Adapting Books to Movies for Screenwriters with Monisha Dadlani

Show notes

Monisha Dadlani is a multi-hyphenate actress, writer, and director. As a writer, she's developed projects with Sony Pictures Television, Netflix Features Animation, Amazon Studios, and MRC. She was also a freelance writer for an animated show on Apple TV+ and voices a series regular on a Nickelodeon International animated series. =She's a member of the WGA and The Animation Guild, an alumni of Ron Howard and Brian Grazer's content acceleration program, Imagine Impact, and had one of her scripts featured on the 2020 Black List.
Today we dive into developing original material versus adapting IP, pitching on open writing assignments, and finding your voice as a storyteller.

1. 3:06Original scripts vs. open writing assignments (OWAs)
2. 5:20IP is king (or queen!)
3. 10:35Studio being on board vs. not yet
4. 14:50One producer vs. two producers - navigating conflicting notes
5. 17:00faithfulness to IP with strong fandoms
6. 21:45Monisha’s first OWA for MRC + the process
7. 27:05When to turn down an OWA
8. 28:22Being part of the Netflix Braintrust
9. 30:28Blind script deal at Sony + “if-come” deals
10. 33:10Pitching a PG-13 vs. R-rated version of an idea depending on the distributor
11. 35:50How Monisha started pitching on OWAs + Imagine Impact
12. 43:11How the first script Monisha ever wrote was “not great” but landed her in the fellowship that launched her writing career
13. 48:46Meeting with managers + choosing one of the 10+ that was interested (David Baggelaar at Goodyear)
14. 52:27Why your agent might be hiding in the mailroom
15. 54:20What you should have in your writing sample to attract reps + jobs
16. 59:10Monisha’s Black List script “The Boy Who Died” + a pitch to Daniel Radcliffe
17. 1:04:25What the Black List can do for a career
18. 1:08:15How to make one sample work for both YA, sci-fi, romance AND four-quadrant projects
19. 1:09:39Joining the Writers Guild of America
20. 1:10:00Growing up in NYC, attending the “Fame” high school, choosing USC School of Dramatic Arts
21. 1:17:00Shooting a feature film with $5,000
22. 1:18:55Storytelling side hustles + shooting a passion project web series
23. 1:20:43TIME CAPSULE