Scriptnotes Podcast (.mp3)

Craig and John explain what producers do — at least, what they’re supposed to do — and discuss the myriad subclasses of producers that litter the opening titles of many movies. Which is the more impressive credit — producer or executive producer? In film, it’s the former. In TV, it’s the latter. But whatever the title, producers are integral to getting a movie o...

Craig and John plug a book by their very first sponsor and discuss elective brain surgery, before tackling an exhaustive but illuminating list of questions from listener Daniel Barkeley. They’re residual questions about residuals, which seems very meta: Do TV show creators get compensated for every rerun? How do residuals differ from profit participations and foreign levies? And where does n...

Craig and John look at why the books and seminars purporting to teach screenwriting are generally terrible, trying to reduce the hard work of the craft to a series of formulas and templates. It’s a rare podcast in which I sway Craig’s opinion whatsoever, but if you listen really carefully, I think he leaves the show just slightly less negative about screenwriting books than he started....

Craig and John take a look at awards-season screeners before diving deep into a discussion of how residuals work and why they’re so important to screenwriters. Plus, a visit from Craig’s cleaning lady, who thinks he’s insane. Near the end of our discussion on residuals, I give some actual numbers on an actual movie. Percentages are abstract; money is money. I chose Go because I h...

John and Craig tackle reader questions about self distribution, pseudonyms, separated rights, and studios’ feelings about international versus domestic box office. They also explain the fallacy of equating effort in with value out, discuss why the WGA should address sweepstake pitches and coverage for videogame writers, and offer a Kentucky-born 21+ cure for the common cold. This and more on...

Craig and John discuss musicals, split time lines, split personalities and the human brain. How does your inner-screenwriter affect how you see plays? Why is writing the second act of a screenplay such a slog? And is hearing voices in your head an asset as a writer? All this and more in the twelfth episode of Scriptnotes. We spend a good chunk of time talking about the iconic musical Follies, and...

When you read articles claiming every Hollywood movie loses money, an obvious question arises: “Why do they keep making them, then?” In this installment, John and Craig explain how the film industry spends and makes money. It’s a big and complicated topic. You could easily spend a semester studying it — John did — but this overview should give you a sense of how it al...

Craig and John go through the mailbox to answer listener questions. Can great actors save bad writing? What happens when writing partners split up? Are flashbacks always a bad idea? Should a young British comedy writer move to America? All this, plus discussion of Halloween, Screenwriting.io and dressing up dogs. We have a Facebook fan page: facebook.com/scriptnotes . Like us, follow us and force...

Craig and John tackle a listener question about the early stages of a screenwriting career: deciding which meetings to take, which projects to pursue, and how not to go broke in the process. Once you’ve been hired for your first paid screenwriting job, the temptation is to pop the champagne corks and ditch that studio apartment in Koreatown. While every success is worth celebrating, the tran...

John and Craig discuss why screenwriters want to please people — and how it often hurts them and the movies they write — before a lengthy discussion of the pros and cons of going to film school. We frame our film school discussion around John’s generic list of why people choose to go to college or graduate school: The information Certificate/degree Access to special equipment Str...

John and Craig answer a listener’s question about whether (and how) to ditch an ineffective manager, then discuss daily work habits, hardware and software. Other topics include Lion’s reversed scrolling, stalking strangers on Google, and why there will likely never be a Final Draft Pro. If you’re enjoying the podcast, you might consider giving us a hefty number of stars over on i...

John and Craig look at the new fall shows and how little kids become screenwriters, with discussion of D&D, Malcolm Gladwell and daisy-wheel printers. For this installment, I wanted to focus on how people become screenwriters. Not “how to” — there are countless terrible books on that. Rather, what is it that calls people to such an atypical career, one that you can’t ne...

In episode five of Scriptnotes, Craig and I dive deep into the esoterica of the WGA, copyright and separated rights as prelude to a discussion of two ongoing lawsuits: Jessica Bendinger vs. the Bring It On musical and Harlan Ellison vs. In Time. Most installments of the podcast are very back-and-forth, but this is a case where Craig simply knows a lot more than I do, and can explain it better, so...

In episode four of Scriptnotes, Craig and I discuss migraines, kidney stones and zombie apocalypse preparations before we segue to the main topic: how screenwriters work with directors, from the first meeting to on-set etiquette to giving notes in post. Screenwriters and directors often come at a project from different directions. The writer is trying to explain the movie he’s already writte...

This week, Craig and I follow up on our earlier comment about kids being the death of screenwriters, then dive into the process of outlining a script, from index cards to whiteboards to spreadsheets. Along the way, we discuss Curious George, Torchwood and V. Some links: My Dad Lives in a Downtown Hotel . Beau Bridges! Curious George Goes to the Hospital Torchwood: Miracle Day Elizabeth Mitchell bo...

For our second podcast, Craig Mazin and I decided to tackle the question we’ve both been ducking since we started our blogs: “How do I get an agent and/or manager?” It’s an intractable question because while most working screenwriters have representation, no two of them got it the same way. If you ask a panel of writers, you’ll hear a series of anecdotes, but you won&...

John and Craig discuss how screenwriters prepare when asked to "pitch their take" on material, then look at the candidates and issues for the 2011 WGA Elections.