BPS 116: From Horror Indies to The Revenant with Mark L. Smith

I've spoken to many people in the film business over the years but
today's guest is one of the hardest working craftman I've had the
pleasure of sitting down with. Today on the show we have
screenwriter, producer and director, Mark L. Smith. If you look at
his IMDB you'll see a list of 15 projects at various stages
of development. He's come a long way from entering the
Hollywood scene some 15 years ago with his fear-striking horror
screenwriting and directorial debut, Séance in 2006.

Mark stumbled onto writing as a hobby during off-seasons at his
family’s ranch where he worked after college. Self-taught, some
workshops and an inventory of specs later, his path crossed Mel
Gibson’s - who bought Smith’s first-ever script written in
2001.

From then onwards, he’s been credited for successful writing and
producing for hits like The Revenant (2015) and Overlord (2018) and
The Midnight Sky which was just released in 2020, starring the
incomparable, George Clooney.

In Overload, a small group of American soldiers finds horror behind
enemy lines on the eve of D-Day.

While producing his directorial debut horror, film Séance,
with friend of the show and veteran producer Suzanne Lyons,
Smith was also a writer on Vacancy in 2006. You will hear more in
the interview of his experience navigating the world of filmmaking
on both sets, as a rookie, and the village of support he
received.

Vacancy follows the unfortunate adventure of a married couple who
becomes stranded at an isolated motel and finds hidden video
cameras in their room. They soon realize that unless they escape,
they'll be the next victims of a snuff film.

After Vacancy, many horror projects started to open up for Smith.
He worked those for a while until it felt old and he had the urge
to do something different. That's when he co-wrote the revisionist
western script for The Revenant with legendary director, Alejandro
Gonzalez Iñárritu.  The film was based in part on Michael
Punke’s 2002 novel by the same title.

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter, and Domhnall
Gleeson, the story sets in the 1820s, where a frontiersman, Hugh
Glass, sets out on a path of vengeance against those who left him
for dead after a bear mauling.

The twist and turns that caused delayed production of the film and
its eventual success will pique your interest. The Revenant became
was an instant commercial and artistic success. It grossed $533
million worldwide, earned 11 Oscar nominations, 3 Golden Globe
awards, and 5 BAFTA awards

Mark recently wrote The Midnight Sky that released last year,
starring George Clooney. It is a screen adaptation of Lily
Brooks-Dalton’s novel, ‘Goodmorning, Midnight’ which is a
post-apocalyptic tale that follows a lonely scientist in the
Arctic, as he races to stop Sully and her fellow astronauts from
returning home to a mysterious global catastrophe.

I had an absolute ball  speak ing to Mark. He's one of the
hardest working screenwriters in Hollywood. We discuss everything
from The Revenant, genius-level tips on how to adapt a book to the
screen to what it was like work with Quentin Tarantino on the Star
Trek script that has yet to be made. If you pray, please pray to
the Hollywood Gods that Mark and Quentin's Star Trek gangster film
sees the light of day.

Enjoy this conversation with Mark L. Smith.

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