A24's Bourdain Biopic "Tony" Began as a Spec Script Written During the 2023 WGA Strike

Todd Bartels and Lou Howe wrote the A24-backed Bourdain biopic "Tony" as a spec script during the 2023 WGA strike, drawing on "Kitchen Confidential" chapters about Bourdain's 1970s Provincetown summers. Bourdain's estate controllers — agent Kimberly Witherspoon and widow Ottavia Busia — backed the project. The writers' prior Dolly Parton script made the 2022 Black List.