Scriptnotes Podcast

Feb 04 2025 20 ep. 59 mins 32k

Scriptnotes Podcast artwork

Screenwriters John August and Craig Mazin discuss screenwriting and related topics in the film and television industry, everything from getting stuff written to the vagaries of copyright and work-for-hire law.

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674 - The One vvith Robert Eggers

Feb 04 2025 49 mins

Hearken well! John sitteth in discourse with the learned Robert Eggers, weaver of dreadsome visions (The Witch, The Lighthouse), whose latest labour bringeth forth Nosferatu from the mistes of antiquity. Together, they dost unravel the craft of breathing newe life into the ghastly count of olde, how Robert didst hone his vision through toil and cunning in his firste labours, and th

673 - Structure, and How to Enjoy a Movie

Jan 28 2025 60 mins

Structure is the fundamental skeleton of every story ever told, so why does it flummox so many writers? John and Craig outline what structure really is, ways to find it in your story, and how to keep it from tying your brain in knots. We also look at ways to find nuance in our appreciation of movies, follow up on erotic fiction, and answer listener questions on how to work with a

672 - Navigating Loss with Jesse Eisenberg

Jan 21 2025 48 mins

After a difficult few weeks in Los Angeles, John welcomes writer, director and actor Jesse Eisenberg to peel apart the complicated human reactions to grief and loss. They look at how both collective and personal grief inform the characters of Jesse’s latest film, A Real Pain, and reflect on the ongoing LA fires and the loss of David Lynch. They also explore Jesse’s evolution as

547 - The Fires, and Good Energy (Encore)

Jan 14 2025 50 mins

After a week of devastating fires in Los Angeles, we’re revisiting John’s conversation with Anna Jane Joyner and Quinn Emmett from Good Energy Stories on how to talk about climate change on screen. They discuss opportunities for writers to inspire change, raise awareness, and capture the environmental concerns of our time. We follow up on disability representation in Hollywood

671 - The Best/Worst it Will Ever Be

Jan 07 2025 74 mins

John and Craig look at three extraordinary news stories and ask, How Would this be a Movie? Stories include the United Healthcare CEO assassination, a small town’s process for licensing fortune tellers, and a harrowing I.V.F. mixup. We also follow up on AI, Flightplan’s source material, Craig’s Belfast accent, and answer a listener question on the order of surnames for writin

356 - Writing Animated Movies (Encore)

Dec 31 2024 49 mins

John welcomes Linda Woolverton (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Homeward Bound) to talk about her experience writing animated features, from the parallel processes of writing and production to her paltry paycheck for Beauty and the Beast. They consider the blurring lines between live-action and hyperrealistic CGI, as well as the history of animation writers’ exclusion from

670 - Writing Across Mediums

Dec 24 2024 44 mins

Live from the Austin Film Festival, John joins panelists Jordan Mechner (Prince of Persia) and Erica Harrell & Desirée Proctor (The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners) for an in-depth discussion on working across movies, tv, comics, plays, videogames and VR. Moderated by Evan Narcisse (Rise of the Black Panther), they discuss what led them to new mediums, the storytelling strengths ea

669 - They Ate Our Scripts

Dec 17 2024 59 mins

Many of the biggest AI models have been trained on film and TV dialogue, and writers are furious. John and Craig explore the legal, ethical and philosophical implications of this revelation, our emotional reactions to it, and offer strategies for picking the right hills to die on. But first, we follow up on the definition of horror vs. thriller, generational narcissism, and young p

668 - Holiday Live Show 2024

Dec 10 2024 60 mins

John and Craig welcome Brian Jordan Alvarez & Stephanie Koenig (English Teacher) and Jac Schaeffer (Agatha All Along, WandaVision) to join them for a live holiday benefit for Hollywood HEART. They discuss constructing Agatha All Along from blue sky to the Witches’ Road, “protagonizing” a villain, breaking in through YouTube and maintaining a working relationship with your bes

667 - The One with Justin Kuritzkes

Dec 03 2024 55 mins

John welcomes playwright, novelist and screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes to discuss having his first two movies — Challengers and Queer — produced a single year. After charting his journey from playwright to screenwriter, we compare two drafts of Challengers to look at how the story changed during a hasty development, including crafting that iconic three-way. We also explore adapti