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 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](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10227660/) and [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/helloellephanta/)
* [Past Lives](https://a24films.com/films/past-lives)
* [The Seagull on The Sims 4](https://www.nytw.org/stream/act-i-ii-the-seagull-on-the-sims4/)
* [The Wheel of Time](https://www.amazon.com/Wheel-Time-Season-1/dp/B09F59CZ7R)
* [A real bald eagle call](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4RjDTbOLMA) vs a [red-tailed hawk](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-tailed_Hawk/sounds#)
* [Deadwood](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0348914/) and [The American President](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112346/)
* [Shottr](https://shottr.cc)
* [Baldur’s Gate 3](https://baldursgate3.game/)
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* Craig Mazin on [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@clmazin) and [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/clmazin/)
* John August on [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@johnaugust), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/johnaugust/?hl=en) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/johnaugust)
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* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Nico Mansy ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))
* Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt 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/630standard.mp3).
**UPDATE 03-15-24:** The transcript for this episode can be found [here](https://johnaugust.com/2024/scriptnotes-episode-630-the-one-with-celine-song-transcript).