Everything I Learned From Writing a Rom-Com Screenplay
Plus: Margot Robbie defends Emerald Fennell, 'The Cutting Edge' scores new fans and 'Heated Rivalry' stars make bold moves.
Hi friends,
File under Niche Media Gossip, but did you watch the footage of The New York Times interviewing Anna Wintour and her Vogue successor, Chloe Malle? It brilliantly highlights the editors’ opposite personalities: Anna, sporting her signature black sunglasses and chin-length bob, projects aloofness and formality and sounds a bit like a press release. Chloe, on the other hand, is an open book and sounds a lot like a Millennial. “Sometimes in fashion, people can feel too cool, unavailable, a bit laconic, and for me, I’m just never going to be that person,” she explained, later adding, “I don’t want the fact that I may be editing Vogue now to mean that I’m someone who’s intimidating to talk to at kindergarten drop-off. That’s just not who I am.”
I’m a big fan of Chloe and appreciate that she wears her heart (and nerdiness) on her sleeve and rejects pressure to conform to her industry’s definition of cool. I loathe the phrase “I feel seen,” but yes, in this case, I felt pretty seen? Do I work in fashion? No! However, I do not have a single cool bone in my body. And yet, I’ve been fortunate to work alongside people who fully know this about me and embrace it. I would give all of them a kidney, including Kirthana Ramisetti, my screenwriting partner. In 2013, Kirthana wrote a story for The Wall Street Journal on the tour that I started with Jennifer Keishin Armstrong in New York City. It was the first of its kind and focused on locations from Nora Ephron’s When Harry Met Sally and You’ve Got Mail, both cozy love letters to Manhattan. At the time, I worked as an East Coast editor for The Hollywood Reporter and was eager to do something fun and different outside of journalism.
Jennifer and I worship the Ephron rom-com trilogy, which also includes Sleepless in Seattle, and so we decided to take our fandom to the streets and bring kindred spirits along on our journey. Kirthana covered one of our outings and we’ve stayed friends ever since. Now a prolific, genre-blurring novelist, she called me in early 2024 with a brilliant idea for a screenplay about a meet-cute that takes place on a rom-com location tour. I said, “I’m in! Can we add a portal?”
Months later, we completed Autumnland, and we’re extremely proud of what we created together. We love our protagonists, Annie and Nikhil, and our logline: A down-and-out, romantic comedy-obsessed tour guide discovers a portal into Nora Ephron’s 1990s Cinematic Universe.
In my role as a Rom-Com Historian — create the job you want, folks — I never thought I’d actually write a romantic comedy, despite encouraging readers to do so. Well, I happened to follow my advice, and now I’m here to tell you everything I learned from the experience:
Kirthana and I used the Save the Cat! screenwriting beats as we structured our three-act script. Since Kirthana lives in New York and I live in San Francisco, we collaborated remotely. We wrote an outline and first draft in Google Docs. When Nora Ephron and her sister-collaborator, Delia, worked on drafts for Sleepless and You’ve Got Mail, they divvied up scenes and tackled them separately. Sometimes they’d write a scene together. We took the Ephrons’ 50/50 approach. I’d write a scene or three, then punt it to Kirthana, and she’d write a scene or three, then punt it back to me, and so on. After reaching the grand finale, we began the process of fine-tuning the script over many phone calls. We went through each scene, reading the pages out loud to each other, and tweaked the storyline and dialogue accordingly.
We looked at several software tools for screenwriters, and our favorite is Celtx. We transferred our script from Google Docs into the software, which made us think, Maybe we should’ve just started writing in Celtx to begin with?
We shared Autumnland with our film agent, who gave crucial notes on developing the magical rules of our portal and making the character of Annie less, shall we say, happy-go-plucky. (Meanwhile, he had nothing but love for Nikhil, who is perfect just the way he is.) The agent has submitted the script to potential producers. NOW WE WAIT. We know that it’s a long process, from script to screen, and that the stars must align before a project gets made. (I’m trying to be Zen.) Don’t be shy about sharing your work with early readers and welcoming their feedback. They might have a note that solves a vexing character or plot problem.
Get your friends together for a table read!
If inspiration strikes, start something new. Kirthana and I are currently brainstorming a holiday movie. We discovered that we work well together, though that’s not often the case among first-time collaborators. You can write a script solo, but if you’re looking to collaborate, find someone with whom you share a common vision, sensibility and work ethic. You can keep each other accountable and have a blast while creating comic scenarios and flirty banter, page by page. While writing, at times I heard the voices of Nora and Tina Fey (another irreverent Upper West Sider) in my head, but ultimately, the collective voice of Autumnland belongs to me and Kirthana. Have faith in your unique tone, ideas and what lights you up.
I saw this inspirational quote via the Instagram account Nineties Anxiety and it applies to screenwriting and so much else: “LIFE HACK: STOP TRYING TO BE COOL. BE NERDY AND OBSESSIVE ABOUT THE THINGS YOU LOVE. ENTHUSIASM WILL GET YOU FARTHER THAN INDIFFERENCE.”
Last year, I applied for a 2026 residency at FilmHouse, SFFILM’S workspace for independent filmmakers, and was honestly stunned to receive an acceptance letter. It’s been a joy getting to know my fellow Residents and witnessing their passion, creativity and can-do attitude. As for me, I am learning the ropes of how to bring Autumnland and other projects to a screen near you in the future, fingers crossed.
If you have any questions on the screenwriting process, do not hesitate to reach out and say hello! I’m definitely not too cool, unavailable and laconic.
P.S., As long as we’re referencing The Nora Ephron Cinematic Universe, I should also note that I’m the author of I’ll Have What She’s Having, the first-ever history of the making of When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail, featuring original interviews with Delia Ephron, Tom Hanks, and the late, great Rob Reiner, among many others. I wrote this book for the women on my walking tour. You can buy it here!
P.P.S, I teach film history at the 92nd Street Y’s Roundtable, and starting in May, I’m leading a four-session course called “The Romantic Comedy: A Contemporary History of the Meet Cute.” See registration info here.
THE ROMANCE REPORT
Wuthering Hot Takes: I think I’ve read every single take on Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights, and most are negative. This high-profile adaptation is not for everyone, myself included. Still, it’s done very well at the box office, especially overseas, giving Fennell — who’d pushed for a theatrical release — a big win, regardless of what the critics say. Margot Robbie, who plays Cathy in the film, has been busy defending her polarizing director on the promo circuit. “I love working with Emerald because she always prioritizes an emotional experience over a heady idea,” Robbie said recently, as if anticipating the backlash. “She’s very smart. She’s got great ideas, but she’ll let a cool idea fall by the wayside to offer the option that’s going to be most exciting for the audience.” The New Yorker’s Richard Brody says he’s “sympathetic to Fennell’s effort, because what she really appears to be adapting is less Brontë than a cinematic genre that has more or less fallen into oblivion: the romantic drama. Though mediocre in itself, Wuthering Heights is a kind of placeholder, a symbol of an entire swath of filmmaking that now hardly exists but has been newly brought back to the fore by the ample and ubiquitous archive of streaming. Such movies were long known in Hollywood as ‘women’s pictures’ (even if many of the romantic agonies afflicted the movie’s men, too).”
The Heated Rivalry Star-Making Machine: Three months ago, I’d never heard of Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams. Now I see them everywhere, thanks to the massive success of the queer romantic drama they made in Canada. (Thank you, Canada!) The newly in-demand actors are lining up roles in non-romantic fare. This week, news broke that Storrie is in talks to star in the A24 comedy Peaked alongside Molly Gordon, Allie Levitan, Laura Dern, Simone Ashley and LEVON HAWKE, who nearly ran me over on his scooter as I was crossing the street in NYC years ago. Over my shoulder, I heard his dad, Ethan Hawke, yell, “Hey, say you’re sorry!” I turned around, realized who it was, smiled awkwardly and said, “Haha that’s OK! No need to apologize.” Anyway: The movie reportedly follows “the two girls who traumatized you in high school as they try to relive their glory days at their 10-year reunion.” No word on how Storrie fits into that narrative. As for Hollander (er, Williams), he’s signed on to another Crave production, this one dubbed Yaga in reference to the mythical Slavic witch Baba Yaga. According to EW, he’ll play a “young heir to a powerful fishery” who goes missing. An investigation ensues. I’m getting shades of True Detective: Night Country and I don’t hate it.
A Beach Read update: Today it was announced that Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor will play January Andrews in the film adaptation of my all-time favorite Emily Henry novel. I like this casting! Dynevor can persuasively channel the moodiness, the angst, required for the part. January is a disillusioned romance novelist who moves next door to Gus, a literary-fiction writer with an equally large chip on his shoulder. Dynevor’s love interest is TBA.
“Douglas, you silly thing”: Speaking of enemies-to-lovers plots, I’m noticing lots of positive buzz online about The Cutting Edge, a rom-com cult classic from 1992. Moira Kelly, one of my childhood idols, played a pretentious Olympic figure skater paired with a washed-up hockey player (D.B. Sweeney) ahead of the Winter Games. I can’t think of anyone who hates this movie and I love that it’s finding new fans 30-plus years later. Are we due for a remake as good as the original? Check out my tribute to Kelly, Sweeney and the heated-rivalry-on-ice that started it all. (Toe pick!)
ONE MORE THING
If you’re in the Bay Area, come celebrate the launch of Lauren Kung Jessen’s wonderfully charming rom-com, The Fortune Flip, at A Novel Affair in Los Altos. Get your tickets here! As Lauren says, “There WILL be book and movie chit chat, and Nora Ephron’s name will come out of our mouths at least 3 times!”
In the meantime, Happy Lunar New Year to everyone celebrating the festivities and the arrival of the Fire Horse. I’ve been falling asleep each night to the sounds of fireworks erupting over Chinatown, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Warmly,
Erin
I miss when romcoms could have a guy like DB Sweeney as a lead.
Can’t wait to see Autumnland hit our screens 🤩🙌🏾