John welcomes writer/showrunner Dana Fox (Cruella, Home Before Dark, Isn’t it Romantic), writer/director Jac Schaeffer (WandaVision, Black Widow, Timer), and filmmaker/producer Lance Oppenheim (Some Kind of Heaven) to discuss characters you don’t control. From classic villains, comic book heroes, to real life subjects, we take a look at creating narratives around established characters.
We introduce a new segment on the trades called “Didja see in Deadline…” and answer listener questions on writing at work.
Finally in our bonus segment for premium members, we discuss naps! Dana Fox shares her recipe for the perfect nap and tips for getting better sleep.
Links:
* Watch Cruella on [Disney+](https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/cruella/2GJTZuO8I01c)
* [Home Before Dark](https://tv.apple.com/us/show/home-before-dark/umc.cmc.5yqy2wv4w7l0v4x5mn3le8l1y) Season 2 on Apple TV June 11th
* WandaVision on [Disney+](https://www.disneyplus.com/series/wandavision/4SrN28ZjDLwH)
* Some Kind of Heaven on [Hulu](https://www.hulu.com/watch/dbb0e05a-537d-4169-8a00-624ec21e35bd)
* Didja see in Deadline about [Timothée Chalamet To Play Willy Wonka In New Origin Tale](https://deadline.com/2021/05/timothee-chalamet-willy-wonka-warner-bros-1234762658/), [Kevin Spacey Will Return To Film In Franco Nero’s ‘The Man Who Drew God’](https://deadline.com/2021/05/kevin-spacey-film-return-franco-nero-luomo-che-disegno-dio-vanessa-redgrave-1234762630/), [‘F9’ Star John Cena Apologizes — In Mandarin — To China Over Calling Taiwan A Country](https://deadline.com/2021/05/f9-john-cena-apology-mandarin-china-taiwan-1234763680/), [Amazon Confirms It’s Buying MGM For $8.45 Billion](https://deadline.com/2021/05/amazon-to-buy-mgm-for-8-45-billion-merger-1234764306/), [Army of the Dead, Tig Notaro shot all her scenes alone.](https://deadline.com/2021/05/army-of-the-dead-zack-deborah-snyder-recasting-chris-delia-tig-notaro-1234762457/)
* [Dana Fox](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1401416/) on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/inthehenhouse)
* [Jac Schaeffer](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2356614/)
* [Lance Oppenheim](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4565262/) on [the web](https://www.lanceoppenheim.com/)
* [Slate’s Working podcast dialect coach Samara Bay](https://slate.com/podcasts/working/2021/05/dialect-coach-samara-bay)
* [You’re Wrong About Podcast – Exxon Valdez Oil Spill](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/halloween-re-release-the-exxon-valdez-oil-spill/id1380008439?i=1000496779604)
* Dana’s nap app [Positive Pregnancy with Andrew Johnson](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/positive-pregnancy-with-aj/id349477846)
* [Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!](https://cottonbureau.com/people/scriptnotes-podcast)
* [Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription](https://scriptnotes.supportingcast.fm/gifts) or [treat yourself to a premium subscription!](https://scriptnotes.supportingcast.fm/)
* [John August](https://twitter.com/johnaugust) on Twitter
* [Craig Mazin](https://twitter.com/clmazin) on Twitter
* [John on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/johnaugust/?hl=en)
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Matthew Chilelli ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))
* Scriptnotes is produced by [Megana Rao](https://twitter.com/MeganaRao) and edited by [Matthew Chilelli](https://twitter.com/machelli).
Email us at ask@johnaugust.com
You can download the episode [here](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/503standard.mp3).
**UPDATE 6-5-21** The transcript for this episode can be found here [here](https://johnaugust.com/2021/scriptnotes-episode-503-when-youre-given-the-character-transcript).