The Psychology of Storytelling with Lindsay Doran

Presented by The Black List, Lindsay's talk, which was the subject of the New York Times article “Perfectly Happy, Even Without Happy Endings,” and which was excerpted in her TEDx Talk “Saving the World vs. Kissing the Girl,” examines what the field of Positive Psychology can teach us about the secrets of writing a satisfying movie and how our deep-seated fear of the saber-toothed tiger keeps them a secret.

Lindsay’s most recent producing credit is THE SHEEP DETECTIVES (2026). She is also the producer of SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (1995), for which she was nominated for an Oscar, STRANGER THAN FICTION, NANNY MCPHEE and DEAD AGAIN. (She was even the Executive in Charge of Production on THIS IS SPINAL TAP!) She also does anonymous story consulting as the Script Whisperer® on high level studio projects and in that capacity, she has consulted on the development and/or postproduction of more than 200 films in both live action and animation. These include all of the films directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, from Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs through Project Hail Mary – that work is also supposed to be anonymous but there’s no point trying to keep it a secret since they just tell everyone that Lindsay works with them.

Lindsay has also appeared on the Scriptnotes podcast which seems to impress writers more than anything else she’s ever done in her whole life.

Spoiler Alert: Lindsay’s talk gives away the ending of every movie ever made.

EVENT FAQ

What time should I arrive? Doors open at 6:30PM and the event will start promptly at 7PM so please be sure to be seated by 6:55PM. Seating is not assigned and is first come, first served.

Where do I park? Parking is included with your ticket! Please park in the garage located directly behind/above the theater. You may park in spaces that are not labeled and on levels 3 and up. Parking is free with validation at self-serve kiosks located inside the theater, so make sure to bring your ticket with you.

The event sold out before I could buy a ticket! Is there a waitlist? Yes! Please register for the waitlist and you will be notified via email if and when tickets become available.

We will also have a limited number of tickets available at the door on the day of the event. Starting at 6:15PM, you can line up outside the Writers Guild theater. At 6:50PM, we will start selling tickets for the remaining seats to people in the waitlist line. Tickets at the door are $25 and cash only.

Note: The ticket fee exists only to cover the venue and associated event costs. Neither Lindsay Doran nor the Black List will benefit from this event.