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This week on Blacklisted, we're doing something new: bringing a writer and the executive who developed the idea with him into the same room, together.

Leo Sardarian and Joe Russo join me to talk about Nicholas — the 2013 Black List script that reimagines the man behind the St. Nicholas myth as the hero of a sprawling, Odyssey-style journey through the ancient world. Forget the sleigh and the workshop: this is Nicholas of Myra, a real 4th-century bishop, recast as a battle-tested wanderer fighting his way north.

The idea started with Joe. Leo and Joe walk through how it first took shape, how they built it together from concept to spec, the years of development that turned it into a Black List title, and the long road from page to greenlight — Nicholas is maybe soon to be headed to the screen as a seasonal mini-series.

We get into what that collaboration actually looked like: an executive and a writer shaping a passion project from the ground up, and what it takes to protect an idea like that inside the studio system without losing what made it special in the first place

Guest: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Leo Sardarian⁠⁠ on ⁠⁠ ⁠X⁠⁠

Joe Russo on Instagram, X and TikTok

Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Chris Hill⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BlueSky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠storyandplot.com/blacklisted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for a 10% discount on Tom Vaughan's fantastic screenwriting courses.

Useful links:

Leo Sardarian makes The Hit List 2017

The Expansion Project - Black List 2017

Atlas Review - Deadline

Joe Russo sells spec to Universal, Raimi and Peele - THR