#18 | Brian Rousso | Breaking Into Hollywood

Screenwriter Brian Rousso on breaking in by reading scripts, selling a cloning horror spec to Joel Silver at Warner Bros., what the writers' strike was about, and launching his graphic novel with Revenant Studios. Based in Los Angeles, Brian is a seasoned creative professional with an extensive media and technology business background, equally adept at writing produced scripts for television, film and digital streaming. Brian has a deep network of creative talent, artist representatives, media and entertainment executives, financiers and technologists. We had a wide-ranging conversation about everything from graphic novels to blockbuster scripts to Steven Seagal. Brian's next big project: https://www.revenant-studios.com Follow Brian Rousso on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revenantrousso Chapters 0:00 Welcome Brian Rousso 1:04 The strikes and who they hit 3:12 Food, drink and staying healthy 8:29 Whisky and wine 10:41 Skateboarding in LA 11:45 Growing up in LA 13:53 Writing plays in high school 14:55 Breaking in by reading scripts 19:19 What script coverage is 22:26 The spec market 24:34 How agencies work 28:48 The writers versus the agencies 36:15 Write what you're passionate about 41:35 Finishing a script 42:35 Baseball and a great teacher 47:52 College on the East Coast 53:06 Job hunting, on paper 56:23 Get Shorty and the 90s 58:30 Why some movies can't get made anymore 59:36 What the writers' strike won 1:04:44 Too much to watch 1:08:55 An overnight sensation takes 20 years 1:10:24 Selling a script to Joel Silver 1:11:56 How a script deal is paid 1:15:30 How credits are decided 1:17:32 What the Sony hack revealed 1:20:40 Owning the IP 1:23:56 Comedy that still holds up 1:30:14 A script picked up ten years later 1:36:42 Business can be creative too 1:39:57 Launching his graphic novel 1:47:19 How a comic book gets made 1:52:34 Building fresh IP 1:58:56 From graphic novel to screen 2:04:16 Conversations that last 2:08:30 Pitching and notes 2:13:53 Who he writes for 2:17:07 A Steven Seagal story 2:21:22 Wrapping up The Ryan Pyle Podcast is ad-free by choice. If you enjoy these conversations, you can buy me a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/ryanpyle Ryan's TV series are streaming around the world. Follow the Podcast X: https://x.com/RyanPylePodcast Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpylepodcast Follow Ryan Pyle YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ryanjpyle Instagram: https://instagram.com/ryanpyle X: https://x.com/RyanPyle Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpyle https://www.ryanpyle.com