On The Page

Science through entertainment. Entertainment inspiring science. Filmmakers Tamara Krinsky and Taryn O'Neill co-founded  Scirens  to explore all of the possibilities.

Writer Jimmy Miller reflects on a script that changed as  he  changed, ultimately leading to his current  Nicholl Fellowship win.

We're covering it all in this one: Six writing tips from Pilar's list, some talk of movies that got overlooked at the Oscars and a discussion of writer Sam Benjamin's new wrestling short film,  Screwjob .

Pilar and her friends Brian Pope, Mike Musa and Alex Troxler get together for their annual discussion about the best screenplay and best adapted screenplay Oscar nominees.

Writer/Producer Christine Lenig worked hard and took notes for twelve years before her rom-com  Upgraded  was finally produced with Camila Mendes, Marisa Tomei and Lena Olin. Now it's #1 on Amazon! 

Writer/Scholar David Noller discusses his book  Master Poetry Forms and talks about the ways that screenwriting and poetry are similar in terms of structure, form and craft.

Writer Andrew Zinnes provides nuggets from his new book,  Screenwriters Advice , a "how to" as told through the interviews of successful writers of film and TV.

Spotlight on Robert Wooldridge and Kimberly Dilts, two talented On the Page writers with excellent material, ready for their big break!

Writer Allison McGevna talks about how the tools and narrative style she uses in her job as a multimedia storyteller and media executive help her as a screenwriter.  Please note: This episode was originally recorded on January 20, 2024 before the recent Conde Nast strike in response to media layoffs.

Today's glut of rom-coms: Why do we love them? What do they get right? What do they get wrong? Writer Elizabeth McKenzie has opinions!

Writer/director Christy Stratton returns to the podcast to discuss her short film,  The Runt  (and to hear about Pilar's horror-movie Christmas.)

Jonterri Gadson went from "comedy nerd" to "comedy expert" when she earned fellowships with the  NBC Late Night Writers Workshop  and Kevin Hart's  LOL  to land a show on adult swim and launch a career writing for  The Upshaws, A Black Lady Sketch Show  and the upcoming animated show  Everybody Still Hates Chris . 

Career coach Lee Jessup returns to discuss the industry changes and writing trends of 2023 and shares what's ahead for the new year.

Pilar reads and gives feedback on the loglines that didn't make the top fifteen lists for the 2023 Logline Contest.

Pilar and Aadip read, evaluate and vote on feature and TV loglines sent in by listeners. Dimwitted extraterrestrials. Time-traveling teachers. Felons at birthday parties. Who will win?

A healthy "impatience" led writer Lenore Adediran to stop waiting and make a web series. Since then she's sold a pilot, a feature and the Christmas movie,  A Christmas Serenade , produced by Harpo Films and streaming on Max. 

Portuguese Script writer Miguel Simal spent years in telenovela writers rooms learning to be as creative as possible before going on to co-write the award-winning Netflix series, Glória . 

Writer Isabel Dréan talks about her shift from thrillers to holiday movies, leading to five of her scripts being produced in an 18-month period.

Ready to submit for the annual On the Page logline competition? Pilar explains the rules and gives the deadline.

As he reaches his ten year anniversary of writing, Scotty Mullen returns to share his thoughts on what he's learned from writing low budget horror, women in peril movies, Christmas movies and so much more. Bottom line: Writing has to be fun!

Writer/Director Lee Whittaker spent years as a stunt man, stunt coordinator and second-unit director before setting out to make a feature film on his own. Hear what he learned from his experience and desire to make a movie with a message.

Writer/directors Dave Merlino and Dustin Sweet set out to document the stories of the men who served in the 9th Cavalry Regiment in Vietnam. But what they ended up with was a documentary about the need to talk through trauma. Here they discuss their years-long journey making and distributing  Apache Blues: Welcome Home . 

From providing a performance space for the UCB in New York to contributing to "Second Draft" evenings in Los Angeles, writer Ellen Ancui continually brings together groups of creatives and builds her own supportive writing community.

Writer Crescent Imani Novell won the  Nickelodeon Writing Fellowship  in 2018 and has been writing on an animated shows like Dreamworks'  Fright Krewe , Marvel's  Moon Girl  and Mattel's  Barbie: It Takes Two . She's got excellent advice about story, character and dialogue, with a little personal hustle thrown in.

Writer Seth M. Sherwood ( Leatherface ,  Light as a Feather ) discusses common horror themes from "screwed by the system" to "man plays God" as written about in his new book,  The Scary Movie Writers Guide .