Writer and director Richard LaGravenese joins Craig for an in-depth analysis of his 1994 comedy classic screenplay, THE REF. Together, Craig and Richard dig into the rules of farce, making hyper-verbal characters work, and the difference between a main character and a protagonist.
We also discuss how to write compelling monologues, engineering a character’s catharsis, and why coffee really is better with cake.
In our bonus segment for premium members, Craig and Richard discuss why it’s often so hard for men to make – and keep – close friends.
Links:
- The Ref on YouTube, Amazon and IMDb
- Richard LaGravenese on IMDb
- The Ransom of Red Chief by O. Henry
- The Ref’s Opening Scene
- Puzzled Pint’s Code Sheet
- Levain Bakery
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- Craig Mazin on Instagram
- John August on Twitter
- John on Instagram
- John on Mastodon
- Outro by Matt Davis (send us yours!)
- Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.
Email us at ask@johnaugust.com
You can download the episode here.
UPDATE 5-11-23: The transcript for this episode can be found here.