Act Two Podcast

In this episode of This Week in Writing, hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman discuss everything from taking your shot with your favorite actors, to how Imposter Syndrome can easily spiral out of control, and new lessons learned this week about pitching.   Questions / Comments: ActTwoWriters@gmail.com Edited by the GREAT Paul Lundquist Music by 414beg

Hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman sit down with Rasheed Newsom, co-showrunner of BEL-AIR on Paramount+ and author of the upcoming historical novel, MY GOVERNMENT MEANS TO KILL ME.  They discuss Rasheed's rise from production assistant to showrunner, how being a showrunner is actually just being a middle manager disguised as a boss, lessons he's learned from writers rooms that have imploded, and why...

Taika Waititi is considered one of the busiest filmmakers in Hollywood right now, working on some of the biggest franchises in history while also finding time to write, produce, direct, and act in other passion projects. So hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman discuss Taika Waititi's 10 Pieces of Screenwriting Wisdom from Taika Waititi to see what can be learned and applied to everyday Screenwriting c...

The first day in a Writers Room for both a Writer and Showrunner are full of anxiety and uncertainty. In this episode, Josh Hallman talks with his co-host, Showrunner Tasha Huo, on what the first day of a room usually looks like to help allay fears and best prepare.   TWIW: How Screenwriters Get Paid in Percentages (that force us to get other jobs to survive), How to Get & Give Targeted Notes in l...

The tone in which you give notes matters. Your note can be technically correct, but you may deliver it in a way that offends the writer or makes them combative, which can ruin your relationship with the writer and make their revision experience feel painful rather than inspiring. To illustrate how to give notes in a respectful tone, hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman share the Opening Setup of scrip...

From how Tasha reads samples as a Showrunner and how this has influenced her writing - to - Writer's Block, hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman discuss their This Week in Writing.    Questions / Comments: ActTwoWriters@gmail.com Edited by the GREAT Paul Lundquist Music by 414beg

On this 100th Episode, hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman chat with Steven DeKnight -- Showrunner-Writer-Producer-Director of such shows as DAREDEVIL, SPARTACUS, and BUFFY -- about his experiences transitioning from Writer to Showrunner, and then Writer to Director. They get into what the real difference is between simply being a Writer and being a Showrunner, and how to acquire the skills necessary...

Hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman start their new series -- "What's the Theme?" -- with TOP GUN: MAVERICK. They break down what worked and didn't about the Theme in this epic thrill ride breaking box office records. Beware: lots of SPOILERS!   Questions / Comments: ActTwoWriters@gmail.com Edited by the GREAT Paul Lundquist Music by 414beg

Hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman talk with Ben Lustig and Jake Thornton about being writing partners: their process, schedule, how they met, their first sale, and a ton more... Also, Ben and Jake discuss their (incredible) upcoming movie, THE PRINCESS.    Questions/Comments: ActTwoWriters@gmail.com Edited by the great Paul Lundquist Music by 414beg

You have a great idea, now what? The distance between an idea and a finished script can feel vast and wrought with disappointment. Hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman discuss how they go from having an Idea to molding a Script out of that idea.    TWIW: Are TV specs as samples back in vogue? How learning to be a producer is key to a writing career. Tom Cruise is awesome. How Mark Duplass advocates fo...

Screenwriters Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman discuss Screencraft's 5 Must-Haves for Writing Action Sequences and how to apply these must-haves to your own writing in a practical way, as well as how to avoid common missteps in action writing.   TWIW: Tasha's life gets turned upside down in the best way by their previous Work/Life Balance episode, and a real-life action sequence issue that came up for T...

Hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman talk with screenwriter Alex Convery about being on the Blacklist multiple times, the influence that has had on his career, and about the story of how his most recent Blacklist script, AIR JORDAN , got Ben Affleck attached to direct and co-star with Matt Damon.   Questions/Comments: ActTwoWriters@gmail.com   Edited by the great Paul Lundquist Music by 414beg

Hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman often stress out and over-caffeinate to get their work done. To learn how to do things differently, they sit down with veteran screenwriter, David H. Steinberg (American Pie 2, The Simpsons, No Good Nick), and make him get detailed about how he manages multiple projects at once, what his daily schedule looks like, and how he successfully maintains a Work/Life Balan...

Hosts Tasha Huo & Josh Hallman discuss the 4 most common big-picture notes they receive (and are currently addressing in their own scripts), and how to approach revisions effectively.   TWIW: How to choose what IP to adapt.    Questions/Comments: ActTwoWriters@gmail.com   Edited by the great Paul Lundquist Music by 414beg

Host Tasha Huo (Red Sonja, Tomb Raider: The Animated Series) talks about how she starts her adaptation projects, from the moment she picks up the IP to pitching it to execs; and host Josh Hallman tries to poke holes in her process.   TWIW: (SPOILER ALERT!) The Batman, and how to look at consulting producing as a "side hustle for writers".   Questions/Comments: ActTwoWriters@gmail.com   Edited by t...

Hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman discuss the BAFTA lecture series from Tony Gilroy (ROGUE ONE, BOURNE Trilogy, MICHAEL CLAYTON), where he discusses his 7 Steps on how he writes an original screenplay. They break down each step, what it means, and how to use it practically in your own writing.  TWIW: Actors who don't want to be vulnerable, Josh's life-changing encounter with a waiter/screenwriter,...

Hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman take on Screenwriting Twitter's topics of the week -- Being Rewritten by Your Showrunner and Can Animation be Elevated? -- and discuss their Top 5 Pixar movies, with a breakdown of why those five earn such distinction.   Questions/Comments: ActTwoWriters@gmail.com   Edited by Paul Lundquist Music by 414beg

In this episode, hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman discuss in detail how they start creating characters for their stories, as well as a This Week in Writing about a new way Tasha has learned to write action description, and Josh's thoughts on the structure of the action classic, SPEED.   Questions/Comments: ActTwoWriters@gmail.com   Edited by Paul Lundquist Music by 414beg

Hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman discuss some things... like nepotism, your voice, and certain frustrations...   Questions / Comments: ActTwoWriters@gmail.com Edited by the GREAT Paul Lundquist Music by 414beg

... from your spec. Your manager. Your scene. Your agent. Your producer. If you're writing long enough, you will come up against this question -- "When should I move on from this?" Hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman discuss different kinds of moments in their own Screenwriting careers when they wanted to give up or move on,  and discuss how to spot the signs to keep going, and the signs to put the p...

Hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman discuss the different scenarios where etiquette comes into play...   Questions / Comments: ActTwoWriters@gmail.com Edited by the GREAT Paul Lundquist Music by 414beg

Steve Jobs was possibly one of the greatest presenters of our time. Hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman discuss his 6-step pitch-prepping method and how it applies to writers.    Questions / Comments: ActTwoWriters@gmail.com Edited by the GREAT Paul Lundquist Music by 414beg

Hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman bring the Act Two Script Club to the podcast for the first time, breaking down what we can learn from Kevin Sullivan's writing in his action rom-com, ENDING THINGS. Join us for a discussion about writing mechanics, what works in original specs and why.    Questions / Comments: ActTwoWriters@gmail.com Edited by the GREAT Paul Lundquist Music by 414beg

Host Josh Hallman finally gets to put his own manager, John Zaozirny, on the hot seat and gets to ask him all the pressing questions about why managers reject their writer's ideas, what makes for a bad manager and what to do about it, what does a manager do in their daily life anyway, top questions from Screenwriting Twitter, and more!   Questions / Comments: ActTwoWriters@gmail.com Edited by the...

When we get our first opportunities and jobs as Screenwriters, we are so grateful to finally be doing this for a living that many of us naturally slip into a "people-pleasing" role. We want to please our reps and our producers, and this can often shift the power dynamic in our business relationships in a way that starts to work against us as creators and career-builders. It is easy, as a Screenwri...