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The comedians turn to rom-com royalty Kirsten "Kiwi" Smith (10 Things I Hate About You, Legally Blonde, She's the Man) to help refine their pitch. They also develop their romantic leads, Greg and Catalina. But are they failing to see a few key rom-com red flags…?
Host Josephine Green Zhang speaks with screenwriters Karen McCullah & Kirsten ‘Kiwi” Smith (10 Things I Hate About You, The Ugly Truth) about writing hit comedy Legally Blonde, named one of WGA's 101 Greatest Screenplays of the 21st Century (*so far).
First Draft Episode #309: Casey McQuiston Casey McQuiston, New York Times bestselling author of Red, White, and Royal Blue, talks about her latest queer rom-com, One Last Stop. Links to Topics Mentioned In This Episode: Hadestown (musical) The Royal We and its sequel The Heir Affair, by Jessica Morgan and Heather Cocks, the writing duo otherwise known as Fug Girls. Hear their First Draft interview here. Louise Rettison, author of Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson and many more YA novels Eddie Izzard, actor and comedian A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hilary Rodham Clinton by Carl Bernstein My Date with The President's Daughter (movie) Chasing Liberty (movie) Derry Girls (TV show) Happy Endings (TV show) New Girl (TV show) Veep (TV show) Parks and Recreation (TV show) How I Met Your Mother (TV show) VIcki Lame, editor at St. Martin's Press The You're Wrong About podcast's series about Princess Diana Susie Q (movie) Doctor Who (TV show) LOST (TV show) TVTropes.org Oceans 11 (movie) Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett (hear her First Draft interview here) Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian (hear his First Draft interview here) “I'm Not Your Hero” by Tegan and Sara 10 Things I Hate About You (movie) co-written by Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith, hear her First Draft interview here Elana K. Arnold, author of YA books Damsel, What Girls Are Made Of, Infandous, and Middle Grade series A Boy Called Bat, and many more. Listen to her First Draft interviews here and here.
Kirsten ‘Kiwi’ Smith and Karen McCullah are the writers behind the timeless high school comedy 10 Things I Hate About You. Released in 1999, their Gil Junger-directed teen reworking of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew had it all: big laughs, blossoming romance, coming-of-age emotion and a ridiculously fun soundtrack. The film told the tale of two sisters: a smart but abrasive outcast called Kat (Julia Stiles) and her younger sibling Bianca (Larisa Oleynik), who’s banned from dating until her sister does. When new kid Cam (Joseph Gordon Levitt) falls for Bianca, a plan is hatched to set Kat up with mysterious bad boy Patrick, played by the late, great Heath Ledger.Karen and Kiwi told us all about the rebellious fun of turning a classic literary tale into a high school romp, the ahead-of-its-time feminist message they wanted the film to have, and the erotic fiction-loving character they cut out of the movie to cast the story in a whole new light. There’s also revelations about a secret, swear-word-related CGI shot you’ve probably noticed before, and what they’d do differently if they were writing the film today. Script Apart is a podcast about the first-draft secrets behind great movies. Each episode, the screenwriter behind a beloved film shares with us their initial screenplay for that movie. We then talk through what changed, what didn’t and why on its journey to the big screen. All proceeds go to Black Minds Matter UK, the NHS Charities Covid-19 Appeal and the Film and TV Charity. Script Apart is hosted by Al Horner and produced by Kamil Dymek, with music from Stefan Bindley-Taylor. You can follow Script Apart on Twitter and Instagram. You can also email us on thescriptapartpodcast@gmail.com.
Trinkets co-creators Emily Meyer and Amy Andelson discuss the life and death stakes of being a teenager, how they balance the different tones on the show, their writing process as partners and more. The Netflix series about an unexpected friendship that forms when three teenage girls meet in Shoplifters Anonymous was adapted from a young-adult novel by Kirsten (KIWI) Smith who is also one of the show's co-creators and executive producers. You can stream Trinkets now on Netflix! Don’t forget to subscribe to the Write On podcast on iTunes!
First Draft Episode #196: Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith, Amy Andelson, and Emily Meyer Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith, Amy Andelson, and Emily Meyer are the team behind Trinkets, the Netflix TV series based on Kiwi’s young adult novel of the same name. Kiwi Smith is one half of the screenwriting team behind films like 10 Things I Hate About You, Legally Blonde, Ella Enchanted, and more, and the author of young adult novels The Geography of Girlhood, and Trinkets. Amy Andelson and Emily Meyer are the writing team behind films like Step Up 3D, Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List, and the young adult novel Layover, and they adapted Trinkets and are credited as co-creators of the TV show. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode Every listener should check out the first episode of First Draft with Sarah Enni with Amy Andelson and Emily Meyer, when we talked about her first novel, Layover 10 Things I Hate About You was shot at Stadium High School in Tacoma, Wash. Shooting Trinkets on location in Portland, Ore. was a way to differentiate the show visually from glossier teen shows like Riverdale, and evoke classic teen shows like My So-Called Life Awesomeness TV produced the show and helped shape the project into a TV show Writer and artist Alex Israel was singing Amy and Emily’s praises to Kiwi for years before the three actually met John McAlary, the casting director for Trinkets, said he saw 6,000 actors during the casting process for the show’s key roles Seeing Trinkets star Brianna Hildebrand sing on her Instagram inspired Kiwi, Amy, and Emily to include singing as part of her character Actor Katrina Cunningham, who plays Sabine in Trinkets, and is a performer as well and her music is featured in the show Kiwi is currently writing “Party Girls” with long-time co-writer Karen McCullah End of the Fucking World and Russian Doll are TV series that Kiwi thinks are ideal bingeable lengths for TV series Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free! Rate, Review, and Recommend How do you like the show? Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Karen McCullah and Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith are one of the most prolific and successful female writing teams in Hollywood. Among their many credits is She’s the Man (2006) that resets William Shakespeare’s cross-dressing comedy Twelfth Night in a contemporary boarding school. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33504]
Karen McCullah and Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith are one of the most prolific and successful female writing teams in Hollywood. Among their many credits is She’s the Man (2006) that resets William Shakespeare’s cross-dressing comedy Twelfth Night in a contemporary boarding school. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33504]
Karen McCullah and Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith are one of the most prolific and successful female writing teams in Hollywood. Among their many credits is She’s the Man (2006) that resets William Shakespeare’s cross-dressing comedy Twelfth Night in a contemporary boarding school. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33504]
Karen McCullah and Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith are one of the most prolific and successful female writing teams in Hollywood. Among their many credits is She’s the Man (2006) that resets William Shakespeare’s cross-dressing comedy Twelfth Night in a contemporary boarding school. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33504]
Karen McCullah and Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith are one of the most prolific and successful female writing teams in Hollywood. Among their many credits is She’s the Man (2006) that resets William Shakespeare’s cross-dressing comedy Twelfth Night in a contemporary boarding school. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33504]
Karen McCullah and Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith are one of the most prolific and successful female writing teams in Hollywood. Among their many credits is She’s the Man (2006) that resets William Shakespeare’s cross-dressing comedy Twelfth Night in a contemporary boarding school. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33504]
Time Codes: 00:31 - Introduction 03:51 - Greetings and apologies 05:36 - Good Night, Planet 13:15 - The Dam Keeper 24:59 - Misfit City 39:30 - A look back at 2017 in young reader comics 56:56 - Wrap up 57:25 - Contact us It's the end of the year, and for their December episode of the Young Readers series, Gwen and Paul discuss three exciting titles as well look back at the past year's releases. They begin by discussing Liniers's Good Night, Planet, part of Françoise Mouly's TOON Books series. After that they look at Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi's The Dam Keeper, recently released from First Second. Then they wrap up with a comic-book series, Kirsten "Kiwi" Smith, Kurt Lustgarten, and Naomi Franquiz's Misfit City (BOOM! Box). They also take a look back at 2017, where both Gwen and Paul discuss what they consider the best of comics of the year for young readers.
Kirsten (Kiwi) Smith, the co-writer of "Legally Blonde," "10 Things I Hate About You," "Ella Enchanted" and (in development) "The Expendabelles" and "Sister Act 3," talks about breaking story, creating set-pieces and discovering the “joy" of a character.
Kirsten "Kiwi" Smith in unabashed that champagne helped her write such beloved and enduring comedies as Legally Blonde, The House Bunny and 10 Things I Hate About You. So we plied her with a bunch of the stuff and got her talking about Hollywood -- from the perils of pitching too much story, to finding her writing partner via a query letter, to her first gig driving Alyssa Milano to a movie set in her '85 Jetta.