John August

Film Industry

The long and short of it

Episode - 196

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Film Industry, Follow Up, One Hit Kill, Producers, QandA, Scriptnotes, Television, Transcribed, WGA, Words on the page

John and Craig dig into the listener mailbag and take questions on TV producer credits, jealousy over other writers’ success, writing tight vs writing long and plenty of other follow up.

It’s a jam packed episode worthy of a long commute.

We also have information on the card game we playtested in LA a few weeks back. It’s called One Hit Kill, and you can see some of the artwork and play our mini-game at onehitkillgame.com now.

Links:

You can download the episode here: AAC | mp3.

UPDATE 5-7-15: The transcript of this episode can be found here.

Writing for Hollywood without living there

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:

You can download the episode here: AAC | mp3.

UPDATE 5-4-15: The transcript of this episode can be found here.

Poking the bear

Film Industry, Follow Up, News, QandA, Scriptnotes, So-Called Experts, Transcribed, WGA

This week, Craig and John discuss recent events that seem custom-designed to make Craig furious.

An anonymous screenwriter promises to tell you the secrets of Hollywood, including the unspoken dress code. A London-based film production company wants to buy your script — but they want you to pay for some notes first.

But it’s not all bad news. The WGA East has organized the writers at Gawker, so we talk about why and whether it’s a good idea. We also look at GLAAD’s latest report on LGBT representative in feature films.

Links:

You can download the episode here: AAC | mp3.

UPDATE 4-24-15: The transcript of this episode can be found here.

How writing credits work

Film Industry, News, Scriptnotes, Transcribed, WGA

Craig and John do a deep-dive into the world of screenwriting credits, explaining the entire process from the Notice of Tentative Writing Credits, to arbitration to review boards. The system can be confusing, but most produced screenwriters will find themselves facing it at some point, so it’s important to understand how it works.

Links:

You can download the episode here: AAC | mp3.

UPDATE 4-17-15: The transcript of this episode can be found here.