Based on a true story, Dead Man’s Wire, now in theaters, takes place 1977 when Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgård) came into the office of the president of the Meridan Mortgage Company, Richard ‘Dick’ Hall (Dacre Montgomery), and used a sawed-off shotgun to take him hostage. What followed during the standoff with the police was a media frenzy that turned Kiritsis into an outlaw folk hero. The film, directed by Gus Van Sant, also stars Cary Elwes, Myha’la, Coleman Domingo, and Al Pacino.

Writer Austin Kolodney recently spoke with SciFi Vision about writing the script, the larger-than-life real-life figure of Tony, casting, and much more.

Dead Man's Wire is now in theaters nationwide.


Watch the interview and read the transcript below.



SCIFI VISION:   Talk about sort of how it came to be and what it was about the story that made you want to make it into a movie.

AUSTIN KOLODNEY:   Hey Jamie, nice to meet you. The character of Tony is what first drew me in. I think he's such a larger-than-life figure. His vocal cadence was so unique. It was something that I knew any actor would want to play, but then in writing it was actually finding empathy for Richard Hall as well and that dynamic. I mean it's a true two-hander and that was to me the meat and potatoes of the whole thing was the dynamic of these two guys, and it's why I didn't want to do the like Tony Kiritsis's biopic or the larger bigger courtroom procedural. I just wanted to be there next to these two men strapped to this gun during these 63 hours, and that, to me, was always the main focus.

SCIFI VISION:   Talk about the tone of it and sort of deciding, I guess, to add some comedy into it, because reading the description, I didn't expect that. I was surprised - happily surprised, but surprised.

AUSTIN KOLODNEY:   Yeah, I mean the core logline, a man takes another man hostage with a shotgun, that's not really a laughing matter. But if you were to watch any of the archival footage, and you know, you've seen the film, so you see some of the real footage at the end, those awkward shuffling, the nervous laughter, that was all there. That was happening live on the airwaves, and that's what drew me to this. And my background in sketch comedy, I think, suited me well for that kind of tightrope walk of drama and comedy that was this true crime and inevitably this Gus Van Sant movie.

SCIFI VISION:   How do you feel that you approached it, or maybe you didn't, but differently, because it's based on a true story when it comes to writing the script? Like how does it alter how you approach it?

AUSTIN KOLODNEY:   Yeah, this was my first time writing a feature based on true events, and I love history. Like I think if I had not gone into film - I had a really impactful AP U.S. history teacher, Mr. Pugh, and that was always my favorite class. So, I like the research aspect of history and historical filmmaking. So, that kind of six-month period of like, doing intense research, working with Alan Berry and Mark Enochs, our historical consultants, and learning about Indianapolis in 1977, learning about these men and the company Meridian Mortgage and how the town was reacting, was fun for me, because then you're finding these nuggets, these morsels that you're like, “Oh I want to sprinkle that in a movie, that'll be nice.” But then also learning when to take a step back from the nuts and bolts of facts and figures and make sure that on the page still works cohesively as a film, that even if it wasn't based on anything true that you're still following it and being invested with what's going on.

SCIFI VISION:   I was going to say, expand on that. How do you decide that balance? Like what you do pull from reality and what you decided to add? Because obviously you don't want it to be 100% exact, or it might get boring.

AUSTIN KOLODNEY:   If you want to see the more documentary element, there's a great documentary called Dead Man's Line that Alan Berry and Mark Enochs had also made. I think they put it on YouTube recently, so go check it out on YouTube if you want to see more of the actual archival footage. And I knew that one of the North Stars for me was Dog Day Afternoon, people keep bringing it up.

And honestly, maybe it's not to my detriment, but some of the letterbox comments are like, it's not Dog Day. And it's like, well I'm sorry man, that's a perfect movie. That's my favorite movie. I'm trying to shoot for the stars, like behind your background right now. And that movie works so well, because it just starts with Pacino walking into that bank and pulling the gun out. And I knew that that would be the blueprint for me in Dead Man's Wire would be Tony arriving at Meridian and then pulling the gun out within the first five or six pages. That was always my goal.

SCIFI VISION:   Do you feel though that by doing, I'm trying to think of the way to ask this, but by doing something that's real, does it limit you to some extent, because you can't go anywhere you want? Or is it actually easier, in a way, because you have a blueprint, and you know what you're going to do to some extent?

AUSTIN KOLODNEY:   Wow. Yeah, I think that's a good question. I think it's both. You're right. I think it limits things. Maybe there's another version of this movie where someone steers in a crazy direction and fictionalizes like a big shootout at the end, and there's explosions and people die, but that wasn't this movie. That wasn't how it ended. And in some ways, there was structurally an interesting thing where the more chaotic frenetic car chase moments are front loaded. That's like the kind of first act break. And then the ending of the movie is more of an emotional climax, or that's what I set out to do. But in reality, it was just guys shuffling around for 25 minutes, giggling and laughing and crying and being tense and silent.

There was the human quality that I tried to give the stakes of a climax of a movie. And that's what Gus did, I think, with the music and the sound design. So, yeah, it's both, as you just said, where it is a blueprint.

Some of the dialogue, to me, that makes me laugh the hardest, or that I'm most fascinated by, are just word for word what Tony said. He gave me those morsels. He's basically a co-writer on the movie. So much of what the movie is, is just how he spoke to the cops, how he spoke to Fred. So, that's helpful in it being true. But then, yeah, there were certain things structurally where it was like, ooh, it doesn't end with a big...you know, movies, you want to have this big climax. And I knew that we couldn't put it on the page with the action, but we had to put it on the page with the stakes and the emotions. And I think that's what Gus pulled off.

SCIFI VISION:   Talk about casting.

AUSTIN KOLODNEY:   Casting all comes to Gus Van Sant, I think. I refer to it as that he's the flame that the moths of talent gather around, because we did not have a lot of money. We did not swing a ton of money at these actors, like a big studio film, because we were made outside the studio system. This is an independent film. But great actors are willing to work at non-studio rates on a film like this, because it's Gus Van Sant, because they know they're in safe hands. They know they're working with a master. And yeah, it wasn't who I had in my head for some of these roles, as you saw in the footage. The real Tony was like maybe 5'6" and 45 years old and balding. But I trusted immediately when I heard that Gus was looking at Bill Skarsgård, because Gus historically has always had his finger on the pulse of bright, young talent and making them stars. I mean, Bill's already a star, but I think people are going to be really excited to see him in this, because it shows another side to him. It shows his sense of humor. I think Bill tapped into Tony in that charisma, in those eyes. I think for as much of his physicality, he's a much taller, younger individual. It's in his eyes that he really pulls Tony out and onto the screen, and that's been really special.

SCIFI VISION:   Was there anything in the script that either you maybe didn't get to put in because of the budget or whatever, or something that was really difficult because of the budget to pull off specifically?

AUSTIN KOLODNEY:   Yeah, there was a little more meat on the bones with Linda, Myha’la’s character, and a little more meat on the bones with Fred, Coleman [Domingo]'s character that I think, I don't know. I noticed a draft at one point being circulated that was maybe like eight or ten pages lighter. I'm like, “Oh, who deleted some of these scenes that I had?” So, you could direct those questions to the producers, I guess. But that's part of screenwriting, right? It's the term killing your babies.

So, some of those things I miss. I mean, the moment I landed in Kentucky to do production revisions, starting tech scouts, we're about to start filming. I land, and the first thing that happens is a producer pulls me aside and says, “Hey, we need to cut the whole ending scene.”

There was all basketball stadium. We're at a Pacers game, a whole arena full of people see the news that Tony is not guilty. Sorry to spoil the movie. And that immediately had to be cut and amalgamated into the courthouse. And there is an intro scene with Jimmy Kiritsis, who is played by Daniel Hill, where he's being flown in on a helicopter. And that was another thing. They're like, “Hey, we can't afford a helicopter.”

So, yeah, there's a lot of things that I miss for sure. But that's filmmaking. Yeah, that's filmmaking. But then you get gems that weren't on the page, like Bill Skarsgård wanting to put ice in his milk. I would never drink milk with ice, that's insane. But that was a Bill Skarsgård original, I think. And because he brought that to it, people are quoting it left and right, and that's the beauty of filmmaking is the collaboration.