Justin Kremer hit the Black List in 2012 with his original feature script, McCarthy. He says seeing his name alongside writers like Young Il Kim and Julia Hart was surreal—something he’d only dreamed of while building his career. That recognition led to representation and opened doors he never expected. Kremer’s writing started long before film school. In elementary years he kept sports journals—first about the Yankees, then about wrestling once he got hooked in fifth grade. Those early habits morphed when, at 16, a high-school film class hooked him on screenwriting. He went on to Temple University for undergrad, then Drexel for a graduate film program where he made a short called Interface and tried his hand at writing for the screen. Between semesters of law school he polished McCarthy, drawing on his knack for research and dialogue. After law school he sold a TV pilot for a sci-fi project, but McCarthy remains his calling card. The Black List nod validated his approach—grounded characters, tight structure, specific details—and proved that persistence matters more than luck.