John welcomes writer and comedian Alex Edelman to look at how he wrote his solo show Just For Us, and dig into the meaning of “write what you know.” They discuss finding your voice as a writer, developing your story with an audience, why Alex doesn’t write his shows down, and the sample that first got him staffed.

We also answer listener questions on what to do when your manager doesn’t understand your comedy, and the value of characters speaking to themselves.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John asks Alex, how do you set boundaries on material when you’re dating another comedian?

Links:

• Alex Edelman
• Just For Us on HBO
• Replay by Jordan Mechner
• Replay by Ken Grimwood
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• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
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• Craig Mazin on Threads and Instagram
• John August on Threads, Instagram and Twitter
• John on Mastodon
• Outro by Ali Clifton (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at [email protected]

You can download the episode here.

John and Craig can’t help but look at intrinsic motivations — those specific internal drives that guide characters behavior. They discuss how to structure and expose that internal drive, the importance of an innate irritability, how it can stop your characters from becoming flat, and rewarding that intrinsic motivation with choice.

But first, we follow up on AI training, blueprints and “important” movies. We also weigh in on a high-school senior’s college dilemma and answer a listener question on writing with your trailer in mind.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Craig parse out their reasons for why humans may – or may not – ever leave the solar system.

Links:

• My Pal Foot Foot by The Shaggs
• Braid by Jonathan Blow
• Connections from the New York Times
• Q: Who Found a Way to Crack the U.K.’s Premier Quiz Show? by David Segal for The New York Times
• On what motivates us: a detailed review of intrinsic v. extrinsic motivation by Laurel S. Morris, Mora M. Grehl, Sarah B. Rutter, Marishka Mehta, and Margaret L. Westwater
• Why are there so many illegal weed stores in New York City? by PJ Vogt
• Shōgun on FX
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• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
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• Craig Mazin on Threads and Instagram
• John August on Threads, Instagram and Twitter
• John on Mastodon
• Outro by Ben Singer (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at [email protected]

You can download the episode here.

John and Craig lawyer up with criminal defense attorney Ken White (aka Popehat) to look at legal scenes in movies and TV, and separate the tropes from the truth.

How do lawyers actually prepare a case? Will they meet a client in jail? Do they need to gather evidence themselves? And what happens when they go to trial? What are the rules for examining witnesses? How often do people represent themselves in court? And do judges really bang their gavel like that?

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Craig invite Ken to imagine traveling somewhere worse than prison — the beach.

Links:

• Ken White on BlueSky, Facebook and Threads
• Serious Trouble podcast
• The Popehat Report by Ken White
• Hello, My Name Is Stephen Glass, and I’m Sorry by Hanna Rosin for The New Republic
• LibreOffice
• Sovereign Citizens Getting Owned
• The Rest is History podcast
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
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• Craig Mazin on Threads and Instagram
• John August on Threads, Instagram and Twitter
• John on Mastodon
• Outro by Lou Stone Borenstein (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at [email protected]

You can download the episode here.

John and Craig look at four unbelievable stories in the news and ask, How Would This Be a Movie? Stories include a finance journalist who was scammed out of her savings, men who offer dating bounties, a franken-sheep made of cloned animal parts, and how standardized tests changed one woman’s life.

We also reveal which modern classics we’ve never seen (We meant to! We’re sorry!) to decide which – if any – we need to watch. But first, we follow up on D&D for kids, ESL, AI in reality TV, and Tiffany problems before answering listener questions on formats and recommending your spouse.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Craig look at new guidelines for AI and how they might affect our future.

Links:

• Weekend Read 2
• “Creep” post by @davo_arid on Twitter
• Full list of movies we haven’t seen
• The Day I Put $50,000 in a Shoe Box and Handed It to a Stranger by Charlotte Cowles for The Cut
• Wanted: True Love. Reward: $100,000 by Angela Chen for the NYT
• Montana Man Pleads Guilty to Creating Massive Franken-Sheep With Cloned Animal Parts by Matt Novak for Gizmodo
• How the SAT Changed My Life by Emi Nietfeld for the NYT
• D.C. – What It Is
• Fighting Fantasy books
• LA Hero Workshop
• Sodalitas
• OSR’s Oz and Neverland
• Questlings
• Color My Quest
• WyrdScouts
• The Excellents and Nancy Druid
• Hero Kids
• TTRPGkids
• Hide’n’Treat and Snuffle Mat
• Jaina Grey’s reviews for WIRED
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• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
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• Craig Mazin on Threads and Instagram
• John August on Threads, Instagram and Twitter
• John on Mastodon
• Outro by Tim Brown (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at [email protected]

You can download the episode here.

John welcomes back Pamela Ribon (Nimona, My Year of Dicks) to quietly ask: what’s with all the whispering in movies these days? They discuss trends and techniques in voice and volume, picking the right moment to whisper, and the value of voices across decibel levels.

We also revisit Pamela’s work on Moana to look at what you can learn from reading early drafts, ponder the threat of TikTok and YouTube, follow-up on vetting potential co-workers, and answer a listener question on writing animation.

In our bonus segment for premium members, Pam shares all her star-studded stories from sitting in the 5th row at this year’s Oscars.

Links:

• Pamela Ribon on Instagram
• Listen to Sassy
• My Year of Dicks
• Nimona on Netflix
• Hire Survivors Hollywood
• Dune: Part Two Clip
• ‘Fundie Baby Voice’ Seems To Be Everywhere Now. Here’s What You Should Know by Caroline Bologna for Huffpost
• In a World – Smoothie
• Natural Born Killers 1990 Draft
• Natural Born Killers 1993 Draft
• Lin-Manuel Miranda on ‘I Want’ Songs, Going Method for ‘Moana’ and Fearing David Bowie
• More (Outtake) from Moana
• How Far I’ll Go from Moana
• How Bad Can It Get for Hollywood? by Mark Harris for NYT
• This Sitcom Got WEIRD When Nobody Watched It by David Friedman
• Researching An Old Sitcom With AI by David Friedman
• Coucou French classes
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
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• Craig Mazin on Threads and Instagram
• John August on Threads, Instagram and Twitter
• John on Mastodon
• Outro by Vincent DeVito (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt with help from Chris Csont, and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at [email protected]

You can download the episode here.

John and Craig wring their hands and ask, how do you make sure the person you’re hiring isn’t a monster? They look at best practices for vetting colleagues, sussing out problematic people, and managing your own emotions when you’re the person with power.

We also discuss writing for non-native English speakers, using three examples to illustrate the importance of syntax, musicality and authenticity. But first, we answer listener questions on giving notes and kids playing D&D.

In our bonus segment for premium members, we spill the kool-aid on our fears and fascinations with cults.

Links:

• Strands from the New York Times
• Anatomy of a Fall – Clip
• Past Lives by Celine Song
• Irma Vep – Clip
• Is This Hollywood’s #MeanToo Moment? by David Mack for Slate
• How to play Dungeons and Dragons for kids
• RuPaul Doesn’t See How That’s Any of Your Business by Ronan Farrow for The New Yorker
• Recursion – Glitch Games
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
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• Craig Mazin on Threads and Instagram
• John August on Threads, Instagram and Twitter
• John on Mastodon
• Outro by Eric Pearson (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at [email protected]

You can download the episode here.

John and Craig explore the counterfactuals of Hollywood history — the relatively small moments that, if the coin toss had gone the other way, would have massive ramifications on the world as we know it.

What if Edison was allowed to keep his monopoly on motion pictures? What does our industry look like without the Paramount Consent Decree? What if George Lucas died in his car accident? Would superhero movies have dominated our culture if Iron Man had bombed? What studios would have gone down if Titanic had sunk? And what if Netflix had stayed with its DVD-only model?

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Craig talk capitalism and solve its problems once and for all.

Links:

• What If? by Robert Cowley
• Thomas Edison: The Unintentional Founder of Hollywood by Garrett O’Brien for the Saturday Evening Post
• United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. on Wikipedia
• George Lucas: The Car Wreck That Changed His Life and Led Him to ‘Star Wars’ by Tim Ott for Biography
• When ‘Titanic’ Was Expected to Be a Huge Flop by Jake Rossen for Mental Floss
• ‘John Carter’ Changed Hollywood, but Not in the Way Disney Hoped by Richard Newby for THR
• Financial Interest and Syndication Rules
• Post-Quantum Cryptography
• S’more! S’more! His artisanal marshmallows were the greatest. Then he tried to scale them. by Adam Rogers
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
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• Craig Mazin on Threads and Instagram
• John August on Threads, Instagram and Twitter
• John on Mastodon
• Outro by Zach Lo (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at [email protected]

You can download the episode here.

John welcomes back John Gatins (Flight, Coach Carter) to talk about reviving a dormant project and actually getting it made – like he just did with his new film Little Wing. They look at how films die, what brings them back to life, and go deep into the mechanics of sports movies.

We also follow up on flu tests, the Tiffany problem and pet names before answering listener questions on professionalism, mid-credit scenes, and work ethic.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John Gatins talks abut transitioning into a writing team and reveals his process of negotiating credits.

Links:

• Little Wing – On Paramount+ March 13th
• John Gatins on Wikipedia and IMDb
• Little Wing by Susan Orlean for the New Yorker
• LUCIRA by Pfizer COVID-19 & Flu Home Test
• Merlin Bird ID
• The Facts of Life – Attempted Spin-offs
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
• Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
• Craig Mazin on Threads and Instagram
• John August on Threads, Instagram and Twitter
• John on Mastodon
• Outro by Alee Karim (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at [email protected]

You can download the episode here.

John has the flu (or does he?) and Craig is missing, so we’re going back through the vaults to look at the mechanics of mystery and suspense. How do writers exploit the audience’s curiosity? What builds and breaks their trust? How do you use suspense across genres? And what do these techniques look like on the page?

But first, we look at the current agency shakeups and share our thoughts on OpenAI’s new engine, Sora.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Drew talk about their experience with the Apple Vision Pro.

Links:

• Scriptnotes 269 – Mystery vs. Confusion
• Scriptnotes 332 – Wait for It
• A3 Artists Agency Shuts Down by Aaron Couch and Rebecca Sun for The Hollywood Reporter
• Verve CEO and Co-Founder Bill Weinstein Leaves Agency After 14 Years by Cynthia Littleton for Variety
• A few thoughts on Sora by John August
• GOODY-2
• Meet the Pranksters Behind Goody-2, the World’s ‘Most Responsible’ AI Chatbot by Will Knight for Wired
• Claire Keegan
• Contextual computing with Vision Pro: My Writing Cabin by David Sparks
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
• Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
• Craig Mazin on Threads and Instagram
• John August on Threads, Instagram and Twitter
• John on Mastodon
• Outro by Eric Pearson (send us yours!)
• Segments originally produced by Godwin Jabangwe and Megan McDonnell. Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at [email protected]

You can download the episode here.

John welcomes writer and showrunner Francesca Sloane (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Atlanta) to talk about her process of bringing a big-screen property to television. She shares how she and Donald Glover found their way into the story, how it evolved in development, building a room that was all women of color, re-writing on set, and the many lessons she learned as a first time showrunner.

We also follow up on writing partners and phonetic alphabets before answering listener questions on writing samples, casting on the page and why some screenplays are free to read.

In our bonus segment for premium members, we dig into the benefits (and drawbacks) of film schools and fellowships.

Links:

• Francesca Sloane on Instagram
• Mr. & Mrs. Smith on Amazon Prime Video
• ISPA: Inter-Species Phonetic Alphabet for Transcribing Animal Sounds by Masato Hagiwara, Marius Miron and Jen-Yu Liu
• Bluets by Maggie Nelson
• A Unified Theory of F-cks by Mandy Brown
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
• Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
• Craig Mazin on Threads and Instagram
• John August on Threads, Instagram and Twitter
• John on Mastodon
• Outro by Eric Pearson (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at [email protected]

You can download the episode here.

John welcomes Celine Song (Past Lives) to chart her journey from playwright to Oscar-nominated screenwriter. We discuss the intricacies of writing bilingually, the similarities between theater and a writers room, finding the right collaborators and how writing prepared Celine for for the rigors of directing.

We also follow up on foreign courts, the Tiffany problem, and answer listener questions on American grad schools and table reads.

In our bonus segment for premium members, Celine looks back on her production of The Seagull in The Sims 4 and reflects on the importance of experimenting with form.

Links:

• Celine Song on IMDb and Instagram
• Past Lives
• The Seagull on The Sims 4
• The Wheel of Time
• A real bald eagle call vs a red-tailed hawk
• Deadwood and The American President
• Shottr
• Baldur’s Gate 3
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
• Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
• Craig Mazin on Threads and Instagram
• John August on Threads, Instagram and Twitter
• John on Mastodon
• Outro by Nico Mansy (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at [email protected]

You can download the episode here.