SKYLER MILLICANO & MONETTE MOIO
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 PictureSKYLER MILLICANO
What inspired you to write a script rather than a novel or short story?
Skyler: I’ve wanted to write for movies when I wrote my first feature in fifth grade. I had the idea way back during COVID after my wife gave birth to my first daughter, but just sat on it. I reached out to Monette, I didn’t feel like I had any place writing about the female stunt experience. Once Mo and I kicked the can around for a minute, it was clear this is a thing. Had to move on it.

Was there a specific film, TV show, or personal moment that first made you say, “I want to write like that”?
Skyler: Two. Mark Boal’s Zero Dark Thirty is a perfect screenplay, in my opinion. His writing is immaculate. And I fell completely in love with the suggesting nature of Jesse Armstrong’s Succession scripts. Never demanding. “Maybe Shiv gestures to Tom or lets out a breath - either way she’d rather not be here.” That is super fun for the folks making the thing on the day.
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Monette: I’ve been familiar with Brad Inglelsby’s writing style for quite some time now and have always felt inspired by it. Not only because of its gritty, real-life flow, but because it’s damn good. It’s authentic. It makes you feel something. That to me is real art. That’s what we need more of.

What’s your writing routine like? Do you follow a strict schedule, or are you more intuitive about when and how you write?
Skyler: “4:00, wallow in self-pity; 4:30 stare into the abyss; 5:00 solve world hunger, tell no one; 5:30 jazzercize; 6:30 dinner with me - I can't cancel that again; 7:00 wrestle with my self-loathing... I'm booked! Of course, if I bump the loathing to 9, I could still be done in time to lay in bed, stare at the ceiling and slip slowly into madness.” For this it was all prep. Mo and I spent a couple months just kicking ideas around and once the whole thing was built, I went off and wrote it.

Monette: I yap, then Skyler goes and writes.

When you're starting a new script, how do you shape your ideas? Do you use outlines, beat sheets, or dive right into scenes? What inspires your scripts? Characters? Plot? Theme? Action?
Skyler: I’m one of those card weirdos. I have a big ol’ whiteboard and I put cards all over it. I usually go down character rabbit holes and throw wrenches at them. I like writing, so I’ll jot down notes that are actually just full scenes of hypothetical wrenches and reactions.

How do you handle writer’s block or those inevitable moments of self-doubt?
Skyler: I don’t handle it, my wife does. If I wasn’t married to her, I’d be - I don’t even want to think about where I’d be. It’s hard, if you’re an honest writer, because writer’s block is a state of being. You’re putting yourself out there. So if you have nothing, you feel like you are nothing. But that’s just not true. It will pass. When it gets unbearable, go on a hike, stand under a mountain, feel small, then return to the page. When you realize being a Dentist isn’t you and honestly this is your only option, it will come.

What tools—software, methods, rituals—do you consider essential to your writing workflow?
Skyler: Final Draft. Other than that, I’m a tactile person. Cards and things I can rearrange by hand. I like reading. John Muir, Philip Roth, Andy Davidson. I bounce between them, usually, and it puts my head into some inflated place where I convince myself I can write like them. (I can’t.) I read a lot of screenplays. As I mentioned, Zero Dark Thirty, also Steve Jobs is perfect, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Network.

Do you write with production realities in mind, or do you let the creative vision lead first and adjust later?
Skyler: Depends on the thing, right? Like with this - and as over ten-year stunt performers - we had to keep in mind what’s going to be possible on a Premium TV budget. We set that as baseline and then dreamed about 10% bigger.

When a scene isn’t working, what’s your go-to strategy for fixing it? Rewrite, workshop, walk away—or something else?
Skyler: I’m an edit-as-I-go writer. I rarely do a vomit draft. We spend a lot of time in prep. Just debating each other, throwing cards at the wall, honest discourse about the stunt experience. So the actual writing, usually, is only a couple weeks. I write very fast. The first draft of this was barely changed and I did it in a week.

Monette: When a scene or beat “isn’t working,” we’d explore parts of it from both perspectives. Being a male in the stunt industry is vastly different than a females perspective and both fed the heart of the story in their own ways. Since so much of the Double is parallel to real life experiences, once we connected memories or anecdotes, the rest came easily.

How many scripts have you completed? How many have you started and not completed (we all have those)...and why are they still unfinished?
Skyler: I’ve got 20 or so completed, ready-to-read things. And something around 234750298743509827405 unreadable, half-thought-out ones.

Monette: I’ve started and completed many. Whoever said “sitting down to write is the hardest part” is far more decisive than I.

Have you earned recognition in this or other competitions? What’s your strategy when submitting your scripts, and how has contest feedback shaped your work?
Skyler: Nope! First one! Never submitted to a comp before. Very excited.

Have you done anything at this point to promote yourself or your writing (besides entering online contests)? If so, how would you gauge the effectiveness of those efforts?
Skyler: I’ve gone to some god awful mixers and had a couple hangouts with some showrunners. But this was all post-COVID, so none of it was any amount of serious job-hunting. Showrunners are scrambling to help their close friends out, right now. Times are tough. Seems like this is a staying-game right now more than ever. Staying-power is going to matter in this moment.
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PictureMONETTE MOIO
Have you pitched to producers or taken meetings yet? What have those experiences taught you about the business side of screenwriting?
Skyler: We showed this to a script very successful showrunner - who asked to remove our names from it and take all the credit. That’s not a joke. That’s exactly what they asked. So we politely no longer responded.

Monette: We’ve pitched to personal connections. The experiences have taught us that the industry is… well, the industry. And we know it well. Doesn’t make it any easier.

What do you see as your greatest strengths as a writer? Your greatest weaknesses?
Skyler: I think I’m in there with most people. Strong dialogue, but always learning construction. Billy Wilder said “For every 500 great dialogue writers, there are five great constructionists.” This is the lifelong endeavor..
- Fun fact is that I became a major Jason Bateman fan early on - and I love his line delivery. So I have designed my own little way of inferring that delivery. Like my own script language for actors to know when to stammer, hiccup, or take a beat.

Monette: My greatest strength as a writer is Skyler (ha!) and having studied acting for 25+ years. I have a great interest in human behavior and understanding their “why” which I believe led to deeper, fuller characters.

How do you balance your writing with your “day job”?
Skyler: My day job is stunts. When you become the father of two daughters, a couple things suddenly happen.
1. You realize you accidentally became a stuntman. That this has been a crazy 10- year side quest.
2. Getting hit by cars for money is suddenly not just unappealing but out of the question.
- this change happens overnight which is strange. Used to be quite stoked at the proposition of getting hit by a car for money.

Monette: We wrote about it!

What message or emotional response do you hope audiences walk away with after experiencing your work?
Skyler: “Whoever wrote that should stay employed as a writer and write a lot more stuff!” For real, I love that gut punch. That emotional, full of love, melancholy, “it’s not gonna work out and that’s okay” gut punch. “In The Mood For Love”, “Stranger Than Fiction”, “Lost In Translation”.

Monette: The reason my favorite movies are my favorite is because they make me feel something. Not just a light chuckle or an “awe, cool.” An inner knowing that what I’m witnessing is different. That, is art. It doesn’t happen as often anymore but when it does, you recognize it right away. You feel it in a different part of your heart. Because that’s what life is about. Uncovering new parts of ourselves and learning what makes us tick. I want to do that for others, in any capacity.

What are you working on right now the world needs to know about?
Skyler: I’ve been stunt doubling Oliver Stark for nearly ten years. I wrote a movie for him, we are going to go make it whether anyone wants us to or not.

Where do you see yourself five years from now as a screenwriter—and how do you plan to get to that place?
Skyler: Hopefully employed! Just keep my head down and keep trying.

Monette: In 5 years I see myself being a series regular on a show that I’m proud to be part of (ahem, The Double.) Transitioning from stunts to acting has been both challenging and a huge blessing because of the connections I’ve made and the on (and off)-set lessons I’ve learned. It has all helped pave the way for a steady understanding of the career and what it takes.

What advice would you give to any aspiring writer hoping to follow in your footsteps?
Skyler: This appears to take much longer than you think it will.
Monette: If you really love writing, it’ll show. Don’t let the industry get you down. Like life, it’s ever evolving and testing you to stay true to yourself.