Scriptnotes Podcast

John and Craig are on opposite sides of the world this week, so they’re revisiting an episode from 2016 to look at the many psychological barriers facing writers tackling big projects, and offe...

https://johnaugust.com/2024/buckling-down-encore

John welcomes back Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me?, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood) to look at three stories of real people with too much money and ask, How Would This Be a Movie? ...

https://johnaugust.com/2024/big-money-movies-with-marielle-heller

John and Craig revisit their legendary conversation with screenwriter-turned-psychotherapist Dennis Palumbo to discuss writer’s block, procrastination, partnerships and more. It’s a can’t-m...

https://johnaugust.com/2024/psychotherapy-for-screenwriters-encore

John and Craig open the mailbag to answer a swath of listener questions that make Craig’s blood boil. They offer insights and umbrage on when you can turn down projects early in your career, pi...

https://johnaugust.com/2024/advice-show

John and Craig welcome back Ryan Reynolds for an in-depth look at his creative process bringing the character of Deadpool to the screen. As co-writer, producer and star of the Deadpool franchise,...

https://johnaugust.com/2024/deadpool-with-ryan-reynolds

John welcomes journalist/screenwriter Max Read to look at the emerging sub-genre “halogencore” – stories of corporate malfeasance that are less about uncovering corruption as they are about...

https://johnaugust.com/2024/halogencore

In this compendium episode, John and Craig look at two of the most fundamental building blocks of compelling stories – conflict and stakes. We define six forms of conflict common in movies, and...

https://johnaugust.com/2024/conflict-and-stakes-compendium

John and Craig stand waist-deep in rotten tomatoes and ask, what can we learn from bad movies? Resisting the urge to walk out, they explore ways to evaluate a movie’s problems, interrogate your...

https://johnaugust.com/2024/how-to-watch-bad-movies

John welcomes writer-director Betsy Thomas (Superior Donuts, Superstore) to finally discuss writing multi-camera sitcoms. Using famous sitcom scripts as guides, they look at how multi-cam sets it...

https://johnaugust.com/2024/multi-cam-comedies-and-wga-dollars

John and Craig welcome back Megana Rao to look at rituals and what they can tell us about our characters. But what are characters doing deliberately, and what is just routine? They separate routi...

https://johnaugust.com/2024/rituals

John and Craig finally become writing partners and edit the opening to one chapter of the upcoming Scriptnotes book live on-air. They wrestle with word choices, adapting the phrasing of a spoken ...

https://johnaugust.com/2024/the-live-edit

John welcomes back Mike Schur (The Good Place, Parks and Recreation) to ask, how do you fix an overwritten script? They discuss ways to rebuild scenes and restore muddy characters that have becom...

https://johnaugust.com/2024/overwritten

John and Craig welcome Aline Brosh McKenna to look at what writers mean by a “voice,” and how it develops. Some screenwriters’ voice develops long before their craft, leading people to labe...

https://johnaugust.com/2024/how-screenwriters-find-their-voice-encore

John welcomes Simon Rich (Man Seeking Woman, Miracle Workers) to look at how he crafts a comedic premise. Using his work on SNL, his time writing Inside Out at Pixar and his plethora of short sto...

https://johnaugust.com/2024/the-comedic-premise-with-simon-rich

John welcomes back Aline Brosh McKenna to help figure out how to say goodbye… in your story. Using examples from some of their favorite movies, they explore how farewell scenes work, what sets ...

https://johnaugust.com/2024/farewell-scenes

In this compendium episode, John and Craig fast-forward to the third act to talk about endings. How do they work? What makes them great? And how do you fix them when they’re not working? They l...

https://johnaugust.com/2024/crafting-your-ending

John and Craig decode the current state of software in the film and television industry. With dozens of programs needed for every project, they look at why bad and outdated programs continue to h...

https://johnaugust.com/2024/industry-software

John welcomes Meredith Scardino (Girls5eva) and Jen Statsky (Hacks) to discuss the highs and lows of writing the third season of a hit comedy. But how do you push a series forward without violati...

https://johnaugust.com/2024/the-third-season

John and Craig explore one of the most powerful and versatile tools in episodic television: the cold open. But how does it work? What kind of scenes does it showcase best? How can it play with po...

https://johnaugust.com/2024/the-power-of-the-cold-open

John joins Mike Birbiglia on his podcast Working It Out to share direct, practical screenwriting advice that you’ll actually use, whether you’re an aspiring screenwriter or you want to pursue...

https://johnaugust.com/2024/working-it-out-screenwriting-advice-youll-actually-use