The 21st Rewrite

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In-Depth screenwriting podcast, focusing on the great films of the 21st century. We have three episode formats, either individual screenplay breakdowns, subject-matter experts coming on to discuss a film they love, and interviews with prominent screenwriters.

Episodes

Monday Nov 09, 2020

Alpha (2018) with Christine Schreyer and Dan Wiedenhaupt - Screenplay by Dan Wiedenhaupt

Monday Nov 09, 2020

We have a history, language and screenwriting conversation like no other for you this week, as Dr. Christine Schreyer and writer Dan Wiedenhaupt talk about their work on the 2018 film ‘Alpha’. Dan is the screenwriter who wrote the script for the film’s director Albert Hughes, and he shares his experiences researching and writing a story set in the distant past. Christine has now worked on creating languages for three films, and she explains about how she got involved in this work, her background in anthropology and the joys of creating languages. If you are interested in world-building and imaginative storytelling, you’ll certainly gain a lot of insights as they share their expertise.

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Monday Oct 26, 2020

There Will Be Blood (2007) with Ralph Leonard - Screenplay by Paul Thomas Anderson

Monday Oct 26, 2020

This week, William is joined by writer Ralph Leonard to discuss one of his favourite films, Paul Thomas Anderson's magnificent 'There Will Be Blood'. They start the conversation by talking about the history of California and Upton Sinclair's novel 'Oil' which served as the inspiration for the screenplay - then they discuss their interpretations of the film, the Biblical and Marxist concepts in the story and the fascinating character of Daniel Plainview.

You can read Ralph's essays on Unherd.com or follow him on Twitter @buffsoldier_96.

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Wednesday Jun 24, 2020

Hotel Mumbai (2018) with John Collee - Screenplay by John Collee and Anthony Maras

Wednesday Jun 24, 2020

Screenwriter John Collee is joining William this week on a very socially-distant recording, calling in from 7,511 miles away! We discuss John’s thoughts on living an exciting life that gives you the inspiration to write, collaborating and building relationships, and his ideas about story structure, and then talk about the screenplay to ‘Hotel Mumbai’, which he co-wrote with director Anthony Maras.

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Wednesday Jun 17, 2020

The 21st Recap (Season Two) - Year-In-Review and Awards

Wednesday Jun 17, 2020

We celebrate another run of 21 episodes with the latest edition of ‘The 21st Recap’! The first part of this episode is intended as an introduction to to listeners who are unfamiliar with the show and who want a guide to what we do and what we talk about. This summary of our latest episodes including clips highlighting some of the great guests that have been on the show recently.

For our veteran fans, we also present the second round of ‘Rewrite’ awards, with every screenplay up for nomination. Skip ahead to 1:40:00 to hear the awards and jump over the recaps.

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Tuesday Jun 02, 2020

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) - Screenplay by Martin McDonagh

Tuesday Jun 02, 2020

In this episode, William and Alan discuss Martin McDonagh's powerful exploration of anger, blame and the drive for taking revenge. The inhabitants of a small rural town are brought into conflict as a result of a bereaved mother putting up three billboards directly attacking the police chief of failing to investigate her daughter's murder. Having read the full version of the screenplay we share some of the details of scenes that were taken out from the film, explore how McDonagh made the characterisation and dialogue so effective, and try to define precisely what we think this story is about.

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Monday May 11, 2020

Children of Men (2006) - Screenplay by Alfonso Cuarón, Timothy J Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby - Writing a Movie - Review

Monday May 11, 2020

What happens when a visionary director chooses to adapt a novel, without actually reading the whole book? ‘Children of Men’ is one of the greatest science fiction films of the early twenty-first century, and results from a collaboration between Alfonso Cuarón and no less than four other writers (all of whom, presumably, did read the book). William and Alan take a look at this remarkable screenplay and its origins in the pages of P. D. James’ 1992 novel ‘The Children of Men’, while drawing out some of the key elements that make the story work on the page and on the screen, and explore the concept of finding hope when humanity feels it no longer has a future.

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Monday May 04, 2020

Black Swan (2010) - Screenplay by Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz and John McLaughlin - Writing a Movie - Review

Monday May 04, 2020

A project ten years in the making, ‘Black Swan’ tells a compelling story of a ballerina striving to achieve perfection in her performance and to synthesise the two sides of her personality. As the lockdown continues, William is joined by Alan again over a video call in order to bring you this regular episode, and together they trace the evolution of the story and break down why they think this screenplay is so enjoyable.

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Monday Apr 27, 2020

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) with Everett Rummage - Screenplay by John Collee - Writing a Movie - Review

Monday Apr 27, 2020

A podcast crossover this week with the host of ‘The Age of Napoleon’, Everett Rummage, calling in to discuss one of his favourite historical films: ‘Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World’.

Together we take a detailed look at the mentality of the early nineteenth-century; talking warfare, culture and science, and discuss what we thought of the screenplay, which does not hold back and actually emulates the complex vocabulary used in Patrick O’Brien’s original ‘Aubrey-Maturin’ novels. John Collee wrote a fantastic screenplay, and the film was brilliantly directed by Peter Weir, though the mass-market appeal to audiences was likely stoked by the presence of Russell Crowe in the lead role, at this point riding high off the acclaim for ‘Gladiator’ (2000) and ‘A Beautiful Mind’ (2001).

The writer John Collee has made a version of his script publicly available to download here, we recommend you check it out!

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Monday Apr 20, 2020

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) - Screenplay by Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson - Writing a Movie - Review

Monday Apr 20, 2020

Wes Anderson is a filmmaker with such a recognisable style on the big screen, but we were interested to see how his stories appear on the page too. Written in collaboration with Owen Wilson, 'The Royal Tenenbaums' was the film that really turned Anderson into a household name, and it is an endearing, complex tale of a disintegrating family. William and Alan speak this week over a video call, as a result of the worldwide lockdown, but we hope the content is just as informative and insightful as when we record together in person.

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Monday Apr 13, 2020

Looking For Eric (2009) with Andrew Graves - Screenplay by Paul Laverty

Monday Apr 13, 2020

‘Looking For Eric’ is a pretty unique film. A postal worker from Manchester in the middle of a personal crisis suddenly finds himself talking to the apparition of the legendary French player Eric Cantona, and attempts to turn his life around in order to have another shot at happiness. Paul Laverty’s screenplay is a reflection on aging, memory, mistakes, community, family and football. There was plenty to discuss in this episode, and I was joined by Andrew Graves, the author of the new book ‘Welcome to the Cheap Seats: Silver Screen Portrayals of the British Working Class’. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about this branch of cinema, from ‘Saturday Night and Sunday Morning’ to ‘This is England’. You can buy it here from the publisher, Five Leaves.

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Monday Mar 30, 2020

Casino Royale (2006) - Screenplay by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Paul Haggis

Monday Mar 30, 2020

We are back to one of our regular discussion episodes this week, this time taking a look at ‘Casino Royale’. The film was intended to be a complete reboot of the James Bond franchise so we read the screenplay in that light, comparing it to Ian Fleming's 1952 novel of the same name, which first introduced the character of international secret agent James Bond to the world. There is plenty to talk about here, including how to write an ending to a screenplay when you intend it to be the first part of a series of films or a franchise, finding out what exactly is interesting about a character like James Bond, who is so prone to parody, and what needed to be done in order to reinvent him for the twenty-first century.

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Wednesday Mar 18, 2020

Blackkklansman (2018) with David Rabinowitz - Screenplay by Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott and Spike Lee

Wednesday Mar 18, 2020

For this special episode William and Alan met with David Rabinowitz, one of the Academy-Award winning writers of ‘Blackkklansman’, based on the memoir by Colorado Springs detective Ron Stallworth. We’re sure this film needs no introduction! We talk about how David got into writing for film, his writing partnership with Charlie Wachtel, working with Jordan Peele, Spike Lee and Kevin Willmott, the surreal few years working on ‘Blackkklansman’ and what he learnt over this time. This was an absolute delight to record and we hope you all enjoy this conversation and gain a lot of inspiration and insight from listening, there's plenty of writing advice in this one!

Many thanks to David Rabinowitz and to Fairfax Village Studios in Los Angeles for hosting us.

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