend some time there for my writing. Like when I was in New York, most of my stuff got written either in Prospect Park or Central Park, like I just had to go. I mean, I just would go there and walk around all day with my notebooks. And so yeah, that’s kind of so it’s found, like I was able to write in the city just fine. But now I don’t know, I don’t know how I would do there. I’ve always had a hard time with pent up in a room. And it’s interesting, because I talk to other people where it’s like, that’s exactly what they need, like, really kind of like, you’re just on lockdown. And, and of course, so many people write in cafes and everything. And I, I don’t that’s like, I wish I could do that. But something that I have some mental block, something happened to me once or something. Because that’s tricky.
Ashley
And so, do you feel like not being in LA has hurt your career at all? Maybe you can speak to that a little bit. I get questions all the time from people that don’t live in LA, and they’re sort of wondering if it’s worth a move, or if they should make a move. I mean, you’ve already sort of established yourself, you’ve made a lot of contacts. But just in general, what what’s your opinion on that? Have you ever thought about moving to LA?
Jesse Mittelstadt
I mean, I’ve spent stretches out there. And I have thought about, you know, at various points in my career. I mean, I feel like New York was the next best thing and a lot of ways, but um, you know, I saw a lot of friends make the move out there. And I didn’t ultimately fall, you know, like I said, I was out there for, like, you know, stretches many months at a time. And I don’t know, I mean, it definitely it allowed some more face to face meetings and everything. I think it’s helped by where the world is at, I mean, even more, so post COVID, where it’s just, it’s, it used to be like, why are they going to call you on their side of the country when there’s someone down the block who can just walk in the office? And I guess there’s still an element of that? That’s true. But everyone’s so reachable. Now. I don’t know if it’s, it depends on your job. Or you might, you know, get a job where you need to be there. But yeah, I think I’m comfortable where I’m at, like, I liked la a lot more than I thought I would when I was out there for whatever that’s worth. But I think I think you can do it from anywhere in theory. But yeah. That said, like, if I had never gotten to New York, and I just tried to do everything from, you know, out in the middle of the forest, and then yeah, that probably would have been more of a challenge. So, it does help just to kind of get thrown into the mix, I think and, and then there’s the energy that really does. I do miss that sometimes when I’m not in the city, especially in New York.
Ashley
Yeah. So, what’s next for you? What are you working on right now?
Jesse Mittelstadt
I’m working on a couple of thrillers. I’ve got a horror film that I’ve completed. That is sort of, we’re hoping to get off the ground soon. We’ve kind of been doing some rewrites. But yeah, luckily, it’s been a pretty busy year, and doing a couple more sort of, you know, lower budget, thrillers, but stuff I’m pretty excited about, I think I have another action movie lined up, that I think is going to, you know, look, and I’m pretty excited about that one, too. But and then, of course, when I can grab some time, as always, I’ve got a couple other spec scripts that I want to just try to put down so I can get out there. But yeah, it’s been a good pace. And I do think that it helps when you have something that’s, you know, like movie like more of a company coming out. It’s just a good shot in the arm to just kind of, you know, keep pushing into the next thing. Yeah, yeah, for
Ashley
sure. So I just like to wrap up the interviews by asking the guests if there’s anything you’ve seen recently that you can recommend to our mostly screenwriting audience, anything on HBO, Netflix, Hulu, just is there anything that you’ve watched that you thought, wow, the writing was really good screenwriters to check this out?
Jesse Mittelstadt
I’ll literally, I mean, you know, house of the dragons just premiered? Right, the second season. I haven’t gotten into that. But I’ve been rewatching the original, you know, Game of Thrones Season One. And just since I watched an episode last night, it was like the third episode. I’ve seen the show before, of course, but like I mentioned that, because that show was huge as the new one is, of course, but like, I don’t know, they I always I think I saw the flaws in it and stuff. But like they just did a pretty amazing job when you think about like the world they built up in that show. And I think that I was just struck watching that. The way they deliver their exposition and sort of, you know, we talked about world building and everything. It gets exhausting, but like, there’s such wonderful character driven scenes where it just feels like you’re instantly thrown into this the current of this world and sort of catching up as it goes, I love that feeling of like, oh, there’s all this stuff I missed, but you didn’t, you know, I mean, you read the books, maybe that’s something else. But I think that that from a writer’s perspective is like, such a magic trick to me like to make it you know, when it’s really working seems so effortless. So, you know, I will just because, uh, you know, having, I haven’t kept up with a lot of newer stuff, but that’s probably because I’ve made time to go back and re watch like The Sopranos, and now Game of Thrones. And famously, those shows had their ups and downs, but like, it’s great that they’re always there. And I think they’re worth revisiting as much as it is, you know, behooves us to sort of keep up with all the new stuff.
Ashley
Yeah, yeah. So, what’s the release schedule going to be like for Murder Company? How can people see that one?
Jesse Mittelstadt
So, it’s going to come out and select theaters and digitally on July 5th, and I think we have some things down the road that I maybe can’t talk about yet. But initially, yeah, you’ll be able to, you know, rent it purchased it that way. And, yeah, so just a couple of weeks from now.
Ashley
Perfect, perfect. And what’s the best way for people to keep up with what you’re doing? Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, anything you’re comfortable sharing, I will round up and put in the show notes.
Jesse Mittelstadt
Well, you know, I don’t really do social media. I wish I need to have a better answer for that. I mean, I guess I can, people can always email me, but…
Ashley
No worries. I’ll put your IMDB link to that’s always an easy one. People can check that out and just see what you’re working on.
Jesse Mittelstadt
Absolutely. But yeah, go seek out this movie. If you can find it. I mean, it’ll be out there in the world. Well, I’m really happy with it. We’re excited, you know, for what it turned into. So hopefully, you’ll have a good time with it.
Ashley
Yeah. Congratulations getting this completed. So, Jesse, I really appreciate you coming on the show and talking with me today. You’re very generous with your time. This has been a great interview.
Jesse Mittelstadt
No, hey, I appreciate as well. Had a lot of fun. And just yeah, thanks for having me on.
Ashley
Perfect. Thank you. So, we’ll talk to you later.
Jesse Mittelstadt
You got it. Bye.
Ashley
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