Transcribed

John and Craig bring another round of How Would This Be A Movie, with a mix of stories from history and the headlines. In this episode we discuss an unexpected guest at a funeral, a lost Russian submarine and a social influencer murder plot.

We also look at the latest WGA developments, including the new agency agreement with UTA and the vote on the studio agreement. Then, we answer listener questions on an UNO movie, editing while writing and how to write a high-profit movie.

In our bonus segment for premium members, we discuss how 2020 would be a movie.

Links:

• WGA Studio Summary
• WGA Studio Agreement
• UTA WGA Deal
• Wife crashes own funeral to confront husband who paid to have her killed by Sarah Kaplan
• Project Azorian by David Shukman
• Instagram influencer sentenced to 14 years for violent plot to steal domain name by Nick Statt
• Battle of Blair Mountain
• Swift UI and Swift Playgrounds
• Disbelief Followed by Expression: Alonzo Mourning Gif
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• John August on Twitter
• Craig Mazin on Twitter
• John on Instagram
• Outro by James Llonch (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Megana Rao and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 7-28-2020 The original post for this episode can now be found here.

John and Craig examine how and why it can be necessary to collapse scenes in a rewrite. They also follow-up on returning to production, portrayals of police on screen and assistant pay.

We then welcome Michelle Amor, Hilliard Guess, and Bianca Sams — co-chairs of the WGA West’s Committee of Black Writers — to discuss how Hollywood needs to change the way it hires and promotes Black writers.

Finally, in our bonus segment for premium members, we talk about the return of professional sportsball.

Links:

* [WGA West Committee of Black Writers Call on Hollywood to Revolutionize the Way Our Industry Hires Writers](https://deadline.com/2020/06/wga-west-committee-of-black-writers-co-chairs-call-on-hollywood-to-revolutionize-the-way-our-industry-hires-writers-1202958013/)
* [Immersive Light Field Video with a Layered Mesh Representation](https://augmentedperception.github.io/deepviewvideo/)
* [Stella & Chewy’s Freeze-Dried Raw Marie’s Magical Dinner Dust for Dogs](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SM1QT2J/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
* [Hilliard Guess](https://twitter.com/HilliardGuess?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor) on Twitter
* [Bianca Sams](https://twitter.com/writesamswrite?lang=en) on Twitter
* [Michelle Amor](https://twitter.com/MichelleAmor?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor) on Twitter
* [Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!](https://cottonbureau.com/people/scriptnotes-podcast)
* [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 and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode [here](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/458standard.mp3).

**UPDATE 7-4-20:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](https://johnaugust.com/2020/scriptnotes-458-collapsing-scenes-transcript).

John and Craig welcome writer and performer Ashley Nicole Black (Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, A Black Lady Sketch Show) to discuss comedy and variety shows — how they’re written and how to get a job writing them.

We also talk about studio diversity programs, why additional training can send the wrong message, and how to speak up in a writers room. Then we answer listener questions on idea ownership, writing police stories, and follow up on digital writer’s rooms.

In our bonus segment for premium members, we talk about fireworks.

Links:

* [Ashley Nicole Black](https://twitter.com/ashleyn1cole) on Twitter
* [Ashley’s Twitter Thread on Diversity Programs](https://twitter.com/ashleyn1cole/status/1272673440374243329)
* [Ashley on Drunk History](https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/photo-gallery/44936398/video/44936689/Season-5-Episode-3-Ashley-Nicole-Black-Nichelle-Nichols) on Nichelle Nichols
* [NPR’s reading of the Emanicipation Proclamation](https://www.npr.org/2020/06/19/880754393/celebrating-juneteenth-a-reading-of-the-emancipation-proclamation)
* [The Loveland Foundation](https://thelovelandfoundation.org/)
* [Mike Birbiglia’s Working it Out](https://www.birbigs.com/working-it-out-pod)
* [The New One](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52894214-the-new-one)
* [Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!](https://cottonbureau.com/people/scriptnotes-podcast)
* [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 Eric Pearson ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))
* Scriptnotes is produced by Megana Rao and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode [here](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/457standard.mp3).

**UPDATE 7-3-2020** The transcript for this episode can now be found [here](https://johnaugust.com/2020/scriptnotes-ep-457-getting-staffed-in-comedy-variety-transcript).