I’ve seen 54 out of the 100 films on AFI’s list of all-time greatest American films. Of the ones I’ve missed, there are a few I do genuinely want to see. But will my life or career be negat...
Yesterday, OpenAI announced Sora, a new product that generates realistic video from text prompts.1 The examples are remarkable. A TV writer friend texted me to ask “is it time to be petrified?�...
The Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice have drafted new merger guidelines outlining how the agencies should approach corporate consolidations. Here are the key points: Mergers sho...
https://johnaugust.com/2023/ftc-proposes-new-merger-guidelines
John and Craig welcome comedian, actor, writer and Jeopardy! champion Patton Oswalt to discuss joke structure and building standup specials. Patton pulls back the curtain on his writing process, ...
Like most writers, I’m trying to understand these wild moves at HBO Max. Cancelling Westworld? Sure. Happens all the time. That’s TV. Ditching an unaired season you’ve already shot, like wh...
Three years ago — October 8, 2019 — a writer who went by “Christian” emailed about their experience as a writer’s PA, explaining how they were expected to do the jobs of multiple suppo...
https://johnaugust.com/2022/payuphollywood-progress-an-update-from-christian
On Scriptnotes 541, Craig and I discussed which of the classic D&D attributes (Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Constitution, Dexterity and Charisma) were most important for an aspiring film and T...
Ethan in Northridge writes: Recently I was searching online on how to write script coverage and become a script reader as I felt I didn’t have a full understanding of those topics. In my search...
https://johnaugust.com/2021/is-a-class-in-script-coverage-worth-it
This week, the WGA announced an upcoming referendum on a proposal to create an “Additional Literary Material” end credit for feature films. I was part of the committee that drafted the propos...
https://johnaugust.com/2021/why-i-changed-my-mind-on-end-credits
Many foreign-born writers work on American films and TV shows. Give them a cocktail and they will tell you horror stories of how hard/frustrating/nerve-wracking it was to get their visas allowing...
A reader banks the money she would have spent entering contests and uses it to create something that shows her craft. The post Screenwriting competitions aren’t worth the money first appeared ...
https://johnaugust.com/2021/screenwriting-competitions-arent-worth-the-money