Todd Bartels & Lou Howe

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This week we're joined by writing partners Lou Howe and Todd Bartels, whose Dolly Parton origin story Dumb Blonde landed on the 2022 Black List - and whose next collaboration just got a lot bigger. Their Anthony Bourdain feature Tony, directed by Matt Johnson and starring Dominic Sessa, hits theaters from A24 this week, and we get into what it actually looks like to go from a beloved-but-unproduced script to a movie in theaters.

We trace their partnership all the way back to high school, where the two met and first started acting before they ever thought about writing together professionally. From there we dig into the mechanics of co-writing - how they split scenes, fight for lines and banish widows - plus the very different challenges of cracking a music-icon origin story versus a pre-fame character study of a guy everyone thinks they already know.

If you've ever wondered what a writing partnership actually looks like day-to-day, this one's for you.

Guest: ⁠⁠⁠Todd Bartels on Instagram and X

Lou Howe on ⁠Instagram⁠⁠ and X

Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Chris Hill⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BlueSky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠storyandplot.com/blacklisted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for a 10% discount on Tom Vaughan's fantastic screenwriting courses.

Useful links:

Tony - A24 Trailer

Tony - Official Website

Tony - THR Review

Tony - Cast Conversation (YouTube)