Inside the Sundance Labs: Kieran & Michele Mulroney's Path From Sundance to Superheroes

Kieran and Michele Mulroney are no stranger to massive blockbusters -- they contributed production rewrites to Mr. and Mrs. Smith and wrote the draft that rocketed George Miller's DC superheroes collection Justice League to just short of a shooting date -- so it may come as some surprise to find that the key to their big-studio success was their Sundance Labs background. Five years ago, their script Paper Man won them entree into both the Labs and Hollywood's top rewrite lists, and this past month, the Mulroneys finally saw their finished Paper Man premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival. We talked to them about how exactly the Park City experience can lead to putting words in Superman's mouth.

So how did you guys get involved with the Labs as fellows?

MICHELE: A friend of a friend went and submitted us on our behalf, because we were too chicken and disorganized to do it. [Laughs]

KIERAN: It happened without us even knowing about it. It was a nice thing to have done, and it was well-received, but we sort of got a call out of the blue of them saying they wanted to take our script for the Screenwriters Lab.

MICHELE: This was in 2004, when we didn't have an agent and had kind of dropped out of the writing landscape a little bit. We kind of didn't know what we were gonna do with our professional lives, and then we went to the Labs, and quite literally it helped us get back into business in town. We got representation and suddenly we were back on the map.

KIERAN: It really was the thing that allowed us the opportunity to write scripts for people other than ourselves. The script sort of got found after the Writers Lab by the folks in town here, and it was very well-received and embraced and directly led to a deal we had at Warner Bros. It opened a door and we stepped through and have been writing ever since.

MICHELE: Yeah, I have to say that we actually did not realize the kind of stamp of approval that you immediately get from participating in those Labs situations. It really was a surprise to us to find that just by having gone through the Labs, you have this air of knowing what you're doing. It was such a help for us, because prior to that, we had been floundering professionally a little bit, frankly. People instantly want to read something if it's been at the Labs, so that battle that we all have to get people to read your script...after Sundance, people clambered to read it.

And did you guys do both Labs?

MICHELE: We did the Writers and Directors Labs, yeah. It was kind of funny because everything all sort of happened at once: We went to the Writers Lab in January and we went back to the Directors Lab in May, but between January and May, we got an agent, we worked for a very long time doing production rewrites on Mr. and Mrs. Smith...by the time we went back to the Directors Lab, we were actually juggling a bunch of writing projects. It was kind of a bizarre six-month whirlwind. We actually had to sort of put our work aside to be able to go back and do the Directors Lab.

What advisers did you find helpful there?

MICHELE: Doug Wright was an incredibly inspiring screenwriting mentor for us up there. Naomi Gyllenhaal is amazing and tough and gives you a lot to think about. When we were describing it to people, we said that it really is work. It's not for the weak -- the Sundance Lab is tough. They don't sugarcoat anything.

KIERAN: They're not there to be your friend. It's like they sit you down for six hours a day and beat you with stick noodles or something. The nice thing is that they make you a nice dinner at the end of the day. [Both laugh]

Who else was in your 2004 class?

MICHELE: We thought we were in a really great, incredible group of people: Dito Montiel, who made A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints and Fighting was with us, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden who made Half Nelson and Sugar were there...

KIERAN: In fact, we're bringing up the rear.

MICHELE: Michelle Satter has been on us for five years to make this movie, so she's really relieved.

KIERAN: It's an incredible opportunity to sit with people and their scripts in the Writers Lab, and then go through the Directors Labs with those same people, and then a year and a half later to watch their film in theaters and see how completely true to themselves they've been.

Sundance gave you a lot, but your film premiered at LAFF. Did you ever think you should hold it for Park City?

MICHELE: The only thing I can say is that after five years of trying to get Paper Man made -- different casts, different financing, this whole rollercoaster -- the one regret we had about how it finally came together was the timing. We looked at the calendar and we were like, "Uggggh! I cannot believe we're finally making this movie after five years of almost making it and it has to be at a time where it's very, very difficult for us to finish this movie and sit on it for seven months until the Sundance festival comes around." It's an incredible testament to Michelle [Satter] that when we were seeking advice about what to do, there was never an agenda of, "Well, you should wait for Sundance." Nothing would have made us happier than to come full circle and be back up there at Park City, but that would have been a very sentimental kind of outcome.

KIERAN: Besides, there's no guarantee that we would have gotten in.

Speaking of projects that were almost about to happen, Justice League came this close to shooting, and then...

MICHELE: Pardon me, I need a drink if we're going to talk about Justice League. [Laughs]

KIERAN: It was a fantastic experience. The movie needs to get made, and it will.

MICHELE: Yeah, we're not at liberty to discuss too much about Justice League for various reasons, but all I can say is that we had an incredible blast writing it. To get to write for Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman...I mean, it doesn't get any better. We had a phenomenal time working with George Miller on this.

KIERAN: We ran into the writers strike. A lot of projects that should have been made, didn't get made. And this was a strike that we fully supported. Things happened, and it's postponed for the time being. But it's a great big movie that's gonna get made.

Have you done any more work on it since the strike?

MICHELE: We haven't personally done any work on it in a little while, and I don't think anyone else has. It's just sitting there in its little cocoon, waiting for the right moment in the superhero canon.

KIERAN: There's a Batman movie that people are very eagerly anticipating that will get its due. Everything else [the studio is] working on will proceed in a bit. I don't think the world's done with superheroes yet.

MICHELE: Look, we work for Warner Brothers all the time...in fact, we're working on something right now that we're not even allowed to talk about. We love those guys, they're awesome. Justice League is all good.

KIERAN: But it is an odd through-line. From Paper Man, our "welcome to Hollywood" script, to Justice League by way of [Paper Man's] imaginary superhero Captain Excellent who lies around on couches and complains all the time...it was interesting. Coming after Justice League and all the time we spent on that movie, maybe we'll stay away from people who can fly for a while.