Script Apart with Al Horner

• Black Mirror with Charlie Brooker

  Today on Script Apart, we’re taking a long, hard look in the mirror – Charlie Brooker’s dystopian anthology series Black Mirror, to be more precise, with the beloved British writer joining Al for a spoiler-filled breakdown of the show’s brilliant latest season. Yes, this week we’re delving into a show that reflects back at us our darkest fears about the unrelenting march of technology on modern life. Across thirty three acclaimed episodes and one interactive special, Black Mirror has wondered what parts of the human experience might soon be transformed – or worse yet, disfigured – by advances in artificial intelligence. The answer is “a great many parts.” The resulting stories are always gripping.When Charlie conceived the show in 2011, those advances must have felt still quite abstract – a possibility on the horizon. In today’s time of Chat GPT, little is abstract anymore about the topics and technologies spotlighted in Black Mirror. The internet is constantly ablaze with observations about the collapsing gap between our reality and the reality of the show. Because what may begin as a flight of fantasy in Charlie’s hands has a distressing habit of becoming real years later.Yes, we’re living in a Black Mirror episode, to quote a common online refrain, and in the spoiler chat you're about to hear, Charlie and Al get into that. You’ll hear how the show has changed across its time on screen, responding to the fact that tech companies are no longer faceless corporations like they were when the show began; they’re now the extension of celebrity CEOs, with cult-like legions of disciples. You’ll get Charlie’s take on Al’s suspicion that episodes like ‘Hotel Reverie’ appear to indicate that something has softened in the writer since he began this journey with Black Mirror. And you’ll hear some truly mind-bending descriptions of the original ideas behind some of the series’ best-loved episodes, including one that was intended to be a Bond movie-esque adventure, one that was originally planned to be a musical and of course, the moving San Junipero.Script Apart is hosted by Al Horner and produced by Kamil Dymek. Follow us on Instagram, or email us on [email protected] get ad-free episodes and exclusive content, join us on Patreon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Elio with Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian

  As the Talking Heads once nearly sang: “And may find yourself beamed up into a spacecraft. And you may find yourself pretending to be the leader of Earth. And you may find yourself hanging out with weird and wonderful beings from outer-space, going up against intergalactic warlords and maybe learning a thing or two about belonging along the way.” Yes, it’s an Elio special on today’s Script Apart, as we venture across the cosmos with the Pixar film’s co-directors, Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian. Elio tells the story of a child who longs to be abducted by aliens. Still reeling from the loss of his parents and struggling to adjust to living with his well-meaing aunt, the character embarks on an adventure that changes how he sees life back on Earth. It was written by Julia Cho, Mark Hammer and Mike Jones, from a story by Madeline, Domee and Adrian Molina. Domee you may know as the director of Turning Red, which we covered on this show in 2022. Madeline, meanwhile, is the director behind Burrough, a beautiful Pixar short film from a couple of years ago (this is her first feature). In the spoiler conversation you’re about to hear, we discuss initial drafts of this story in which Olga was Elio’s mother, rather than his aunt. I ask about how the film grapples with loneliness; the process of creating the magical worlds that Pixar movies so often invite filmgoers into, whether that’s Monstropolis or Coco’s Land of the Dead; and of course, the meaning of that Carl Sagan speech asking “Are we alone?” that close the film.Script Apart is hosted by Al Horner and produced by Kamil Dymek. Follow us on Instagram, or email us on [email protected] get ad-free episodes and exclusive content, join us on Patreon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• 28 Years Later with Alex Garland

  The last time acclaimed writer-director Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Civil War, Annihilation) appeared on Script Apart, he told Al about his desire to quit directing temporarily and focus on writing – you know, like in the early days of his career. Well, it doesn’t get much more like those early days than returning to the blood-soaked quarantined Britain he imagined two decades ago, with a director who he shared an incredibly fruitful partnership with around the turn of the century.28 Years Later, which hit cinemas on Friday, sees Alex team up once more with Danny Boyle – the filmmaker with whom he made The Beach and Sunshine, as well as a 2002 zombie horror that redefined the genre. This sequel, however, is no retread of the film that sent a shiver through Britain’s spine. It’s a deeply contemplative meditation on Britain, death and how history is remembered and misremembered. The film stars Alfie Williams as Spike, a boy living in a protected tidal island community off the coast of Northumberland, who leads his mother, played by Jodie Comer, on a dangerous quest onto the mainland in search of a doctor to cure a mysterious ailment. What follows is not what many fans expected, in all the best ways.What you’re about to hear is a spoiler-filled conversation delving deep into the influence of Brexit on the film. We dissect that ending and its allusions to a disgraced figure from British pop culture history. Also explored: the origins of the Alpha zombies, the inspiration behind Ralph Fiennes’ Kelson character, and Alex’s original draft of a 28 Years Later movie, which saw Chinese special forces infiltrate Britain in search of the lab where the rage virus began. Enjoy the episode and stay away from those infected, people. Support for this episode comes from Final Draft.Script Apart is hosted by Al Horner and produced by Kamil Dymek. This episode was recorded and mixed by Daniel Gregory. Follow us on Instagram, or email us on [email protected] get ad-free episodes and exclusive content, join us on Patreon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Havoc with Gareth Evans

  Havoc is the new film from Welsh writer-director Gareth Evans, and it does exactly what it says on the tin. Starring Tom Hardy as a jaded cop at the heart of a conspiracy in an unnamed, crime-ridden American city's underbelly, it packs some of the most frenetic action scenes of the year so far – but then again, what did you expect? Gareth is the filmmaker behind 2011's The Raid, 2014’s The Raid 2 and the TV show Gangs of London – each of which is renowned for its dizzying fight choreography.In the spoiler conversation you’re about to hear, Gareth tells me about his love for characters who have something to atone for. We get into an early, more commercial draft of the film in which Walker wasn’t the estranged father he is in the finished film, and break down how he constructed the movie’s jaw-dropping club fight sequence. Plus, hear how his own experience of parenthood fed into the writing of Havoc. That last bit is surprisingly tender for a film in which a character gets harpooned in the head. Script Apart is hosted by Al Horner and produced by Kamil Dymek. Follow us on Instagram, or email us on [email protected] get ad-free episodes and exclusive content, join us on Patreon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Clueless with Amy Heckerling

  Did you think Script Apart was going to let the 30th anniversary of one of the most iconic teen films ever just pass us by? In the words of Cher Horowitz – “as if.” On today’s episode, we’re joined by Amy Heckerling, the writer-director who, three decades ago this summer, gave Jane Austen’s Emma a Beverly Hills makeover to remember. You may also know her for Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Look Who’s Talking and Vamps, but Clueless is the film that she’s best-known for – a Nineties treasure trove of high school hilarity that’s still beloved today. So much so that a musical adaptation, also written by Amy, just opened in London’s West End. In the conversation you’re about to hear, Amy tells Al about the spirit of kindness that runs through the movie. We get into the TV pilot for Clueless – then titled No Worries – that was turned down across Hollywood, and discuss what was going on in Amy’s life at the time of writing Clueless. The story of the film is one of a sunny optimist named Cher who’s ready to take on the world. For Amy, though, that was hardly the case as she wrote the hit comedy. “I was feeling very depressed, which is how most stories start,” she teased in an interview in 2016. In this episode, she tells us why. Support for this episode comes from Final Draft.Script Apart is hosted by Al Horner and produced by Kamil Dymek. Follow us on Instagram, or email us on [email protected] get ad-free episodes and exclusive content, join us on Patreon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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