100: “Gosnell” Screenwriter Speaks—Andrew Klavan
The Patrick Coffin Show | Interviews with influencers | Commentary about culture | Tools for transformation
Patrick Coffin
4.8 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 6 November 2018
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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It’s a curious fact that a movie that is literally not about abortion would be so effective as a pro-life story. Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer has caused a media splash by portraying the media in the film as too chicken to cover the trial of Kermit Gosnell, the Philadelphia abortionist who was ultimately convicted of multiple counts of murder.
By “media” I mean largely social media, and word of mouth. Stories roll in from across the country of theater owners playing games with show times (this happened to me in Southern California), seemingly suggesting that moviegoers not watch it, despite high viewer rating (Google users rate it at 97%) and the fact that it opened against much bigger budgeted films.
Scribe Andrew Klavan (crime writer, and screenwriter of Don’t Say a Word and True Crimes, directed by Clint Eastwood) describes how the harrowing subject matter ot translated to the big screen, and how husband-wife producer team Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney faced on uphill battle after another. And still so, in terms of fighting those forces that want this movie to die.
I can sort of see why. I just read of two moral conversions by influencers with large audiences who walked into the theater as pro-choice and walked out as pro-life. One is Florida political blogger Kathy Zhu. The other is Federalist writer Adam Mill.This is not a preachy movie, as Klavan makes clear–and as any objective viewer will conclude.
Gosnell is a rare blend of Christian premise, serious writing chops, and a CSI-like narrative of the facts as they are, able directed by Nick Searcy (who also plays Gosnell’s attorney Mike Cohan).
In this episode you will learn:
- How a movie is made, from concept to final story
- Why Gosnell, a movie not about abortion per se, yet grabs the viewer by the lapel and forces him to answer certain questions about life, death, and the law
- The level of opposition faced by the filmmakers, from the beginning
- Behind-the-scenes stories about the crafting and filming of Gosnell
- How Klavan drew upon his crime novel skills to bring this real-life trial to life
Resources recommended in this episode:
- Gosnell movie
- Don’t Say a Word movie
- True Crimes movie
- Gosnell: The Untold Story of America's Most Prolific Serial Killer by Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to episode 100 of the Patrick Coffin Show. |
| 0:05.0 | I'm Dr. Jordan B Peterson. |
| 0:07.0 | Clean up your damn room. |
| 0:09.0 | Stand up straight with your shoulders back and listen to the Patrick Coffin Shill. |
| 0:14.0 | Welcome to the show. Who do you think is the biggest serial killer in American history? I don't mean the size of the killer. I mean the number of people he killed. |
| 0:21.1 | I think Jeffrey Dahmer, maybe I don't know Ted Kaczynski, Ted Bundy. Well the correct |
| 0:28.4 | answer is Kermit Gosnell a Philadelphia abortionist whose life is a movie and a book and today we're going to talk with the writer of that adaptation. |
| 0:37.0 | The film is called Gosnell and we're going to drill deep into how the story came to be, all the obstacles that it's overcome, |
| 0:46.0 | and speak with Andrew Clavin, the writer of that film, right here on the Patrick Coffin Show. |
| 0:51.0 | Don't go away! This is a coffee mug. It is swag. It contains delicious coffee. Tim Hortons to be specific. |
| 1:05.2 | Mm. Lungstream cookies. It's one of the things you get if you join Coffa Nation whose doors open twice a year, not three times or twice or like four times, |
| 1:15.8 | three, twice a year. |
| 1:17.6 | And Kofan Nation is the place to go to find out how you can join. |
| 1:21.3 | Three levels of engagement, It's all about confidence, commitment, and connectivity, |
| 1:26.7 | Kofenation.com. Andrew Clavin is an Edgar Award winning New York Times best-selling novelist. Two of his many books were adapted |
| 1:34.8 | as Motion Pictures. True Crime, directed by Clint Eastwood. And don't say a word starring |
| 1:39.4 | Michael Douglas. The last time he was on the show, he talked about great good thing a secular Jew comes to faith in Christ. |
| 1:46.0 | I want to mention he's also the host of the Andrew Cleveland show on the mighty daily wire platform. |
| 1:51.0 | Andrew, thanks so much for coming back. Appreciate it. |
| 1:53.4 | It's great to see you, Patrick. |
| 1:54.4 | I'll try not to be too fan boy here because I'm a big fan of what you. |
| 1:57.0 | All the truth bombs that you drop so well. |
... |
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