Today we’d like to introduce you to Bart Baker.
Hi Bart , so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was born and raised in St. Louis, a Catholic school kid – Holy Ghost in Berkeley and then St. Mary Magdalen in Brentwood, DeSmet Jesuit for High School. I moved to Los Angeles when I was 21, having never been west of Kansas City, with dreams of becoming an actor and a screenwriter. For about five years, I worked my butt off working a full-time job, going to acting classes, improv classes, performing in theater and improv, and writing anywhere and anytime I could. I ended up getting some acting work, and finally, a recurring role on GENERAL HOSPITAL allowed me to quit my day job.
Then I was blessed to have two plays that I had written, RELAY and SEACLIFF, CALIFORNIA, go up, back-to-back, in a Los Angeles theater. Both had some recognizable names in them, so audiences came, and so did producers. Warner Bros. bought the movie rights to RELAY, and I was suddenly a working screenwriter. Since I didn’t really love pursuing acting work as much as I thought I would, I focused my attention completely on writing.
I was blessed to sell a few projects in ‘spec’ sales, and screenwriting took over my world. I worked in the feature business, getting LIVE WIRE produced by New Line Pictures, starring Pierce Brosnan. Ron Sliver and Ben Cross, and CBS made my script, CHILDREN OF THE BRIDE, which starred Rue McClanahan, Patrick Duffy, and Kristy McNichol. CHILDREN OF THE BRIDE was very successful for the network, and it spawned a sequel, BABY OF THE BRIDE, and that did even better, and we ended up doing a rare trilogy of films, finishing with MOTHER OF THE BRIDE.
For the next 20 + years, I worked as a screenwriter in features, TV-films, and series. I produced eight of the movies I had made, but like the acting, producing wasn’t something I had a passion for. After a particularly difficult project which didn’t come out nearly as well as it should have, for producers who had little integrity, I hit a wall with screenwriting. So, I sat down and spent about four months writing my first novel. The result was HONEYMOON WITH HARRY, an emotionally powerful and wildly funny story of two men who truly hate each other, dealing with the loss of the woman they both loved. Within a month of finishing, having never published the book, New Line Cinema bought the movie rights in a big, flashy, Hollywood sale.
I then met my better-half, Joe Alway, and he and I got hitched, and our sons, Isaiah and Emmanuel, both 19 now, came along about a year after that. Four years after their birth, we moved back to St. Louis to be closer to family and so my sons could know my dad, where I continued to write screenplays and novels.
Over the course of my career so far, I have had 14 movies-for-television produced, including FOREVER in 2024, starring Taye Diggs and Meagan Good, which earned me a Writers’ Guild of America nomination for Best Screenplay for Television or Streaming, and HIS, HERS, AND OURS, in 2025, starring Taye Diggs and Lesley-Ann Brandt. Both were produced as indie features and purchased by the Lifetime Network, where they premiered under the TERRY MCMILLAN PRESENTS: banner for the network, and have since taken on a life of their own. I’ve also had four series episodes produced, worked on staff on the FX series, DIRT, with Courteney Cox, as well as having two feature films, LIVE WIRE and SUPERCROSS, make it to the big screen.
I finally published HONEYMOON WITH HARRY in 2012, and this year – 2026 – the movie-version goes before the cameras, with Jake Gyllenhaal and Kevin Costner, with a script by Dan Fogelman (THIS IS US, PARADISE, CRAZY STUPID LOVE), directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (CRAZY STUPID LOVE, WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT, THIS IS US). I’m really excited for this because I loved the script as it stayed very, very close to the book, which is a compliment to any novelist. This movie will be released by Amazon/MGM.
I have written 10 other novels, including two sequels to HONEYMOON WITH HARRY, aptly titled A SECOND HONEYMOON WITH HARRY and THE LAST HONEYMOON WITH HARRY, as well as the emotional and funny WHAT REMAINS, the crazy and joyous THE VIRGIN DAIQUIRI, and the very dark actioners THE CORDON FINN VENGENACE series. I also co-wrote the beautiful graphic novel, THE SACRED BAND OF THEBES, which was published in 2025. For readers who love finding books set in St. Louis, my novels THE WEDDING GIFT and the B*TCHES GET STITCHES series, are set here in The Lou.
Presently, I am writing another script for the Lifetime Network, WHEN I SAID I DO, this one inspired by the Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black song, and finishing up the second book in the B*THCES series, B*TCHES GIVE STITCHES, to be out this spring.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Smooth? Hahahahahaha! There’s no such thing as smooth in the business I chose to be in. And life is often just as rocky.
The only thing constant in my career has been the ups and downs. I’ve learned to pivot and continue to focus on the only thing I control, the material (the books and scripts) that I create. The film and TV business have changed so much in the last 40 years, the changes accelerating in the last decade, with the advent of streaming and the decline of the feature business. Even the book business has changed with the advent of AI. I learned early to roll with the punches, to not accept the downturns as a final answer, and save my money when I am working…because there will be lean times. Writers fall in-and-out of favor, and you have to be ready when you are on the outside to pivot and find your way back in. Somehow, I’ve managed to keep at this for four decades. I just always focused on the writing, never lived above my means, and continued to put out scripts and books that people seem to like.
And life always throws all of us curveballs. When Joe and I adopted our boys, life changed dramatically. The boys are only two months apart in age, so we suddenly had two infants, and you have to adapt to a different world literally overnight. My family, both in my house, and extended, has been the greatest blessing of my life. I can honestly say, my sons made me a man at 47, the age I was when they were born. Before them, I was a workaholic and in many ways a perpetual teenager, focused only on work and myself. And then my work, myself, and Joe. Our sons took the focus off of me and made me grow and change in ways I didn’t think I was capable, and certainly never gave much thought to. And now, at this stage of my life, having people I love pass away, especially my brother, Nick, and my friend, Mary, has affected me profoundly. I’m not unique in this, everyone goes through this as you hit this stage of life. But it certainly makes me more introspective, more appreciative of the gifts I’ve been given and the life I have. It also affects my writing, adding an even deeper layer.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
As I said, I’m a screenwriter, novelist, and playwright. And a dad. That’s work too. But as far as the writing, I’ve been blessed to make my living in this profession for about 40 years, give or take. I am really proud of that. And when I look back at the number of film and TV projects that have made it to the screen, big and small, I’m pretty amazed. I went out to Los Angeles knowing no one in the business. It took a few years and a lot of sacrifice, but I broke in, and discovered that writing was how I wanted to make my living for the rest of my life. I truly love to write. To tell stories. To entertain audiences. I’ve always said I would write for free…it’s all the insanity of getting a script to the screen or a book to publication that they pay you for. And I’m not paid nearly enough for the aggravation that is sometimes. I’m joking, of course (especially about writing for free). But peering back now, it’s all been such a blessing. And I have great stories and met amazing people during my 40 years in the trenches.
I’m most proud of HONEYMOON WITH HARRY, because I wrote that at a time of real transition in my life. It seemed my screenwriting career might be dead, a personal relationship ended, and my agent dumped me. I was adrift, personally and professionally. Writing the book became a catharsis, a place to put all my pain, my doubt, and whatever humor I could muster. And having the book be a success, something people really responded to, was such a shock. Now, having a movie version of the book, which is scheduled to start shooting in March with Jake Gyllenhaal and Kevin Costner, 22 years after I initially wrote it (no overnight success here) is just buttercream icing on a very delicious piece of cake.
What sets me apart, I guess, is longevity. I’ve made my living in the arts, doing what I love, for most of my adult life. 40 years as a working writer, being able to provide for my family, is something I’m very proud of.
Any big plans?
I’m looking forward to the movie version of HONEYMOON WITH HARRY, and hoping it will help the novel (all of my novels) find a bigger audience. And I’m hoping the script I’m presently writing gets produced this year.
Beyond that, I’m hoping to keep being hired to write screenplays that become wonderful films, and keep penning novels that people read and love. No big changes really, I just want to keep doing what I’m doing and enjoy my friends and family. What more is there to life? And at the end, I want to leave a legacy of work that I’m proud of, and know I entertained people with my words. I’m a pretty lucky guy.
Pricing:
- HONEYMOON WITH HARRY and two sequels
- THE CORDON FINN VENGENCE series, three novels
- B*TCHES GET STITCHES, second book comes out this year
- THE VIRGIN DAIQUIRI
- WHAT REMAINS – all available on Amazon and other online retailers
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bartvbaker.com
- Instagram: thefirstbartbaker
- LinkedIn: Bart Baker
- Twitter: Bart Baker
- Other: TikTok – @thefirstbartbaker
