Never say never to Josh Singer, the Oscar-winning screenwriter who spent 10 years in an effort to bring Leonard Bernstein’s life to the big screen. Along the way he worked with some very big names to do it including first Martin Scorsese, then Steven Spielberg, and finally Bradley Cooper who found the way with Netflix’s Maestro. The pair collaborated on the final screenplay (in addition to Cooper starring, directing and producing), which has been nominated for Oscar and BAFTA awards as Best Original Screenplay. The film itself is a Best Picture contender with seven nominations overall.
RELATED: ‘Maestro’: Read The Screenplay For The Leonard Bernstein Biopic Orchestrated By Bradley Cooper
Singer, who won the Oscar for co-writing Best Picture winner Spotlight and also has written a number of other true-life stories including The Fifth Estate, First Man and The Post, joins me for this week’s edition of my Deadline video series Behind the Lens.
We discuss a number of things including the long and winding road to bring what has now become Maestro to fruition. We talk about the endless drafts, the different versions of the story, and how his unique collaboration with Cooper finally unlocked the ingredients to make the acclaimed film a reality. We also talk about his penchant for taking on real-life subjects in his very successful career — both the good and the bad aspects of it — as well as a possible upcoming movie remake of the 1968 classic Bullitt. If all goes to plan, it could reunite him with Spielberg and Cooper on a movie NOT based on a real person for a change.
To watch our conversation and go “behind the lens” with Josh Singer, click on the video above. Join me every Friday during Oscar season for another episode of Behind the Lens.