33 - Adapting Books to Movies for Screenwriters with Monisha Dadlani (Netflix, Sony Pictures, Apple TV+)

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. 

3:06 - Original scripts vs. open writing assignments (OWAs)

5:20 - IP is king (or queen!)

10:35 - Studio being on board vs. not yet

14:50 - One producer vs. two producers - navigating conflicting notes

17:00 - faithfulness to IP with strong fandoms

21:45 - Monisha’s first OWA for MRC + the process

27:05-  When to turn down an OWA

28:22 - Being part of the Netflix Braintrust

30:28 - Blind script deal at Sony + “if-come” deals 

33:10 - Pitching a PG-13 vs. R-rated version of an idea depending on the distributor 

35:50 - How Monisha started pitching on OWAs + Imagine Impact

43:11 - How the first script Monisha ever wrote was “not great” but landed her in the fellowship that launched her writing career

48:46 - Meeting with managers + choosing one of the 10+ that was interested (David Baggelaar at Goodyear)

52:27 - Why your agent might be hiding in the mailroom 

54:20 - What you should have in your writing sample to attract reps + jobs

59:10 - Monisha’s Black List script “The Boy Who Died” + a pitch to Daniel Radcliffe

1:04:25 - What the Black List can do for a career

1:08:15 - How to make one sample work for both YA, sci-fi, romance AND four-quadrant projects

1:09:39 - Joining the Writers Guild of America

1:10:00 - Growing up in NYC, attending the “Fame” high school, choosing USC School of Dramatic Arts

1:17:00 - Shooting a feature film with $5,000

1:18:55 - Storytelling side hustles + shooting a passion project web series

1:20:43 - TIME CAPSULE