John August

International

The Chinese Box Office is Huge

International

Writing for Forbes, Scott Mendelson notes that the biggest movie in China is bigger than even the biggest US movies:

The Wandering Earth wrapped up its first week of release in China with a record-breaking $349 million. That’s the biggest one-week total ever in China, besting the $338m debut of Detective Chinatown 2 last year and the $307m launch of Wolf Warrior 2 in the summer of 2017. It was the second-biggest seven day total for any release in any territory save for the $390m seven-day cume of Walt Disney’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015.

Yes, Wandering Earth earned more in its first week in China than Disney’s Avengers: Infinity War earned in North America ($338m) last April.

Yes: it’s complicated because China controls which movies can be released, and how wide they can expand, so it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison. But it’s clear that the Chinese box office is simply massive.

Hollywood movies have long been one of the America’s most reliable exports, because you simply couldn’t make a certain kind of movie anywhere else. That’s not true anymore.

Changing the Defaults

Episode - 346

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Film Industry, International, News, Scriptnotes, Transcribed, WGA

John sits down with screenwriter Christina Hodson to discuss race, gender, and representation in Hollywood, and how screenwriters can help correct the status quo with the one thing they can control: the words on the page.

We tackle the nuances of designating race for open-ethnicity characters, the assumption of whiteness, the pros and cons of feature writers rooms and the promise of inclusion riders.

We also answer a listener question about why some movies are timeless and some feel dated as soon as they premiere.

Links:

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 4-19-18: The transcript of this episode can be found here.

Writing Other Things

Books, Broadway, How-To, International, Scriptnotes, Television, Transcribed, Writing Process

John and Craig welcome back Aline Brosh McKenna to talk about writing projects outside the familiar constraints of screenwriting.

We discuss the surprises and adjustments involved in the creative processes of different media: Aline’s graphic novel Jane, Craig’s HBO miniseries Chernobyl, and John’s original song, “Rise.” We also dig into why screenwriters sometimes need to be amateurs again.

Then we answer listener questions about making fair deals as someone in a different country, and how best to read one’s script before rewriting.

Links:

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

Credits: Produced by Megan McDonnell Edited by Matthew Chilelli With Nima Yousefi and Dustin Bocks

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 9-26-17: The transcript of this episode can be found here

First Day on the Job

Film Industry, International, Scriptnotes, Transcribed, WGA, Words on the page

Craig and John debut a new segment: This Kind of Scene, looking at how different movies handle similar situations. The Hudsucker Proxy, The Devil Wears Prada, Hidden Figures and Training Day all need to introduce their heroes to their new workplaces. We examine how those scenes work, both on the page and on screen.

We then discuss what it means to write for an international market, and determine what a “therapy piece” is and how to avoid writing one.

We also follow up on our discussion from episode 310 on the WGA deal and explore why animation writers aren’t included in the WGA.

Links:

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 9-18-17: The transcript of this episode can be found here.