Ep 186: Alfred Gough and Miles Millar

First Draft Episode #184: Alfred Gough and Miles Millar

 


Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the TV and screenwriting duo
behind Smallville and Into the Badlands, join Sarah to talk about
their debut thriller, Double Exposure. The guys talk about how,
even after writing and/or producing more than 300 hours of
television and movies, they are still engaged in learning and
improving their craft; getting on the superhero train WAY before
the MCU; and delivering a satisfying ending in books.
Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode

Bugs, a BBC One TV show created by UK-based Carnival Films
(Agatha Christie’s Poirot; Downton Abbey; many others)  for
which Al and Miles wrote two episodes

The Hardy Boys series of children’s mysteries created by
Edward Stratemeyer (who also created Nancy Drew)  and
written by ghostwriters under the pen name Franklin W. Dixon

The Peter Stark Producer program at USC, where Alfred and
Miles met and learned all aspects of the film industry

Laura Ziskin, producer of No Way Out, and Pretty Woman, who
was an influential teacher at the USC film production program to
Al and Miles

William Goldman, an author (Adventures in the Screen Trade,
The Princess Bride, many, many others) and screenwriter (Butch
Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; All the President’s Men, among many
others) renowned for writing scripts that entertained the reader
-- a trend followed by screenwriters Shane Black (Lethal Weapon;
The Last Boy Scout) and Joe Eszterhas (Flashdance; Basic
Instinct)

John August, Al and Miles’ classmate at USC and screenwriter
of Big Fish, Frankenweenie, and Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory, as well as author of the Arlo Finch middle grade series
(listen to his First Draft interview here)

Mango, the spec script that Al and Miles sold right out of
film school

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, the movie that made Al and Miles’
spec script a hot commodity out of film school

Scriptnotes, the podcast co-hosted by John August and fellow
screenwriter Craig Mazin, which is a worthy companion podcast to
any writers who enjoy First Draft!



 


Bugs, a BBC One TV show created by UK-based Carnival Films
(Agatha Christie’s Poirot; Downton Abbey; many others)  for
which Al and Miles wrote two episodes



Homicide: Life on the Street, a police drama based on the
work of David Simon (The Wire; Treme; The Deuce)



3rd Rock From the Sun, a sitcom in the 90s starring John
Lithgow and Joseph Gordon-Levitt



Lethal Weapon IV and Shanghai Noon, the two buddy comedy
scripts that Al and Miles wrote before Smallville

The WB, Smallville’s network (RIP)

Lois and Clark, the TV show about Superman that predated
Smallville



 


 


X-Men, the 2000 movie that helped bring about the superhero
resurgence on film and TV

Christopher Nolan, the writer and director who rebranded
Batman in the well-regarded Dark Knight trilogy of films



 


 


Thor: Ragnarok and Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, two
recent superhero movies with tons of comedy



Spider-Man II, Al and Miles’ take on Spider-Man, which was a
little more serious than the Spider-Man we know today

Jenette Kahn, executive, publisher, editor-in-chief of DC
Comics when Al and Miles created their spin on the Superman
universe with Smallville



 


 


Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dawson’s Creek, some of the teen
stories that dominated TV when Smallville debuted



I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore (the pen name of James
Frey, Jobie Hughes, and Greg Boose), and the film of the same
name written by Al and Miles, and their first collaboration with
James Frey (author of A Million Little Pieces and book
entrepreneur with Full Fathom Five)



Hannah Montana: The Movie, which Al and Miles produced,
thanks to Al’s oldest daughter, who was obsessed with that TV
show

Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen, and Michelle Yeoh are among
the internationally respected martial artists and actors Al and
Miles have worked with



 


 


Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and House of Flying Daggers
are some of the epic movies that inspired Al and Miles for the
world of Into the Badlands



The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins



The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown as a model for the franchise
character with a little-known job that leads to globe-trotting
adventures--the kind of story Al and Miles were interested in
telling with Double Exposure

The famous transcript of Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and
Lawrence Kasdan talking about Raiders of the Lost Ark



 


 


The Alfred Hitchcock film North by Northwest, The ODESSA File
by Frederick Forsyth, and the works of John le Carre are among
the films and authors cited throughout Double Exposure

Last Remaining Seats, a program that shows old movies in
downtown Los Angeles

The Zapruder Film (YouTube link) (warning: depicts a
presidential assassination), which might factor into the Double
Exposure follow-up novels…

Mimi Leder, director of Deep Impact, gave the guys some great
advice when they were feeling overwhelmed

“Just cut the last two lines of every scene.” Advice from
Quentin Tarantino that Al and Miles swear by

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and Gone Girl by
Gillian Flynn, two thrillers that they admire

Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies

James Patterson

Waterstones bookstore in London



 


 


 


 


The Shannara Chronicles by Terry Brooks, which Al and Miles
adapted for television



 


Al and Michaels loved taking Masterclass online classes from:
David Mamet; Aaron Sorkin; Shonda Rhimes; and James Patterson



 
Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni

Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author
of Divergent; Michael Dante  DiMartino, co-creator of
Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big
Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or
Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we
take deep dives on their careers and creative works.


Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free!


 
Rate, Review, and Recommend

How do you like the show?


Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah
Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to
podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover
the show -- so thank you!


Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you
do?


Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via
carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it).
Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post!


Thanks again!