*Please note, this blog was co-written by Kevin and Kelly Tavolaro!

Our first meeting involved a lot of blood.

Kevin had co-written a horror feature that was being shot in the snowy woods of Utah. Kelly, an FX makeup artist, had been hired to bring the script to crimson-spraying, eye-gouging life. We first spoke during a night shoot, crowding around a propane heater in sub-zero temperatures. Between takes, the conversation turned to the classics…by which we mean Miami Connection and the films of Roger Corman, Joe Dante, and John Carpenter.

Over a year later, we started watching movies remotely while talking on the phone (we were living several states apart at the time). We learned that we share an affinity for the little things about storytelling, the kind of idiosyncratic details and small, inspired decisions that would make us shout: “That was so cool…rewind it!”

Now, nearly five years and 300 movie nights since that freezing shoot in Utah, we’re married and writing screenplays together. We specialize in the kind of stories we’d personally love to see onscreen, and we’ve developed a style that we call feel-good horror: fun, fast-paced scripts that are equal parts bloody and wholesome.

DELICIOUS VEGETABLES

There’s an old maxim that shows up in screenwriting books: “The audience must eat their vegetables before they can enjoy their dessert.” This suggests that setup, backstory, and exposition are something to be endured before we can get to the fun stuff. Frankly, we find this to be terrible advice. We don’t believe readers should have to “endure” a single line of any screenplay, which is why we write as though we ourselves are the paying audience…and we want our money’s worth.

There’s no reason vegetables can’t be delicious. Setup and exposition don’t need to feel perfunctory. Every story beat can give the reader something fun, exciting, heartbreaking, terrifying, hilarious, or intriguing. We believe that any random page of a screenplay should make a reader want to keep reading. We try to employ this “all killer/no filler” approach as best we can in our writing, which led to the creation of our script, The Kill Clause.

THE KILL CLAUSE

The Kill Clause is a horror-comedy that incorporates everything we want to see in a movie: a multilayered heroine, despicable villains, kids fighting monsters, a brave puppy, and (informed by Kelly’s FX work) an array of unique creatures and bloody mayhem…all in the service of a heartfelt, optimistic story about friendship and family.

We were fortunate to have The Kill Clause land on a several screenwriting lists and place in a number of contests. But regardless of these honors, and despite Kevin’s multiple TV and film writing credits, finding a good literary rep proved to be a challenge. Credits and accolades are great, so long as you can get them in front of the right people. We sent out dozens of blind queries, and…crickets.

THE RIGHT FIT

Through Stage 32’s Pitch Sessions, we finally started to meet with literary reps and development executives. Before our first meeting, we had already reworked our verbal pitch countless times. We would rehearse the pitch to friends and relatives, then ask them to repeat the story back as they remembered it. This kind of feedback helped us pinpoint what aspects of the pitch were landing and what elements were unclear or distracting from the premise.

We received several script requests from our early sessions, which was a morale booster, but we still hadn’t found the right fit. That changed when we scheduled a Zoom with a literary manager from Marathon Management.

Right away, her enthusiasm felt like it mirrored our own. She clearly loved her job, and she instantly understood what we were going for with The Kill Clause. Suddenly, we didn’t feel like we were selling ourselves as much as we were sharing a story that we loved. She requested the script, and we were soon thrilled to receive an invitation to Marathon’s office. The team asked to read more of our work, and we shared two additional screenplays. A week later, we got the great news: we were repped!

Our manager has been amazing. Within a month, she was getting us meetings at some of our dream production companies. We’ve been making great connections and getting read requests for several different projects, with more meetings on the horizon.

We like to think our attention to the little things helped us stand out.

Below are a few examples of the small details and decisions that inform some of our favorite films, encompassing everything from big-budget releases to underrated action flicks of the VHS era:

MUTE WITNESS (1995)

How many times have you rolled your eyes at the stupidity of a horror protagonist? Horror characters routinely make dumb decisions to advance the plot, plodding into the dark basement alone as we shout, “Don’t go down there!” It’s such an ingrained trope that we’ve come to accept it as a necessary evil of the genre…which is a shame when movies like Mute Witness work overtime to show us a better way.

Writer/director Anthony Waller’s hidden gem about a mute FX artist targeted by killers gives us a heroine, Billy, who consistently makes smart decisions…and that makes her plight all the more terrifying.

It’s easy to laugh at danger when we know that we’d never be so careless or naïve as the characters bumbling about onscreen. But when we see Billy making all the right moves (with equally smart villains in pursuit), it’s not so funny anymore. She’s doing exactly what we would do, taking every precaution, and we’re still not sure she’s going to survive the night. It’s a brilliant decision that makes us feel like we’re experiencing the movie alongside Billy, rather than watching from a distance.

BORN TO FIGHT (2004)

Watch director Panna Rittikrai’s Born to Fight for its jaw-dropping stunts, but also for its efficient, organic approach to exposition, courtesy of a script by Rittikrai, Morakot Kaewthanee, and Thanapat Taweesuk.

The main character is a young cop whose parents have died, leaving him to care for his teenage sister. The screenplay manages to establish this dynamic without mentioning the characters’ relationship or the death of their parents.

Instead, we see a young woman ask a young man to sign her permission slip for a field trip, indicating that she is still in high school. If this twenty-something man is signing the woman’s slip, he’s clearly her guardian and likely her older brother…which implies that their parents are no longer in the picture. With a single, casual question, we learn everything we need to know about the characters’ situation.

This may not seem noteworthy, but consider how many films opt for immersion-breaking “as-you-know” exposition. By sidestepping that kind of unnatural dialog, the screenplay isn’t merely reciting information, it’s inviting us into the characters’ lives and world.

ACTION U.S.A. (1989)

Action U.S.A. is another stunt spectacular, and the magnum opus of director and legendary stunt coordinator John Stewart. Despite its next-level car chases, explosions, and a you-gotta-see-it-to-believe-it helicopter stunt, some might be tempted to write off this movie as a boilerplate shoot-em-up. But David Reskin’s screenplay boasts one of the more original, intriguing dynamics we’ve ever seen in an action film.

The story revolves around a government witness running from the mob. When the big boss assembles a team of killers to eliminate this witness, the bad guys initially butt heads. But then something happens…

These secondary characters, who would be nameless gunmen in a lesser script, become friends! They grow to like each other! They bond! Without distracting from the main plot or diminishing their own menace, these henchmen are given arcs with more nuance than the main characters in many modern blockbusters.

Would the story have unfolded the same way had these bad guys simply grunted and fired their guns? Probably. But would Action U.S.A. be anywhere near as memorable? Not likely.

COMMAND PERFORMANCE (2009)

If you enjoy direct-to-video action movies, you probably know that Dolph Lundgren has a solid filmography on both sides of the camera. Mr. Lundgren does triple-duty as the co-writer (with Steve Latshaw), director, and star of Command Performance, a contained location thriller in the spirit of Die Hard and its countless riffs, like Sudden Death and Under Siege.

The screenplay for Command Performance is built on a seemingly small decision that injects new life into this subgenre. In those other movies, the protagonist is always a heroic archetype. Die Hard’s John McLane is a cop. Sudden Death’s Darren McCord is a firefighting karate man. Even Chef Casey Rybak is a demoted Navy SEAL in Under Siege. But in Command Performance, Dolph Lundgren is just the burned-out drummer for a past-their-prime rock band.

When an arena is overtaken by a terrorist group prior to the band’s big show, Dolph is forced to act. We’ve been conditioned to expect a convenient twist, where the hero is revealed to be a highly decorated former counterterrorist or CIA assassin. But aside from being a bit of a barroom brawler, he’s just a regular guy trying his best to survive the night and save lives.

Granted, action movie rules tell us that Dolph will probably still save the day, but his everyman status conjures just enough doubt to make us question where the story is headed. We’ve seen endless variations on how a lone cop/soldier/ninja would rely on their special skills to defeat terrorists…but what about an aging drummer?

And if you’re hoping Dolph might discover a way to weaponize the power of rock-and-roll?

Well, you probably won’t be disappointed.

FRIGHT NIGHT (2011)

Writer/director Tom Holland’s original 1985 Fright Night is one of our favorite films. It expertly walks the line between horror and comedy without diluting its scares or its laughs. Craig Gillespie’s Fright Night 2011 is a rare remake that stands on its own, particularly in a scene where writer Marti Noxon uses four little words to demolish a longstanding trope.

In the original Fright Night, teenage Charlie discovers that his neighbor, Jerry, is a murderous vampire. Nobody believes Charlie, but he takes solace in the fact that at least the vampire can’t enter his house without an invitation. Cut to Charlie arriving home, where his mother has already invited the charming Jerry inside for coffee. Like all the best parts of Fright Night 1985, the moment is equally chilling and hilarious.

The 2011 remake gets us to a similar place, with nobody believing Charlie’s claim that he’s being targeted by the bloodsucker next door. Jerry shows up on Charlie’s doorstep, asking Charlie’s mother to let him inside to discuss how Charlie recently broke into his house (a ruse to access the home and kill everyone inside). Jerry explains that he’ll be forced to call the authorities if Charlie’s mother doesn’t open the door. Charlie begs his mother not to listen, but we expect her to disregard his pleas. That’s the way it always goes in horror movies, right? Nobody believes the boy who cries monster until it’s too late.

But Charlie’s mother considers her son, and instead shouts through the door, “Go get the authorities.”

Boom. What now? What happens when adults do believe the seemingly crazy kid? Those four words point the screenplay in an unexpected direction, instantly creating a world of exciting new possibilities.

POLITE SOCIETY (2023)

Okay, this one is kind of a cheat, because every moment, big or small, in Nida Manzoor’s Polite Society is amazing. If you haven’t already, do yourself a favor and watch this relentlessly fun, fiercely original coming-of-age/action-comedy masterpiece.

Why the Little Things Matter Most

At the end of the day, the little things are what keep us coming back to movies and what keep us inspired as writers. Whether it’s a clever line of dialogue, a single story beat that turns a trope on its head, or an unexpected detail that breathes life into a character, those choices are what make a film unforgettable. They’re also what helped us find our voice as a writing team, from that freezing night in Utah to where we are now, repped and pursuing the kind of “feel-good horror” stories we love most. If there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s this: the blood, sweat, and rewinds are worth it when the details add up to something bigger. And for us, that’s what makes this journey as thrilling as any monster movie.

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