A self-described “Midwestern kid,” Piasecki first gained attention for his 2016 Academy Nicholl Fellowship-winning script “Last Meals” (formerly “Death of an Ortolan”), slated to go into production soon with Samuel L. Jackson and Boyd Holbrook starring.
“I was expecting to be an Uber driver and stay-at-home dad for the next 10 years,” Piasecki says. “I got very lucky, and I needed to make sure I never took that luck for granted.”
He tackled five more scripts on spec, landing for three consecutive years on the Black List. Of those three screenplays, “Relay” finished shooting earlier this year with David MacKenzie directing Riz Ahmed, Lily James and Sam Worthington. Likely headed into production next year: “Neutral Corner,” about a district court judge who moonlights as a boxing referee, and “Ballast,” a thriller set on a cargo ship.
Piasecki takes a very studied approach to writing, indulging in deep research and confessing an affinity for characters straddling worlds. “I think characters living in the gray have a lot of scar tissue, they have a lot of regrets,” he says.
No shortage of big IP opportunities also await — and Piasecki is no snob. A full-season TV adaptation of beloved videogame “League of Legends” marks his biggest foray into such realms.
“I still just want to do the anatomy of a city. And if that city has magic in it, it still has characters who have regrets and greed and ambitions,” he notes, describing his efforts as “a very mature TV-MA [version of] ‘The Wire’ in their universe.”
In April, Piasecki’s latest screenplay, “Stakehorse,” sold to Amazon.
Reps: Agency: Paradigm; Management: Range Media Partners; Legal: Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman
Influences: Peter Weir, George Saunders, Wendy Carlos
— Brent Simon
