Reel to RealThe TruthBehind ARGOFact or Fiction? Oscar Worthy or Not?

August 2013

How ‘Lincoln’ Lost

2014 Oscar Buzz

“Based on a true story.”

By Nicholas Thompson

ARGOF**kYourself

The climax of the movie “Argo” takes place at the airport in Tehran. Six Americans, having hidden in Iran for three months, are taking

this one chance to get out of a country that’s embroiled in revolution and anger. Their cover is that they’re part of a science-fiction film crew; their guide is Tony Mendez, a C.I.A. operative.

I edited the Wired magazine story—written by Joshuah Bearman—that would eventually be turned into the movie. Bearman knew that the airport scene was where the story should end. The six refugees were indeed terrified, and they were indeed risking their lives. But facts are facts, and real climaxes can be anticlimactic.

The last section of the magazine article is all about the building tension. “The Americans were momentarily terrified when the officer disappeared with the rest of the crew’s passports.” But there’s no action. “But then he absentmindedly wandered back to the counter with some tea and waved the group on to the departure lounge without bothering to match the yellow and white forms.” And then, “The wait was agonizing… giving the others serious jitters… there was no backup plan… the Revolutionary Guards were arriving, wandering around in fatigues and harassing passengers.… A mechanical problem caused a delay… the Revolutionary Guards were starting to turn their attention to foreign passengers.” Nothing happened, though. Soon, it was wheels up and Bloody Marys in the air.

1950Iran elects Mohammad Mosaddegh as prime minister. Denying the U.S. & U.K. Iranian Oil.

1953The U.S and great Britain organize a coup d’etat.

1957Resa Pahlavi rules Iran asShah. Using the SAVAKto enforce his rule.

1968Campaign to westernize Iran enrages the majority Shiite population.

Jan, 1979Pahlavi is overthrown as Shah, through Iranianrevolution.

Jan, 1979The dying and disposed Shah is granted asylum in the U.S. causing riots in Iran.

Feb, 1979Islamic republic instituted, led by Ayatollah Khomeini.

Nov, 1979U.S. Embassy is taken bythe Iranian people.

The Hollywood version is all action. There is an urgent call to the White House. People scream and run. There are locked doors, guns firing, and cars racing down the runway after a plane. Watch the last thirty seconds of the trailer if you hav-en’t seen the film. It’s Hollywood. Breezes turn into hurricanes; peace becomes pandemonium; James Taylor becomes James Bond.

Bearman pitched the story in the summer of 2006, after he learned about it from David Klawans, an independent mov-ie producer. Bits of the story had come out already: there had even been nuggets published that year in Mark Bowden’s book on the hostage crisis, “Guests of the Ayatollah.” Sometimes great magazine story ideas are hidden, and sometimes they’re obvious. Bearman found this one sitting, murkily, somewhere in between.

At Wired, at least at the time, every pitch was graded on a scale of one to six by everyone on staff, and then there was a meeting in which the pitches were presented in reverse order of their scores, along with their standard deviations. This one scored a 4.0, coming in fifth out of the twelve that day. It was clearly a good tale, but it wasn’t clearly appropriate for a maga-zine about optimism and the future. It involved science fiction, which is Wired, but it involved the Carter Administration, which is not. “This is total mission creep, but I think we should do it,” Chris Anderson, the editor-in-chief, said at the end of the debate over whether to assign the story.

What led to ARGO?

August 2013

Reel to RealAugust 2013

The TruthBehindARGOFact or Fiction?Oscar Worthy or Not?

How ‘Lincoln’ Lost

2014 Oscar Buzz

ARGOF**kYourself“Based on a true story.”

By Nicholas Thompson

The climax of the movie “Argo” takes place at the airport in Tehran. Six Americans, having hidden in Iran for three

months, are taking this one chance to get out of a country that’s embroiled in revolution and anger. Their cover is that they’re part of a science-fiction film crew; their guide is Tony Mendez, a C.I.A. operative.

I edited the Wired magazine story—written by Joshuah Bearman—that would eventually be turned into the movie. Bearman knew that the airport scene was where the story should end. The six refugees were indeed terrified, and they were indeed risking their lives. But facts are facts, and real climaxes can be anticlimactic.

The last section of the magazine article is all about the building tension. “The Americans were momentarily terrified when the officer disappeared with the rest of the crew’s passports.” But there’s no action. “But then he absentmindedly wandered back to the counter with some tea and waved the group on to the departure lounge without bothering to match the yellow and white forms.” And then, “The wait was agonizing… giving the others serious jitters… there was no backup plan… the Revolutionary Guards were arriving, wandering around in fatigues and harassing passengers.… A mechanical problem caused a delay… the Revolutionary Guards were starting to turn their attention to foreign passengers.” Nothing happened, though. Soon, it was wheels up and Bloody Marys in the air.

1950Iran elects Mohammad Mosaddegh as prime minister. Denying the U.S. & U.K. Iranian Oil.

1953The U.S and great Britain organize a coup d’etat withShah Resa Pahlavi

What led to ARGO?

The Hollywood version is all action. There is an urgent call to the White House. People scream and run. There are locked doors, guns firing, and cars racing down the runway after a plane. Watch the last thirty seconds of the trailer if you haven’t seen the film. It’s Hollywood. Breezes turn into hurricanes; peace becomes pandemonium; James Taylor becomes James Bond.

Bearman pitched the story in the summer of 2006, after he learned about it from David Klawans, an independent movie producer. Bits of the story had come out already: there had even been nuggets published that year in Mark Bowden’s book on the hostage crisis, “Guests of the Ayatollah.” Sometimes great magazine story ideas are hidden, and sometimes they’re obvious. Bearman found this one sitting, murkily, somewhere in between.

At Wired, at least at the time, every pitch was graded on a scale of one to six by everyone on staff, and then there was a meeting in which the pitches were presented in reverse order of their scores, along with their standard deviations. This one scored a 4.0, coming in fifth out of the twelve that day. It was clearly a good tale, but it wasn’t clearly appropriate for a magazine about optimism and the future. It involved science fiction, which is Wired, but it involved the Carter Administration, which is not. “This is total mission creep, but I think we should do it,” Chris Anderson, the editor-in-chief, said at the end of the debate over whether to assign the story.

(Scroll to see the full timeline.)