John August

Television

Netflix, Nikita, and the sense of an ending

Television

Merrill Barr explains why Nikita’s final six-episode season is [mostly for Netflix](http://www.forbes.com/sites/merrillbarr/2013/11/18/the-final-season-of-nikita-isnt-about-fan-service-its-about-netflix/):

> The old model was simple: start a show, make 100 episodes, sell-off the syndication rights, continue producing episodes until it’s no longer cost-effective and cancel the series. That was it. In that model, endings mean nothing; they’re just convenient wrap-ups to a story the money men didn’t care about.

The old model was based on consuming shows one episode at a time, not the binge-watching that is so prevalent today.

> Netflix has made series finales matter because without an ending a series is less likely to be picked up by their service, and in the age of digital distribution not getting your series on Netflix is like not getting your product into Wal-Mart. […Networks] must go out of their way not to produce a certain number of episodes, but to conclude their shows properly to make them more viable entities in the digital future.

Now that ending series properly is cost-advantageous, I’ll be curious to see whether more cancelled shows get wrap-up episodes.

Q&A from the Holiday Spectacular

Episode - 124

Go to Archive

Adaptation, QandA, Scriptnotes, Television, Transcribed

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.

Have a happy, healthy and safe New Year.

Links:

* [The Scriptnotes Holiday Spectacular](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-holiday-spectacular)
* [Aline Brosh McKenna](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0112459/) on episodes [60](http://johnaugust.com/2012/the-black-list-and-a-stack-of-scenes), [76](http://johnaugust.com/2013/how-screenwriters-find-their-voice), [100](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-100th-episode), [101](http://johnaugust.com/2013/101-qa-from-the-live-show) and [119](http://johnaugust.com/2013/positive-moviegoing)
* [Franklin Leonard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Leonard) on episode [60](http://johnaugust.com/2012/the-black-list-and-a-stack-of-scenes)
* [Kelly Marcel](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2813876/) on episode [115](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-back-to-austin-with-rian-johnson-and-kelly-marcel)
* [Lindsay Doran](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/movies/lindsay-doran-examines-what-makes-films-satisfying.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0) on episode [68](http://johnaugust.com/2012/talking-austen-in-austin)
* [Rawson Marshall Thurber](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1098493/) on episodes [100](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-100th-episode) and [101](http://johnaugust.com/2013/101-qa-from-the-live-show)
* [Richard Kelly](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0446819/) on episode [118](http://johnaugust.com/2013/time-travel-with-richard-kelly)
* The [2013 Black List](http://list.blcklst.com/story/7887) and [blcklst.com](http://blcklst.com/)
* [Saving Mr. Banks](http://movies.disney.com/saving-mr-banks) is in theaters now
* Thank you to the [Writers Guild Foundation](https://www.wgfoundation.org/) and the [LA Film School](http://www.lafilm.edu/) for hosting
* Support the Writers Guild Foundation and get something awesome from their [Holiday Sale of Extraordinary Experiences](https://www.wgfoundation.org/holiday-fundraiser/)
* [Intro/Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Scriptnotes listener Matthew Chilelli

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_124.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_124.mp3).

**UPDATE** 12-31-13: The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-ep-124-qa-from-the-holiday-spectacular-transcript).

Comparing a scene as written and as shot

Directors, Projects, Television, Words on the page

I recently updated my [Youtube channel](http://www.youtube.com/user/johnaugust), and came across a scene from my 2003 pilot “Alaska.” I thought it would be interesting to compare the written scene to what it looked like in the final version.

Here’s the scene as scripted. (You can read the whole script in the [Library](http://johnaugust.com/library).)

INT. SATCHEL HOUSE – DAY 3

Closing the front door behind her, Valerie follows Mathers into the living room. The house is spartan by any standard: dirty walls, old drapes, sagging furniture. Two rifles hang on the wall.

In all, it’s a shelter, but not a home. No woman has been in this house in a decade.

Venturing into the kitchen, Mathers finds industrial-sized cans of beef stew lined up on the counter. Saltines by the case.

MATHERS

The mother is dead, isn’t she?

VALERIE

Virginia Satchel. She died ten, fifteen years ago.

MATHERS

So who is Connie?

He points out a child’s drawing on the refrigerator, the paper yellowed with time. The illustration shows four stick figures in front of the house, labelled “Daddy,” “Glenn,” “Bobby,” and “Connie.”

Connie is noticeably bigger than the other three. As Mathers steps back,

A GUNSHOT

BLASTS through the kitchen window from outside. As glass begins to rain down, a SECOND SHOT rips into the kitchen cabinets. Mathers and Valerie dive for the floor, unholstering their weapons.

Three more SHOTS blow through the kitchen. Mathers listens to the tone of the shots.

MATHERS

Rifle. One shooter.

VALERIE

You want me to call for backup?

MATHERS

How close is it?

VALERIE

Half hour. Maybe more.

Silence. The shooter has stopped. Mathers very carefully edges up to the shattered window. Valerie takes the far side.

With a quick movement, Mathers leans around the window frame and starts SHOOTING. Behind a distant wood pile, movement. A flash of metal.

Mathers ducks back as two more SHOTS rip into the window and wall.

MATHERS

Keep him shooting.

Before she can ask where he’s going, Mathers runs down the hallway. Valerie presses back against the wall. Steels herself, then pops around to FIRE.

She’s met with another BLAST. Just missed her.

EXT. BACK OF HOUSE – DAY 3

A chair SMASHES through a second story window.

Mathers climbs out after it. He slides down the shingled roof, then jumps down another ten feet to the ground below.

EXT. EDGE OF THE FOREST – DAY 3

We STAY WITH Mathers as he circles behind the woodpile, gun at ready. Up in the house, Valerie continues to FIRE, keeping the shooter’s attention.

Reaching a good distance behind the shooter, Mathers SHOUTS OUT:

MATHERS

State Trooper! Drop your weapon!

The shooter stands. CONRAD “CONNIE” SATCHEL is six-foot-six and weighs in at nearly three hundred pounds.

Severe birth defects have left him physically and mentally malformed. Although 20 years old, he’s like a giant eight-year old.

MATHERS

Put it down! Put it down!

Connie isn’t aiming at Mathers, exactly, but he isn’t inclined to drop the rifle either.

CONNIE

You’re a police man.

MATHERS

I am. I need you to put that rifle down.

Over Connie’s shoulder, we see Valerie approaching. She has her gun on Connie.

MATHERS

Is your name Connie?

CONNIE

How did you know?

MATHERS

Put down the rifle and I’ll tell you.

Intrigued, Connie sets the rifle down. Connie holds his hands up. His fingers are bandaged and bloody. Several are obviously broken, sticking out at strange angles.

MATHERS

What happened to your hands, Connie?

CONNIE

(looking at them)

They had evil in ’em. Daddy had to fix ’em.

Here’s the [finished scene](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVU3A9NjqNU&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PLa3qqbMuNy-rFF9_65cTZNmsgruNXXUOd) after filming and editing:

The biggest changes to the scene were motivated by the location we found. Director Kim Masters wanted plenty of windows, so we ended up enclosing a porch and playing it as a kitchen. We didn’t feature any of the set dressing I wrote in (industrial cans, saltines), but the set decorators followed that vibe.

Once the gunshots started, some dialogue got rearranged.

First, Valerie’s line was shortened to the much better “Call for backup?” Second, we added a line for Mathers — “Alright, let’s see what we got first.” I honestly don’t remember if it happened on set or in looping. (We don’t see his face in the cut, so it would have been an easy line to slip in.)

Because we ended up with a single-story cabin, there was no need to have Mathers sliding down a roof. Otherwise, the rest of the scene plays very much as scripted — and very much how I imagined it.

For me, writing a scene is a process of fully visualizing a scene in my head, then finding the words to describe it. You don’t always get such a good match between intention and finished product, but the better you can evoke the experience of the scene on the page, the more likely you’ll be pleased with the outcome.

Positive Moviegoing

Film Industry, Scriptnotes, Story and Plot, Television, Transcribed, Writing Process

Aline Brosh McKenna joins John and Craig to discuss watching movies with an open mind and why it’s important to befriend other writers.

Also this week: what to do when your outline collapses and a look at going broke in your 50s.

The Scriptnotes Live Holiday Show on December 19th is technically sold out, but there’s a chance seats will open up, so keep an eye on Twitter.

LINKS:

* [Aline Brosh McKenna](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0112459/) on IMDb, and her [first](http://johnaugust.com/2012/the-black-list-and-a-stack-of-scenes), [second](http://johnaugust.com/2013/how-screenwriters-find-their-voice), [third](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-100th-episode), and [third-and-a-half](http://johnaugust.com/2013/101-qa-from-the-live-show) appearances on Scriptnotes
* The [Scriptnotes Holiday Show](https://www.wgfoundation.org/screenwriting-events/scriptnotes-holiday/) is sold out, but follow [@johnaugust](https://twitter.com/johnaugust) and [@clmazin](https://twitter.com/clmazin) to be the first to know if more tickets are released
* [John Gatins](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0309691/) on IMDb
* [What It’s Like to Fail](http://priceonomics.com/what-its-like-to-fail/) on priceonomics
* [Scroobius Pip](http://scroobiuspip.co.uk/) and [You Will See Me](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OS4W3OCESY)
* [Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0393064425/?tag=johnaugustcom-20) by Keith Houston
* [Irony punctuation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony_punctuation) on Wikipedia
* The [TreadDesk](http://asoft11239.accrisoft.com/treaddesk/)
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Scriptnotes listener Kris Gotthelf

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_119.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_119.mp3).

**UPDATE** 12-1-13: The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-ep-119-positive-moviegoing-transcript).