John August

Adaptation

Writing for Hollywood without living there

Episode - 195

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Adaptation, Film Industry, International, Los Angeles, Pitches, Scriptnotes, Transcribed

Canadian screenwriter Ryan Knighton joins John and Craig to discuss how you sustain a career writing for Hollywood studios while living a flight away. Knighton’s first screenplay was the adaptation of his memoir about going blind. He’s since written for several studios, including a new project for Ridley Scott.

We also talk about general meetings, pitching, adapting true stories, and the Sundance screenwriting lab.

Links:

* [Ryan Knighton](http://www.ryanknighton.com/), and on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/ryanknighton), [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Knighton), [This American Life](http://www.thisamericanlife.org/contributors/ryan-knighton), [The Moth](http://themoth.org/posts/storytellers/ryan-knighton) and [Reading Aloud with Nate Corddry](http://wolfpop.com/photos/711304/ryan-knighton)
* Ryan’s books [Cockeyed](http://www.amazon.com/dp/1586484400/?tag=johnaugustcom-20) and [Swing in the Hollow](http://www.amazon.com/dp/1895636345/?tag=johnaugustcom-20) on Amazon
* [What is a treatment?](http://screenwriting.io/what-is-a-treatment/) on screenwriting.io
* [Ryan side-by-side with Chris O’Dowd](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/chrisryan.png)
* [LootCrate](https://www.lootcrate.com/)
* [The For Dummies series](http://www.dummies.com/) and [Google AdWords for Dummies](http://www.amazon.com/dp/1118115619/?tag=johnaugustcom-20)
* [Lovage](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovage) on Wikipedia
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Scriptnotes editor Matthew Chilelli ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_195.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_195.mp3).

**UPDATE 5-4-15:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2015/scriptnotes-ep-195-writing-for-hollywood-without-living-there-transcript).

Uncluttered by Ignorance

Adaptation, QandA, Scriptnotes, Transcribed, Words on the page

John and Craig dig into the overstuffed mail bag to answer listener questions about scenes, stagnation, subtitles and script breakdowns. Plus we reveal the consensus opinions on whether we should have ads, and look at possibilities for the Full Script Challenge.

We also have a lengthy digression into probability and the proper way to pronounce Los Feliz.

Links:

* [‘Los Feliz’: How you say it tells about you and L.A.](http://www.latimes.com/local/great-reads/la-me-los-feliz-20130507-dto-htmlstory.html) from the LA Times
* [How To Pronounce ‘Los Feliz’](http://atwater-village.blogspot.com/2006/08/how-to-pronounce-los-feliz.html) from the Atwater Village Newbie blog
* Screenwriting.io on [what constitutes a scene](http://screenwriting.io/what-constitutes-a-scene/)
* A [sample short film budget](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/Shortworkingbudget.pdf)
* [u/temptotosssoon’s story of waking up and realizing he’d dreamt the past decade of his life](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/oc7rc/have_you_ever_felt_a_deep_personal_connection_to/c3g4ot3) on Reddit
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Scriptnotes listener Jon Spurney ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_189.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_189.mp3).

**UPDATE 3-30-15:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2015/scriptnotes-ep-189-uncluttered-by-ignorance-transcript).

What is a Cinderella story, anyway?

Adaptation, Genres, Story and Plot

Linda Holmes examines what we mean when we [talk about Cinderella](http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2015/03/13/392358854/a-girl-a-shoe-a-prince-the-endlessly-evolving-cinderella):

> There’s very little that’s common to every variant of the story, but in general, you have a mistreated young woman, forced to do menial work, either cast out or unloved by her family. She has an opportunity to marry well and escape her situation, but she gets that chance only after being mistaken for a higher-status person, so she has to get the man who may marry her to recognize her in her low-status form, which often happens either via a shoe that fits or some kind of food that she prepares.

Holmes notes that Marian Roalfe Cox had documented 345 variations of Cinderella — back in 1893.

Since then, we’ve come back to Cinderella repeatedly, making movies that retell the familiar story with small variations. The glass slipper can be a cell phone; animals may understand speech; the fairy godmother might be Da Vinci.

But in a broader sense, it often feels like Cinderella is the story of all overlooked, underappreciated protagonists:

> If it’s just a rescue of a deserving underdog from an ordinary life and delivery to an extraordinary one, then The Little Mermaid is Cinderella, and Pretty Woman is Cinderella, and — to be honest? — Captain America is Cinderella. Lots of our current stories are. What is a fairy godmother, after all, that isn’t also present in the idea of being bitten by a spider and gaining the ability to climb buildings? What is that pumpkin coach but … the Batmobile?

(I was going to quibble with The Little Mermaid; she was already a princess from the start. But when you look at the story from when she shows up on land, it does track.)

To me, a useful delimiter for the modern Cinderella is the hero’s initial situation and values. “Have courage and be kind,” says the 2015 Disney Cinderella at least ten times in the film. By staying true to her mantra, she escapes her terrible plight and lives happily ever after. The new movie has pumpkin coaches and polymorphed mice, but to me it’s the hero’s journey from ashes to palace that most makes it Cinderella.

The Deal with the Gravity Lawsuit

Adaptation, Film Industry, News, Rights and Copyright, Scriptnotes, Transcribed, Writing Process

John and Craig do a deep dive on Tess Gerritsen’s lawsuit concerning Gravity, using the case as a way to talk about contracts, chain of title, adaptation and corporate ownership. Spoiler: It’s really complicated, but it’s really interesting too.

Both novelists and screenwriters will find a lot to discuss.

We also talk about editing while writing, and when it’s worth it to cut now versus later.

Links:

* [SAG, DGA & WGA Members Could Be Victims Of Anthem Hack](http://deadline.com/2015/02/sag-dga-wga-anthem-hack-cyber-attack-1201367324/), on Deadline
* [Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H83EUL2/?tag=johnaugustcom-20) on Amazon
* [Gravity: A Novel of Medical Suspense by Tess Gerritsen](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003WEA9P2/?tag=johnaugustcom-20) on Amazon
* [Warner Bros. Aims to Shoot Down Author’s Gravity Lawsuit](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/warner-bros-aims-shoot-down-715806), from The Hollywood Reporter
* [My Gravity lawsuit and how it affects every writer who sells to Hollywood](http://www.tessgerritsen.com/gravity-lawsuit-affects-every-writer-sells-hollywood/), from Tess Gerritsen’s blog
* [DP/30: Gravity, co-writer/director Alfonso Cuarón](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c2EQP5nIAA) on YouTube
* [Judge Morrow’s decision, dated January 30, 2015](https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/wb-gravity-lawsuit-order-wm.pdf)
* [The AI Revolution: The Road to Superintelligence](http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-1.html) and [The AI Revolution: Our Immortality or Extinction](http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-2.html), from Wait But Why
* [The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury](http://www.amazon.com/dp/1451678185/?tag=johnaugustcom-20) on Amazon
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Scriptnotes editor Matthew Chilelli ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_183.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_183.mp3).

**UPDATE 2-17-15:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2015/scriptnotes-ep-183-the-deal-with-the-gravity-lawsuit-transcript).