Scriptnotes Podcast

The original post for this episode can be found here . John August: Hey, this is John. Today’s episode contains some strong language, including lyrics sung by our special guest. Hello and welcome. My name is John August. Craig Mazin: My name is Craig Mazin. John: And this is Episode 471 of Scriptnotes, a podcast about screenwriting and things that are interesting to screenwriters. Today on the sho...

The original post for this episode can now be found here . John August: Hello and welcome. My name is John August. Craig Mazin: Craig Mazin is my name. John: And this is Episode 470 of Scriptnotes, a podcast about screenwriting and things that are interesting to screenwriters. Today on the show we’ll look at what happens when two or more characters– Craig: Well, the thing is if you have mult...

The original post for this episode can now be found here . John August: Hello and welcome. My name is John August. And this is Episode 468 of Scriptnotes, a podcast about screenwriting and things that are interesting to screenwriters. Craig is gone today, but luckily we get to welcome back our favorite north of the border screenwriter, Ryan Knighton. Ryan, welcome back to the show. Ryan Knighton:...

The original post for this episode can be found here . John August: Hello and welcome. My name is John August. Craig Mazin: My name is Craig Mazin. John: And this is Episode 467 of Scriptnotes, a podcast about screenwriting and things that are interesting to screenwriters. Today on the show we’re going to talk about the words we use when referring to people or groups of people and why those words...

The original post for this episode can now be found here . John August: Hello and welcome. My name is John August. Craig Mazin: My name is Craig Mazin. John: And this is Episode 466 of Scriptnotes, a podcast about screenwriting and things that are interesting to screenwriters. Today on the show it’s not just the US Postal Service that’s straining under the volume of mail. Craig and I have to tackl...

The original post for this episode can be found here . John August: Hey, this is John. So today’s episode was recorded way back in January, pre-pandemic. I sat down with writer-director Lorene Scafaria and costume designer Mitchell Travers to talk about their collaboration on Hustlers and how to think visually about story. In this conversation we discuss locations, production design, cinematograph...

The original post for this episode can be found here . John August: Hello and welcome. My name is John August. Craig Mazin: My name is Craig Mazin. John: And this is Episode 465 of Scriptnotes, a podcast about screenwriting and things that are interesting to screenwriters. Today on the show we’re going to talk about not the heroes, not the villains, but the villains’ accomplices and how to write t...

John and Craig skip heroes and villains to examine the villain’s accomplices and how to write them more believably. We also answer listener questions, parcel out some umbrage, and discuss updates between the agencies and the WGA. Finally, in our bonus segment for premium members, we talk tips for travel during the pandemic. Links: Scriptnotes Episode 101 Transcript Seth MacFarlane to do Winds of W...

The original post for this episode can now be found here . John August: Hey, this is John. So Craig uses a few bad words in this episode. Not really very strong bad words. We almost didn’t put a language warning on it, but just in case your kids are in earshot and you don’t want them to hear mild swearing, this is the warning. Hello and welcome. My name is John August. Craig Mazin: My name is Crai...

The original post for this article can be found here . John August: Hello and welcome. My name is John August. Craig Mazin: My name is Craig Mazin. John: And this is Episode 461 of Scriptnotes, a podcast about screenwriting and things that are interesting to screenwriters. Today on the podcast it’s another round of How Would This Be a Movie where we take real life events and consider their cinemat...

The original post for this episode can now be found here. John August: Bonjour et bienvenue. Je m’appelle John August. Et voici Scriptnotes, un podcast sur l’écriture pour le cinéma et des choses qui intéressent les scénaristes. We are speaking French because we are supposed to be in Fontainebleau as part of Serie Series, and annual conference billed as “the meeting place for European series and t...

The original post for this episode can be found here . John August: Hey, it’s John. Craig uses the F-word a couple of times in this episode, so just a warning in case you’re in the car with your kids. Craig Mazin: Sorry about that. It just happened. It slipped out. John: Hello and welcome. My name is John August. Craig: My name is Craig Mazin. John: And this is Episode 460 of Scriptnotes, a podcas...

John and Craig bring another round of How Would This Be A Movie, with a mix of stories from history and the headlines. In this episode we discuss an unexpected guest at a funeral, a lost Russian submarine and a social influencer murder plot. We also look at the latest WGA developments, including the new agency agreement with UTA and the vote on the studio agreement. Then, we answer listener questi...

John and Aline Brosh McKenna co-host a special panel with writers Anna Winger (Unorthodox, Deutschland 83), and Tony McNamara (The Great, The Favourite) for the French television festival Serie Series. We cover writing coming of age stories, how to choose the best format for a story, and writing with act breaks. We also discuss the production challenges and opportunities of working internationally...

The original post for this episode can now be found here . John August: Hello and welcome. My name is John August. Craig Mazin: My name is Craig Mazin. John: And this is Episode 458 of Scriptnotes. It’s a podcast about screenwriting and things that are interesting to screenwriters. Today on this podcast we’re going to talk about why and how screenwriters find themselves collapsing and combining sc...

The original post for this episode can now be found here . John August: Hello and welcome. My name is John August. Craig Mazin: My name is Craig Mazin. John: And this is Episode 457 of Scriptnotes, a podcast about screenwriting and things that are interesting to screenwriters. Today on the podcast we’re going to be talking about comedy and variety shows, how they’re written, and how you get a job...

John and Craig examine how and why it can be necessary to collapse scenes in a rewrite. They also follow-up on returning to production, portrayals of police on screen and assistant pay. We then welcome Michelle Amor, Hilliard Guess, and Bianca Sams — co-chairs of the WGA West’s Committee of Black Writers — to discuss how Hollywood needs to change the way it hires and promotes Black writers. Finall...

The original post for this episode can be found here . John August: Hello and welcome. My name is John August. Craig Mazin: Hi ya’ll. My name is Craig Mazin. John: And this is Episode 456 of Scriptnotes. It’s a podcast about screenwriting and things that are interesting to screenwriters. Today on the program we’ll be following up on a bunch of topics we’ve been discussing, include police on screen...

The original post for this website can be found here .   John August: Hey, this is John. Today’s episode contains some strong language. It’s also reflecting kind of how we’re feeling at the start of June 2020, which is a little bit raw and painful and uncomfortable. So, I just wanted you to know that before you started listening. Thanks. Hello and welcome. My name is John August. Craig Mazin:...

The original post for this episode can be found here . John August: Hello and welcome. My name is John August. Craig Mazin: My name is Craig Mazin. John: And this is Episode 454 of Scriptnotes, a podcast about screenwriting and things that are interesting to screenwriters. Today on the show we’ll be discussing the difference between story and screenplay, both as official WGA categories but also wh...

The original post for this episode can be found here . John August: Hello and welcome. My name is John August. Craig Mazin: My name is Craig Mazin. John: And this is Episode 453 of Scriptnotes, a podcast about screenwriting and things that are interesting to screenwriters. Now, usually on this podcast we’re talking about writing, but today we are focused on the goal of our writing which is to make...

John and Craig discuss how police and policing are portrayed on screen, and writers’ responsibilities to thoughtfully reflect society. Then, we answer listener questions about freaking out in meetings, how we deal with feedback, and whether to write books or movies. And in our bonus segment for premium members, we’ll discuss the possibility that Craig does not exist. Links: Black Lives Matter Camp...

John and Craig explore that icky feeling something’s wrong with your script and what to do about it. They also discuss the difference between story and screenplay, both as official WGA categories and how we use those terms everyday. We follow up on French hours, whether you should send editable documents to producers, and offer tips on discussing story ideas with friends and colleagues. And in our...

John and Craig welcome back Aline Brosh McKenna (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Your Place or Mine) and Rawson Marshall Thurber (Dodgeball, We’re the Millers) to share how we’re thinking about the future of film and television production. We talk about possible plans for getting back to set, how movies might change to adapt to the current circumstances, and how we want to see pandemic depictions in our medi...

John and Craig welcome screenwriter Mike Makowsky to discuss the process of turning a story from the news into a movie and how he drew on real life experiences to create his upcoming film, Bad Education. We also follow up on writing with neurological trauma, trailblazing female screenwriters, and answer listener questions on speaking theme vs. subtext. In our bonus segment for premium members, we...