Screenwriter and BILLIONS co-creator Brian Koppelman arranged a life surrounded by writers before he realized he wanted to become one. He and James talk about his career, what it’s like writing with a partner, how characters live on the page and screen, his love of ‘insular worlds with their own language’, and Dylan. Then, H. Perry Horton discusses the five scripts he thinks someone should read to get started writing for film.
Brian and James Discuss:
SAMARKAND by Amin Maalouf
Kurt Vonnegut
Joseph Heller
Gary Gulman
Amy Koppelman (TK guest ep 22)
THE USUAL SUSPECTS (d)irected by Bryan Singer (s)cript by Christopher McQuarrie
ROUNDERS d John Dahl s Brian Koppelman & David Levien
David Levien
Quentin Tarantino
Scott Rosenberg
Callie Khouri
KNOCKAROUND GUYS d,s Koppelman & Levien
OCEAN’S THIRTEEN d Steven Soderbergh s Koppelman & Levien
Bill Buckner
Ken Norton
Duane Bobick
David Mamet
Barry Levinson
Coen brothers
Spike Lee
DINER d,s Levinson
SOLITARY MAN d Koppelman & Levien s Koppelman
Michael Douglas
BILLIONS
Paul Giamatti
Damian Lewis
Maggie Siff
HEAT d s Michael Mann
Robert DeNiro
Al Pacino
Bob Dylan
“Highlands” from TIME OUT OF MIND by Bob Dylan
“My Heart’s in the Highlands” by Robert Burns
Neil Young
Haruki Murakami
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Perry and James Discuss:
CHINATOWN d Roman Polanski s Robert Towne
TAXI DRIVER d Martin Scorsese s Paul Schrader
GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS d James Foley s David Mamet
PULP FICTION d Quentin Tarantino s Tarantino & Roger Avary
SE7EN d David Fincher s Andrew Kevin Walker
THE SOPRANOS
BREAKING BAD
Daniel Craig as JAMES BOND
SHORT CUTS d Robert Altman s Altman & Frank Barhydt based on the short stories of Raymond Carver
MAGNOLIA d s Paul Thomas Anderson
SOLACE d Afonso Poyart s Sean Bailey & Ted Griffin
ALIENS3 d Fincher s David Giler, Walter Hill, & Larry Ferguson
“Express Yourself” “Vogue” by Madonna, videos d Fincher
“Janie’s Got a Gun” by Aerosmith, video d Fincher
JUNO d Jason Reitman s Diablo Cody
LITTLE WOMEN d Gillian Armstrong s Robin Swicord
Kathryn Bigelow
Jeff Nichols
Steven Spielberg
MUD d s Nichols
TAKE SHELTER d s Nichols
Terrence Malick
DAYS OF HEAVEN d s Malick
CONTROL d Anton Corbijn s Matt Greenhalgh book by Deborah Curtis
David Lynch