On Tuesday evening, Deadline launched its Deadline Dinners event series with Eleanor the Great screenwriter Tory Kamen as our first host. Proper Presents: Deadline Dinners is a new writer-focused event series designed to foster candid conversation, celebrate breakthrough storytelling and build community around the written word.
Kamen’s chosen theme for the evening was first-time female screenwriters, and she brought together a group of guests that included Ilana Wolpert (Anyone But You), Nora Garrett (After the Hunt), Rose Gilroy (Fly Me to the Moon), Amy Wang (Slanted), Jess Righthand (Grey’s Anatomy), Kale Futterman (Ginny & Georgia), Rebecca Rosenberg (The Librarians: The Next Chapter), Tracie Laymon (Bob Trevino Likes It) and Anna Greenfield (Late Bloomers).
Deadline
Kamen said of bringing the group together: “I really wanted a community of people that I could relate to, as somebody who’s trying to write features and really loves theatrical. What tonight’s about is celebrating future writers.”
Following cocktails, Kamen posed the first roundtable discussion topic: “What’s the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to you in a meeting?” And over a dinner crafted by Proper’s award‑winning culinary teams, the writers told stories that ranged from the hilarious (being told a studio was only interested in stories that could be made into a theme park, when that studio did not, in fact, have a theme park), to the horrifying (being warned not to reveal you’re a mother or you’ll never get hired).
Tory Kamen and Deadline President Ellie Duque
JC Olivera for Deadline
Tory Kamen
JC Olivera for Deadline
Ilana Wolpert and Executive Awards Editor Antonia Blythe
JC Olivera for Deadline
Kale Futterman
JC Olivera for Deadline
Amy Wang, Tracie Laymon and Rose Gilroy
JC Olivera for Deadline
‘Anyone But You’ writer Ilana Wolpert, ‘Eleanor the Great’ writer and host Tory Kamen and ‘After the Hunt’ writer Nora Garrett.
JC Olivera for Deadline
Deadline and Kamen first connected during our Cannes magazine cover story interview about her debut screenplay Eleanor the Great. Kamen’s screenplay was very loosely based on her own grandmother’s experience as a lonely nonagenarian moving to New York City, and Kamen always envisaged June Squibb in the title role. Ultimately, that dream came true, and with Squibb attached, the project became the feature directorial debut for Scarlett Johansson. Eleanor the Great premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes earlier this year and is set for wide release this fall.
All events in this series will take place at the Santa Monica Proper hotel and be curated under Proper Hotels’ cultural platform “Proper Presents,” with each gathering featuring a menu crafted by Proper’s award‑winning culinary teams, bespoke cocktail pairings and a roundtable discussion.
Content shared from deadline.com.