Aaron Karo

Visit the new Stan Store @ ⁠⁠⁠stan.store/blacklisted⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to our extended interviews on Spotify ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.Aaron Karo wrote a Black List script about a toy that turned into a bomb scare.This week's guest is comedian, author, and screenwriter Aaron Karo, whose spec Tickle Me Elmo landed on the 2024 Black List. On paper, it's the story of how a $28 vibrating plush toy nearly tanked a toy company's supply chain, and turned suburban parents into brawlers. Off paper, it's personal — Karo's father was a Tyco executive who carried the first Tickle Me Elmo prototype through airport security, where its internal mechanism read as an explosive on the X-ray and he had to disarm it — by tickling it — in front of armed guards.Aaron and I get into how you build a movie around a toy instead of a person, the rise of the corporate biopic and what it took to get a spec this specific onto "the list."Guest: ⁠Aaron Karo⁠ on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠X ⁠and ⁠TikTok⁠⁠Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Chris Hill⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BlueSky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠storyandplot.com/blacklisted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for a 10% discount on Tom Vaughan's fantastic screenwriting courses.Useful links:Man of the Year Podcast Black List 2024 - VarietyElf Unwrapped: Behind The Scenes of a Modern Christmas Classic - HarperCollinsAaron Karo: Ruminations Aaron Karo: Books!The Buddy System - Audible