John August

Archives for 2013

Two ENTJs walk into a bar (and fix it)

Episode - 106

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Film Industry, Follow Up, Los Angeles, News, Scriptnotes, Transcribed, WGA

John and Craig reveal their Myers-Briggs secrets as they discuss Kevin Spacey’s comments on the state of television, Eric Garcetti’s plans to address runaway production, and the WGA election.

There are [still a (very) few tickets left for Scriptnotes Live in NYC](https://www.telecharge.com/Off-Broadway/Scriptnotes-Live-with-John-August/Overview?AID=OBW000996000&cm_mmc=Scriptnotes-Live-_-affiliate-_-web-_-OBW000996000&cm_mmca1=show_site&cm_mmca2=ADSTSR&cm_mmca3=130828) on September 23rd, with Craig, John and special guest Andrew Lippa.

Links:

* Listen to John and Andrew on [SiriusXM On Broadway](http://www.siriusxm.com/onbroadway) with Julie James
* [Marcel Proust Within a Budding Grove, Part two](http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/496922-what-best-remind-us-of-a-person-is-precisely-what)
* The (http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/aug/22/kevin-spacey-tv-golden-age) and [transcript](http://www.theguardian.com/media/interactive/2013/aug/22/kevin-spacey-mactaggart-lecture-full-text) of Kevin Spacey’s speech at the 2013 Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival
* [WGAW Announces Candidates for 2013 Officers and Board of Directors Election](http://www.wga.org/content/default.aspx?id=5259)
* [Myers-Briggs personality types](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myers-Briggs_Type_Indicator) on Wikipedia
* [L.A. Mayor Declares State of ‘Emergency’ As Movie, TV Production Flees Hollywood](http://variety.com/2013/biz/news/l-a-mayor-declares-state-of-emergency-as-movie-tv-production-flees-hollywood-1200589182/), from Variety
* [One Cool Things](http://johnaugust.com/onecoolthings) from Scriptnotes
* The New Yorker on [Slow Ass Jolene](http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/08/slowed-down-dolly-parton.html)
* Kottke on [How to make your own slow jams](http://kottke.org/13/08/how-to-make-your-own-slow-jams)
* Outro by Scriptnotes listener Latif Ullah

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_106.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_106.mp3).

**UPDATE** 9-6-13: The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-ep-106-two-entjs-walk-into-a-bar-and-fix-it-transcript).

Risky Business, and the choices you make

Directors, Film Industry, Psych 101

Jake Malooley tracks down writer-director Paul Brickman, who more or less [vanished after Risky Business](http://www.salon.com/2013/09/02/risky_business_director_some_people_like_the_visibility_i_dont/):

> Just 34 when “Risky Business” was released, Brickman directed just one other feature, the 1990 bomb “Men Don’t Leave.” The alchemy that made the filmmaker’s arrival so enduring — elegant direction atypical of coming-of-age films; sparkling adolescent dialogue; the use of Tangerine Dream’s propulsive, hypnotic score — makes his lack of output over the last three decades all the more surprising.

Brickman is candid about his ambivalence towards Hollywood and the choices he might have made. He wanted to make more movies. It just didn’t happen.

I’ve seen smaller versions of Brickman’s story many times, including in my own career: success brings heat; heat brings opportunities. But taking advantage of those opportunities is much more difficult than it seems. Pick the wrong project and your heat is wasted. Knowing this, it’s easy to get paranoid and avoid picking any project — and your heat gradually dissipates.

Luckily, a screenwriter can afford to be wrong more often than a director. A screenwriter can write four movies a year. A director is prolific if she directs one.

In the case of Brickman, a director is notable for only directing two films over the course of a career.

All the One Cool Things

Follow Up

Almost every week on the Scriptnotes podcast, Craig and I each recommend a One Cool Thing: something we like that we think you’ll like. Often, it’s an app or a gadget. Other times, it’s a book or website.

At a listener suggestion, I asked my team to assemble all of the previous One Cool Things into a [single page](http://johnaugust.com/onecoolthings) for easy reference.

Stuart will be keeping this page updated each week.

If you have a suggestion for a One Cool Thing, the best way to tell us is Twitter. I am [@johnaugust](http://twitter.com/johnaugust). Craig is [@clmazin](http://twitter.com/clmazin).

Yank! makes it

Broadway, Follow Up

The [Kickstarter campaign](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1046922831/yank-original-cast-album) for the Yank! cast album, which I [blogged about](http://johnaugust.com/2013/the-yank-cast-album-or-lets-do-this-for-craig) earlier this week, cleared its $35,000 target this morning. Thanks to everyone who contributed.

I promised that if Yank! made it, I’d sing a song from the show at Scriptnotes Live in NYC on September 23rd. So it’s off to the sheet music for me.