Citizenship

Real-World Villains

Episode - 374

November 6, 2018 Adaptation, Citizenship, Follow Up, Scriptnotes, Story and Plot

John and Craig investigate actual villains in this installment of How Would This Be a Movie? From the eerily prescient writer of “How to Murder Your Husband” to the dark comedy of Jacob Wohl, sometimes reality provides the character — now you just need an actual story.

We also look at the craft behind writing for ensemble, plus follow-up on the end of FilmStruck, “No Writing Left Behind,” specifying character race in scripts and the hopeful resurgence of family-friendly Christmas movies.

Links:

FilmStruck is Shutting Down
Aaron Sauerland’s tweet about writing for ensembles
Novelist Who Penned ‘How To Murder Your Husband’ Essay Charged With Husband’s Murder by Laurel Wamsley for NPR
Never Go Full Trump: The Lena Epstein Story by Josh Marshal for TPM
The Humiliating Crash and Burn of Pro-Trump Media Star Jacob Wohl Is the Best Political Story of the Season by Dustin Rowles for Pajiba
‘Nicole From Last Night’: University Of Calgary Student Mass Emails 247 Nicoles by Maija Kappler for Huffington Post
Meet the gallant all-black American female battalion that served in Europe during World War II by Elizabeth Ofosuah Johnson for Face 2 Face Africa.
Mary McLeod Bethune
6 Tips for Getting Your Solo Play to Broadway by Mike Birbiglia
Decrypto
T-shirts are available here! We’ve got new designs, including Colored Revisions, Karateka, and Highland2.
John August on Twitter
Craig Mazin on Twitter
John on Instagram
Find past episodes
Scriptnotes Digital Seasons are also now available!
Outro by Matthew Chilelli (send us yours!)

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 11-14-18: The transcript of this episode can be found here.

Austin Live Show 2018

October 30, 2018 Awards, Citizenship, Film Industry, Follow Up, QandA, Scriptnotes, Television, Transcribed, Treatments, WGA

John and Craig invite Wendy Calhoun (Station 19, Empire), Phil Hay (The Invitation, Ride Along), Nicole Perlman (Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain Marvel), and Jason Fuchs (Wonder Woman, Ice Age: Continental Drift) to join them onstage for a discussion about the death of the writing middle class, why we get bored during a film or episode of television, and the consequences of handing over unpaid writing.

We also play a game called “Why is Craig So Mad?”

Recorded live from the Driskill Ballroom at the 2018 Austin Film Festival. Thanks to the Austin Film Festival for hosting us, and to a great audience!

Links:

Thanks for joining us, Wendy Calhoun, Phil Hay, Nicole Perlman, and Jason Fuchs!
And thank you, Beto, for the message! Check out the video from the audience.
The Death of Hollywood’s Middle Class by Nicole Laporte for Fast Company
This tweet by Nicola Prigg
Keep an eye on Weekend Read for screenplays this awards season.
T-shirts are available here! We’ve got new designs, including Colored Revisions, Karateka, and Highland2.
The USB drives!
Wendy Calhoun on Twitter
Phil Hay on Twitter
Nicole Perlman on Twitter
Jason Fuchs on Twitter
John August on Twitter
Craig Mazin on Twitter
John on Instagram
Find past episodes
Scriptnotes Digital Seasons are also now available!
Outro by Matthew Chilelli (send us yours!)

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 11-8-18: The transcript of this episode can be found here.

One Year Later

September 11, 2018 Citizenship, Film Industry, Follow Up, Los Angeles, News, Producers, Scriptnotes, Strike, Transcribed

Aline Brosh McKenna joins John and Craig to discuss the progress made in the year following the Weinstein revelations. Have the systems for reporting and preventing sexual harassment improved, or are we still just dealing with hurricanes?

We also follow up on The Academy’s decision to nix the Popular Film category, the IATSE agreement, missing movies, and Craig’s distaste for ventriloquism. And Final Draft teaches us that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Links: