John August

Film Industry

Lotteries, lightning strikes and twist endings

Episode - 170

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Film Industry, Follow Up, Genres, QandA, Scriptnotes, Words on the page, Writer Emergency, Writer Emergency Pack

John and Craig look at the nature of fluke hits, everything from #alexfromtarget to huge spec sales. Is luck just luck, or is it about how often you play the game? Where does talent fit in?

We walk through a great breakdown of twist endings by Alec Worley, looking at how expectation both inside and outside of the story shapes the experience.

Then we answer a bunch of listener questions, on topics including using real-life locations, breaking up dialogue, and passing gracefully when you don’t like a project.

The Scriptnotes Holiday show is December 11th in Hollywood, featuring guests Aline Brosh McKenna, B.J. Novak, Jane Espenson and Derek Haas. Check the link below for tickets.

Links:

* Tickets to the Scriptnotes Holiday show are on sale tomorrow at the [Writers Guild Foundation website](https://www.wgfoundation.org)
* Big Fish: The Musical is now playing [at Musical Theatre West in Long Beach](http://www.musical.org/MusicalTheatreWest/bigfish2014.html)
* [Writer Emergency Pack](http://writeremergency.com) is going strong [on Kickstarter](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/913409803/writer-emergency-pack-helping-writers-get-unstuck)
* [The Five Types of Twist Endings](http://alecworley.weebly.com/blog/the-five-types-of-twist-ending) by Alec Worley
* [Alex from Target](http://nymag.com/thecut/2014/11/alex-from-target-fame.html)
* [Darius Kazemi’s XOXO talk](http://boingboing.net/2014/10/28/every-artists-how-i-made-i.html)
* [Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0465026567/?tag=johnaugustcom-20) by Douglas R. Hofstadter
* Screenwriting.io on [intermediary slugs](http://screenwriting.io/what-is-a-slug/)
* [Tim and Susan Have Matching Handguns](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgrjhtbQlOQ) by Joe Callander
* [Too Many Cooks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrGrOK8oZG8) by Casper Kelly, and [his interview in Entertainment Weekly](http://popwatch.ew.com/2014/11/07/adult-swim-too-many-cooks/)
* Get premium Scriptnotes access at [scriptnotes.net](http://scriptnotes.net/) and hear our 1,000th subscriber special
* [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_170.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_170.mp3).

**UPDATE 11-17-14:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2014/scriptnotes-ep-170-lotteries-lightning-strikes-and-twist-endings-transcript).

Austin Forever

Directors, Film Industry, QandA, Scriptnotes, Story and Plot, Television, Transcribed, Words on the page

John and guest host Susannah Grant sit down with Richard Kelly, Cary Fukunaga, Peter Gould, Dan Sterling and Mike Birbiglia to discuss the role of a writer/director, the wonder of television, and the purpose of table reads.

Then it’s questions from the audience: How do you know you’ve found your third act? How does one become confident? Does impostor syndrome ever go away?

This episode was recorded live at St. David’s Episcopal Church as a certified blasphemy-free part of the 2014 Austin Film Festival.

Links:

* The [Austin Film Festival](http://www.austinfilmfestival.com/)
* Susannah Grant [on IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0335666/), and Scriptnotes episodes [144](http://johnaugust.com/2014/the-summer-superhero-spectacular) and [145](http://johnaugust.com/2014/qa-from-the-superhero-spectacular)
* John’s picture of [St. David’s Episcopal Church](https://twitter.com/johnaugust/status/526058899796148224)
* Help is on the way at [writeremergency.com](http://www.writeremergency.com/)
* Richard Kelly [on IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0446819/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/JRichardKelly), and Scriptnotes [118](http://johnaugust.com/2013/time-travel-with-richard-kelly), [123](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-holiday-spectacular) and [124](http://johnaugust.com/2013/qa-from-the-holiday-spectacular)
* Cary Fukunaga [on IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1560977/)
* Peter Gould [on IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0332467/) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/petergould)
* Dan Sterling [on IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1003839/) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/dansterl)
* Mike Birbiglia’s [site](http://birbigs.com/), and [on IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1898126/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/birbigs) and Scriptnotes episode [121](http://johnaugust.com/2013/my-girlfriends-boyfriends-screenwriter)
* Charlie Kaufman’s [BAFTA speech](http://guru.bafta.org/charlie-kaufman-screenwriters-lecture), and Scriptnotes episode [18](http://johnaugust.com/2012/zen-and-the-angst-of-kaufman)
* [Birdman](http://www.foxsearchlight.com/birdman/) is in theaters now
* [Serial](http://serialpodcast.org/) is a new podcast from the creators of This American Life
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Scriptnotes listener Peter Rinaldi ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_168.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_168.mp3).

**UPDATE 11-4-14:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2014/scriptnotes-ep-168-austin-forever-transcript).

The Tentpoles of 2019

Film Industry, Follow Up, Genres, How-To, Pitches, Projects, Rights and Copyright, Scriptnotes, Transcribed

Craig and John discuss the 31 superhero movies slated for the next few years. Is it good business or a trainwreck in the making?

How do you move from a vague idea to an actual pitch? We talk about what you say when you’re in the room pitching on a project, and why passion trumps plot in most cases.

We also look at copyright and how the current system is broken for everyone.

Next week will be Craig-less, because we’re recording live at the Austin Film Festival with a bunch of amazing guests.

Links:

* The new [iMac with 5k Retina display](http://www.apple.com/imac-with-retina/)
* [OSX Yosemite](https://www.apple.com/osx/)
* [Retina displays](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retina_Display) on Wikipedia
* [Comedy Bang Bang](http://www.comedybangbang.com/)
* John’s schedule at [the 2014 Austin Film Festival](http://austinfilmfestival2014.sched.org/speaker/john_august.1sssegfs?iframe=no&w=i:0;&sidebar=yes&bg=no#.VDMKbCldVjc)
* Help is on the way at [writeremergency.com](http://www.writeremergency.com/)
* If there is a problem with your shirt order, [reach out to Stuart](mailto:orders@johnaugust.com)
* The [31 scheduled superhero films](http://www.newsarama.com/21815-the-new-full-comic-book-superhero-movie-schedule.html)
* [Copywrong](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/20/crooner-rights-spat) by Louis Menand, from the New Yorker
* [Dragonbox](http://www.dragonboxapp.com/) secretly teaches algebra to your children
* [Does Lockheed Martin really have a breakthrough fusion machine?](http://www.technologyreview.com/news/531836/does-lockheed-martin-really-have-a-breakthrough-fusion-machine/)
* [Tweet “help” to @writeremergency](https://twitter.com/writeremergency) for assistance
* Get premium Scriptnotes access at [scriptnotes.net](http://scriptnotes.net/) and hear our 1,000th subscriber special
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Scriptnotes listener Jackie Ann ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_167.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_167.mp3).

**UPDATE 11-4-14:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2014/scriptnotes-ep-167-the-tentpoles-of-2019-transcript).

Critics, Characters and Business Affairs

Film Industry, Follow Up, Geek Alert, Scriptnotes, Transcribed

John and Craig were delighted to join the Slate Culture Gabfest on stage to talk about the gulf between critics and creators. We have the audio from that, and additional thoughts on the issue.

Then, how many characters does your movie need? We talk about how to figure out the Goldilocks spot where you have enough characters to make your world feel real, but not so many that they’re tripping over each other.

Finally, business affairs, and how understaffed legal departments create problems for writers and studios.

Links:

* [A few tickets remain](https://www.wgfoundation.org/screenwriting-events/writers-writing-simon-kinberg/) for tonight’s Writers on Writing event with John interviewing Simon Kinberg
* [The Belasco Theater](http://thebelascotheater.com/) is gorgeous
* John and Craig [on the Slate Culture Gabfest](http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/culturegabfest/2014/10/slate_s_culture_gabfest_is_live_from_l_a_the_critics_talk_to_jenny_slate.html)
* [Star Wars Minus Williams – The Throne Room](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj-GZJhfBmI) by Auralnauts
* [Çingleton](http://cingleton.com/)
* [Indie Game: The Movie](http://buy.indiegamethemovie.com/)
* Jalopnik [on the Tesla Model S P85D](http://carbuying.jalopnik.com/will-the-tesla-model-s-p85d-be-the-best-overall-car-you-1644727868)
* Get premium Scriptnotes access at [scriptnotes.net](http://scriptnotes.net/) and hear our 1,000th subscriber special
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Scriptnotes listener Jonas Bech ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_166.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_166.mp3).

**UPDATE 10-20-14:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2014/scriptnotes-ep-166-critics-characters-and-business-affairs-transcript).