Summer 2016

MovieMaker Presents: Austin Film Festival’s 25 Screenwriters to Watch, 2016

Published by

Austin Film Festival and MM Editors

Andrew Lanham

Who: L.A.-transplant born in Maine; wrote the award-winning screenplay The Jumper of Maine (2010); co-wrote Destin Daniel Cretton’s upcoming The Glass Castle based on Jeannette Walls’ memoir

How did you break in or get your start in screenwriting?

My career definitely started in my acceptance to the wonderful graduate program in the RTF department at the University of Texas at Austin. In their program I was given the space and freedom to develop as a writer. I firmly believe the rest of my successes would not have happened without this.

What would be your advice to aspiring screenwriters?

Never stop writing. Never stop revising. Never forget that you’re only writing in order to revise. Always be open and receptive to all notes, no matter what they are (especially the ones that hurt the most).

What’s the hardest scene or project you’ve ever had to write?

Every project comes with its own unique set of challenges—that’s half the fun. There’s a point in the development process of every script where it feels like it is the hardest project I’ve ever worked on. I just have to push myself to keep working until I’ve broken through the wall I think I’ve hit.

What are you working on right now?

Adaptations of The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson and The Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen. Also an original Western called The Kid.