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The One with Stephen Schiff

Episode - 337

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February 13, 2018 Film Industry, Scriptnotes, So-Called Experts, Story and Plot, Television, Transcribed, Writing Process

John is joined by The Americans’ executive producer Stephen Schiff at a live Scriptnotes taping in New York! They discuss grounding an outrageous premise in character, suspension of disbelief, premium act breaks, and writing for a foreign language.

We also answer audience questions about New York writers rooms, expert consultants, expecting comparisons, first drafts, and how to write a period piece when history is full of spoilers.

Links:

  • Stephen Schiff currently works on The Americans. Its final season premieres on March 28th.
  • Thank you, McNally Jackson Independent Booksellers for hosting our live show!
  • Google Ngram Viewer
  • Bookstore staff recommendations, which led John to The End We Start From by Megan Hunter
  • The Scriptnotes Listeners’ Guide!
  • The USB drives!
  • John August on Twitter
  • Craig Mazin on Twitter
  • John on Instagram
  • Find past episodes
  • Outro by Matthew Chilelli (send us yours!)

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 2-20-18: The transcript of this episode can be found here.

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  3. Pitching Television, or Being a Passionate Widget

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