Write Your Screenplay Podcast

Kicking off Season 9 of the Write Your Screenplay Podcast, Jacob Krueger explains the importance of the very first image in your script: how it captures your audience’s attention, introduces them to your main character’s journey, and sets the tone and feel for your film or show. He then shares how to use the concept of the first image to successfully reach your writing goals in the new year.

Does Your Writing Feel Boring? Show Notes Write Your Screenplay Podcast Hosted by: Jacob Krueger Do you ever feel disconnected from your writing? A sense that there’s a hidden wall or missing link between what you’re trying to communicate and what’s actually showing up on the page? Believe it or not, this is a very subtle form of writer’s block. It’s not only impacting your writing, it’s probably...

This week, Jacob Krueger shares some simple steps toward overcoming the common form of writer’s block and explains how creating manageable goals will reshape the way your mind approaches writing, making it easier to develop a writing routine.

In this podcast, Jacob Krueger analyzes the Season 2 pilot episode of Succession and shares how building a series engine from a personal place of truth will help you create the roadmap for a show that can continue to grow for several seasons.

This week, Jacob Krueger discusses Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and one of the most important skills a screenwriter needs: the ability to develop a distinctive take on historical material or a pitch for a work-for-hire project that makes your approach to a story unique from any other writer.

In this podcast, indie producer and filmmaker Ramfis Myrthil joins Jacob Krueger for a conversation on the business of self-producing: how to properly pitch your project, master the art of following up, attract financial backing and create the right team to make your movie a success.

This week, Jacob Krueger discusses Chernobyl as an example of how to write an essential and effective miniseries, what makes the miniseries format so unique, and how to determine whether your project has the epic scope, relevant theme, visual beauty, and character journey needed to become a miniseries.

In his final Game of Thrones podcast, Jacob Krueger discusses the series finale and the lessons it has to offer screenwriters regarding the importance of compression in keeping your audience engaged and on the edge of their seats until the very end.

This week, Jacob Krueger analyzes Episode 5 and discusses how the three levels of structure - plot, emotion, and theme - need to tie together to create a powerful journey for both your characters and your audience.

This week, Jacob Krueger analyzes Episode 4 and focuses on the importance of revision in keeping an audience connected to your characters by creating a structure that comes from a place of truth.

Jacob Krueger discusses The Battle of Winterfell and the poetry and structure behind writing an action sequence built on the interpersonal drama of the characters within it.

This week, Jacob Krueger discusses the events of Episodes 1 and 2 of Season 8 and shares how you can take an audience along on any journey, but first you have to make them care.

Jacob Krueger compares and contrasts two Game of Thrones pilots: Season 8, Episode 1 and Season 1, Episode 1, to show you the elements of a successful pilot, and how, as a writer, you can benefit from “saving the best for first.”

For eight seasons, Game of Thrones has attracted and retained a devoted audience. Now drawing to a dramatic finale in Season 8, this week we take a look back at Season 1 and how by building a powerful series engine the show has kept viewers flocking back to this fantastical world year after year.

ROMA: Turning Your Life Story Into A Screenplay This week, we’re going to be talking about Roma by Alfonso Cuarón. Roma is an extraordinary film that harkens back to a different era of storytelling. It’s shot in black and white, despite having a substantial budget. It’s entirely in Spanish. And, in a way, the whole film is a love poem for Alfonso Cuarón’s real-life nanny from his childhood growing...

This podcast was taken from our vault.  If you are interested in studying Television Writing with Steve our next class is Feb 3rd-March 3rd; you can sign up here. From GoodFellas to Breaking Bad with Stephen Molton Jake: Today on the podcast, I have a special guest, Steve Molton. Steve is a mentor here at Jacob Krueger Studio, and he’s also just an extraordinarily amazing human being and writer. H...

Beautiful Boy - Where Does Screenplay Structure Come From? This week we’re going to be talking about Beautiful Boy by Luke Davis and Felix van Groeningen. This is a particularly interesting film to discuss in light of our last podcast where we talked about Destroyer and the use of flashbacks in a movie, because Beautiful Boy is also built around flashbacks, but tends to earn those flashbacks in an...

Learn from Destroyer how to use flashbacks in your script. We'll discuss the common pitfalls that can make flashbacks dangerous, and the questions you can ask yourself when using flashbacks to determine if your flashbacks are likely to make the structure of your script stronger, or to get in the way.

Linus Roache, actor in Mandy, in conversation with Jacob Krueger on the Write Your Screenplay podcast Jake: I’m here with Linus Roache, a Golden Globe nominated actor that you probably recognize from Homeland, Vikings, Law and Order, Batman Begins, Chronicles of Riddick, Priest and a ton of other features and TV shows. Linus was just in Mandy with Nicolas Cage, so we’re going to be talking a littl...

This week we’re going to be talking about BlacKkKlansman by Spike Lee, Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott. When I first went out to see BlacKkKlansman, my hope was that I was going to be able to do a podcast about how to write a movie for a political change— to talk about the confluence of race and politics and storytelling and history. But, my experience of BlacKkKlansman led me...

Succession Part 2: How To Write Subtext In Your Dialogue In the last podcast we looked at the engine of Succession. We looked at the way each episode was put together, and the way that all these characters come together in each episode to create the season. So today, rather than thinking globally, we’re going to think locally. Rather than looking at the big structure of the piece, we’re going to l...

Succession vs Arrested Development: The Series Engine This week we’re going to be talking about Succession. If you haven't already seen the whole season, don’t worry. We aren't going to give away any major spoilers. What we’re going to be looking at this week is the structure of Succession: the way that this piece is actually put together and the way the season is created so that every single epis...

Hereditary: The Power of the First & Last Image This week we’ll be talking about Hereditary written and directed by Ari Aster. I want to start by talking about the first image of this film. So, if you're worried about spoilers, we will get to some spoilers later, but you can listen to the beginning of this podcast without concern. The first image of Hereditary is the most important image of Heredi...

DEADPOOL 2: Where Tone Meets Genre in Screenwriting This week, we are going to be looking at Deadpool 2 by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and a new addition to the writing team, Ryan Reynolds. If you missed my podcast on the original Deadpool, you might want to check that out as well, because one of the things that is exciting about Deadpool 2 is the way it manages to maintain a consistent tone, even...

The Hero Writes Itself: Interview with Katie Torpey Jake: I am here today with Katie Torpey, our newest teacher. She is teaching our TV Drama Classes, Write Your Screenplay I, Write Your Screenplay II, Write Your Screenplay III, and The Writing Lab. Welcome, nice to have you.  Katie: Thanks for having me, I am very excited. Jake: I would love to start off by talking a little bit about your backgro...