With the 2013 Hit List landing in just a few days, we’ve decided to take a look back and see what some of our previous Hit List honorees have accomplished over the past few years. Spoiler alert: It’s quite a lot. The truth is the vast majority of writers on our list have gone on to do some amazing work in the film and television industry. And of those, there are still a few who’ve really picked up momentum since making their way onto The Hit List. Do we think that we’re solely responsible for their careers? No, of course not. But we like to think that we helped.
We’ll kickstart this look back with a new powerhouse in film (and maybe TV but we’ll leave the predictions to Nostradamus), Evan Daugherty. Daugherty made the Hit List back in 2010 with “Snow White and The Huntsman.” The script also made it onto that year’s Black List and he followed that up by being a member of the 2011 Young & Hungry List. Since 2010, Daugherty has been incredibly busy, especially after the $400 million (global) release of SNATH. He’s also opened his own production company, Feudal Systems (http://www.feudalsystems.com), and is currently writing “G.I. Joe 3.” Of course that’s after he finished writing “Divergent” for Red Wagon Entertainment, due out in March 2014, and the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” reboot for Platinum Dunes. If all that wasn’t enough, he also has two television pilots in development “Midnight, Mass” with NBC and “Esmerelda” with ABC. Also, if you haven’t seen his short films, “The Four Players” check them out here. They’re pretty awesome.
Matt Cook has certainly been keeping busy after making the 2010 Hit List and Black List with his script “Triple Nine.” Since then he has managed to get SIX (or ‘a full revolver’ as the kids say… possibly?) of his projects into development (three of them in active-development). This includes “Triple Nine” as well as “By Way Of Helena,” “Untitled Heist Project,” “Three Seconds,” “Bleaker,” and “Matterhorn.” The last of which he will be directing and producing in addition to writing. He also developed a TV pilot with the FX Network, “The Keepers.” Slow down Matt, leave some writing for the rest of us!
Not everyone who makes the list is an “unknown” at the time. Wentworth Miller, of “Prison Break” fame, made the list back in 2010 (under the pseudonym Ted Foulke) for his amazing script “Stoker” which was made this past year with him as co-producer. Along with continuing his acting career, you can see him on the silver screen in “The Loft” in 2014, he has done his fair share of writing as well. He’s been writing the “With A Friend Like Harry” remake, working on the most current draft of “The Story of Edgar Sawtelle,” hammering out a prequel to “Stoker” called “Uncle Charlie,” sending out “The Disappointments Room” and adapting Richard Parker’s novel “Scare Me.” We look forward to seeing Miller’s career continue to grow both in front of and behind the camera!
Another actor/writer that has joined the prestigious ranks of Hit List honorees is Taylor Sheridan. In 2012 his script “Comancheria” made both The Hit List and The Black List. He is currently working on the adaptations of the Howard Blum book “Dark Invasion” and the Sergeant Morgan Jones & Damien Lewis book “The Embassy House.” In addition to that his second spec script “Sicario” has been set up at Thunder Road Pictures and Black Label Media, showing that Sheridan has far more than just acting chops!
Michael Mitnick has done a lot since his script “The Current War” made the Hit List in 2012. He is now working on the most current draft of “The Giver” for the Weinstein Company, which is currently in production. In addition to that he has sold his “Untitled Musical Comedy Pitch” to Universal Pictures and the Mark Gordon Company and is adapting the Oliver Jeffries book “The Incredible Book Eating Boy” for Furst Films. Very impressive for such a short amount of time. Keep up the hard work!
Last, but certainly not least, is F. Scott Frazier who came onto the Hit List in 2011 as one of the rare writers to get more than one script on the list in a single year with both “Autobahn” and “Line of Site.” Both projects are currently in active development. But Frazier wasn’t done, as his script “Echoes” also made the 2012 Hit List. Then he followed all of that up by writing the adaptation of Dmitry Glukhovsky’s sci-fi book “Metro 2033,” adding his own touches to the most current draft of “Heatseekers” for Paramount Pictures, and has his spec “Day One” set up at Universal Pictures. Well done!
Once again these are just a fraction (just over 2%) of the careers that have gotten started with/around/because of The Hit List. So prepare yourself because there are another 86 coming your way. Will any of these names find their way back onto the 2013 Hit List? Stay tuned to Tracking-Board.com to find out later this week!
Want to see who else made The Hit List? Take a look!
THE HIT LIST 2012
THE HIT LIST 2011
THE HIT LIST 2010
