Craig and John talk with Guardians co-writer Nicole Perlman about the development of this summer’s blockbuster, and her two years as part of Marvel’s in-house writing program. It’s a great look at how movies get started, and the dozens of drafts you didn’t see on the big screen.
This week, Craig and John tackle listener questions.
Craig and John take a swing at several of the week’s hyperbolic headlines, from conflict-free comedy to Fitzgerald’s failures to Strong Female Characters with nothing to do. In each case, there’s a valid idea lurking beneath the overstated claim, but it’s important to separate good examples from bad.
Nothing is cut-and-dried this week. John and Craig talk Game of Thrones rape, allegations against director Bryan Singer and the new report showing the same low employment numbers for female writers in film and TV.
John, Craig, and guests take questions from the audience at the Scriptnotes Holiday Spectacular. Topics include TV writing careers, what to do once you have an agent, overcoming gender stereotypes, rewriting Dodgeball, and more.
Writer/director/actor/comedian Mike Birbiglia joins John and Craig to talk about writing for yourself, and how his one-man shows have translated into his films Sleepwalk With Me and My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend. We talk movies and television, stand-up and screenplays, and the upside of failure.
John and Craig discuss the impact of author Orson Scott Card’s personal toxicity on Ender’s Game, and what it means for that movie and how it will this affect studio decisions moving forward.
John and Craig talk about everything that comes after the oft-discussed First Three Pages, speculating on the kinds of issues they’d spot if they were looking at full scripts.
Novelist Daniel Wallace looks at how books become movies.
Figuring out what the audience needs to know — and when they need to know it — is one of the trickiest aspects of screenwriting.
Reader Logan is dispirited by Hollywood’s zeal to turn every toy and board game into a franchise.
No! Stop and re-assess. There are at least three options, but simply stealing the plot and characters isn’t one of them.
MakingOf has an interview up with me in which I talk a bit about my writing process, the challenge of adaptations, and why one’s career is often as much about the scripts you didn’t write.
Story lessons from Star Trek, from the mouths and minds of the writers.
You shouldn’t just answer questions. Get rid of them before they’re asked.
With an adapted screenplay, it’s not altogether obvious what awesomeness came from the screenwriter, and what came from the underlying material.
I might as well confirm the news: I’m writing a big-screen version of Preacher.
Let’s look at what we can learn from the first batch of summer movies.
If I’ve only read 38 on the list of 1001 “Books You Must Read Before You Die,” does that mean I’ll live a long time?
The story behind former assistant Rawson Thurber’s second feature.
Nine second answers to nine burning questions. Ready…go!
Not if it will get you read and your expectations are adjusted.
Titles matter.
If you’re looking to put your story out into the world, paper beats film, hands down.
Easy steps to tracking down rights.
