Screenwriters I Love: Aline Brosh McKenna

My 2023 #LauraAtTheMovies journey is a list of screenwriters I love and why they inspire me as a writer, competition juror, and fan.

Screenwriter: Aline Brosh McKenna

Best Known For: The Devil Wears Prada, Cruella, Annie (2014), Laws of Attraction, I Don’t Know How She Does It, We Bought a Zoo, 27 Dresses, Three to Tango

Awards & Nominations: 

The Devil Wears Prada earned five nominations including BAFTA and WGA, and won an award from the Women Film Critics Circle. She won a Gotham Award for the series, My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

About the writer: After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard, she sold her first screenplay at 26 and hasn't stopped since. Aline Brosh McKenna has saved a project on more than one occasion, a highly sought-after skill in the industry. If you scan her credits, you'll see a few where she was hired to rewrite something that was off the rails. Most notably, she was the fifth (and last) screenwriter (also the only woman) hired to adapt the best-selling novel, "The Devil Wears Prada" into a movie. 

Why I love their work: Her sharp, witty dialogue, complex character relationships, and memorable character introductions are legend. Consider how we meet Miranda (Meryl Streep) in The Devil Wears Prada. The other characters react to her arrival with equal parts idol worship and terror, so that she steps into the scene completely in command. Her "take down" moment of Andy's (Anne Hathaway) casual attitude is the fashion equivalent of the "You can't handle the truth" scene from Aaron Sorkin's A Few Good Men. It's a riveting power dynamic. You know exactly who's in charge, and the exchange foreshadows 1) that Miranda's own arrogance and thirst for power will be her demise, while 2) Andy's arc will require her to rise to Miranda's level, then decide if it's who she really wants to be. Freaking brilliant. Honestly, one of my favorites is "Laws of Attraction," which I've probably watched more than 10 times over the years. 

IMDb link: Aline Brosh McKenna

Thanks for joining me at the movies,

Related links: https://lauracrispdavis.com/blog/screenwriters-i-love-2023-list/