Podcast Episodes
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Season 14 Episode 698
John and Craig descend into development hell to look at films that almost but never quite existed. Using both widely-publicized and little-known examples, they examine common patterns that keep movie…
Published on 2 months, 1 week ago
697 - We Wrote a Book!
Season 14 Episode 697
The Scriptnotes Book is real, and now available for preorder! John and Craig take a look through its 335 pages to explore the topics, guests and deep-dives we’ve assembled from over 1,000 hours of th…
Published on 2 months, 2 weeks ago
696 - A Screenwriter’s Guide to Directors
Season 14 Episode 696
In this compendium episode, John and Craig set their focus on directors — and how to work with them as a screenwriter. They look at the inner-workings of the writer-director relationship, etiquette o…
Published on 2 months, 3 weeks ago
695 - Advice to a Young Film Student (with Scott Frank)
Season 14 Episode 695
John and Craig welcome back Scott Frank (The Queen’s Gambit, Dept. Q) to offer their best advice to film students and the people who teach them. They look at ways to improve how we educate writers, a…
Published on 2 months, 4 weeks ago
694 - Reviving the Spoof Movie
Season 14 Episode 694
John welcomes back Dan Gregor and Doug Mand (Chip n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers, Pretty Smart) to ask, how do you revive a dead genre? Using their upcoming movie The Naked Gun, they look at why the spoof…
Published on 3 months ago
693 - Setups That Don’t Feel Like Setups
Season 14 Episode 693
John and Craig plant the idea for setups that have the most satisfying payoffs. Different from exposition, setups introduce ideas and concepts to an audience, priming them for a later revelation. The…
Published on 3 months, 1 week ago
692 - Crafting the Perfect Villain
Season 14 Episode 692
In this craft compendium, John and Craig take a look at everything you need to make your bad guys compelling, memorable, and the perfect antagonist for your story. Using some favorite villains as exa…
Published on 3 months, 2 weeks ago
691 - Collaborative Storytelling and RPGs
Season 14 Episode 691
John and Craig welcome author Stu Horvath to look at the rich history of tabletop role playing games. From Stu’s collection of over 2300 RPGs, they look at the evolution of collaborative storytelling…
Published on 3 months, 3 weeks ago
690 - Living and Writing in Sci-Fi Times
Season 14 Episode 690
How do you write science fiction when technology is moving so quickly? John and Craig welcome back journalist and screenwriter Max Read to look at the trickiness of predicting the future, how our ima…
Published on 4 months ago
689 - The Old New Video Problem
Season 14 Episode 689
New forms of video creation are coming to disrupt the entertainment industry, but will they succeed? John and Craig look at verticals and Veo 3 to see where we might be heading, and what our industry…
Published on 4 months, 1 week ago