John August

Words on the page

How Can This Possibly End Well?

Directors, Story and Plot, Words on the page

Interviewed with other screenwriters for the New York Times, Christopher McQuarrie makes a great point about [action sequences](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/01/movies/gillian-flynn-john-krasinski-barry-jenkins-christopher-mcquarrie.html):

> The best action sequences are free of exposition, with stakes that are established in advance or, better still, self-evident. They don’t ask an audience to think, to process, to remember. Instead, they keep the audience’s collective subconscious focused entirely on one simple question.

> The question is not how will it end? If this mattered, there would be no Ethan Hunt, James Bond, Jason Bourne, John McClane, Indiana Jones, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd or Charlie Chaplin. We know they’ll come out on top in the end. We count on it. It is a contract, a sacred pact between filmmaker and audience.

> The only question that matters is, how can this possibly end well?

McQuarrie just signed on to make [two more Mission: Impossible movies](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/christopher-mcquarrie-talks-direct-new-mission-impossible-movies-1176012). You can hear my interview with him about his transition from writer to writer-director in [Scriptnotes episode 300](http://johnaugust.com/2017/from-writer-to-writer-director).

Professional Realism

Episode - 382

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Arlo Finch, Books, Directors, Film Industry, Genres, How-To, Pitches, Producers, QandA, Scriptnotes, Story and Plot, Television, Transcribed, WGA, Words on the page, Writing Process

John welcomes Derek Haas (Chicago Fire, 3:10 to Yuma, 2 Fast 2 Furious) to talk about writing accurate portrayals of different jobs, and when to sacrifice reality for storytelling. They also share their time-management strategies in honor of those New Year resolutions to get writing done.

We also answer listener questions about the necessity of entertainment lawyers, how to keep your energy high pitch after pitch, Story By credits, and how to stay alive after that first staff writing job ends.

Links:

* Thank you, [Derek Haas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Haas)!
* Join us for the WGA’s [Princess Bride screening](https://www.wga.org/news-events/events/guild-screenings) on January 27th. Seating opens up to non-WGA members 15 minutes before showtime.
* [How Hollywood Gets the Publishing Industry Wrong](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/01/books/review/hollywood-publishing-industry-younger.html) by Sloane Crosley, author of [I Was Told There’d Be Cake](http://www.amazon.com/dp/159448306X/?tag=johnaugustcom-20), for The New York Times
* Is Grover swearing in [this video](https://twitter.com/EvanEdinger/status/1078358697921966081)? This is [Christian DiCanio’s blog post](https://christiandicanio.blogspot.com/2018/12/is-grover-swearing-no-its-in-your-ears.html) about it.
* David Kwong’s [The Enigmatist](https://enigmatistshow.com/)
* Holding down the spacebar on a text so you can move the cursor more accurately on an iPhone.
* T-shirts are available [here](https://cottonbureau.com/people/john-august-1)! We’ve got new designs, including [Colored Revisions](https://cottonbureau.com/products/colored-revisions), [Karateka](https://cottonbureau.com/products/karateka), and [Highland2](https://cottonbureau.com/products/highland2).
* [John August](https://twitter.com/johnaugust) on Twitter
* [Craig Mazin](https://twitter.com/clmazin) on Twitter
* [Derek Haas](https://twitter.com/derekhaas) on Twitter
* [John on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/johnaugust/?hl=en)
* [Find past episodes](http://scriptnotes.net/)
* [Scriptnotes Digital Seasons](https://store.johnaugust.com/) are also now available!
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by James Llonch and Jim Bond ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode [here](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_382.mp3).

**UPDATE 2-12-19:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](https://johnaugust.com/2019/scriptnotes-ep-382-professional-realism-transcript).

The Worst of the Worst

Film Industry, Follow Up, QandA, Scriptnotes, Story and Plot, Transcribed, WGA, Words on the page

John and Craig examine why and how writers need to make bad things happen to their characters, and the ways in which hero suffering differs between features and television.

We also answer listener questions about WGA jurisdiction, becoming a signatory, timing a script for television, and why all scripts aren’t available online.

Links:

* [Tickets](https://go.wgfoundation.org/campaigns/8810-the-scriptnotes-holiday-live-show) are on sale for the Holiday Live Show!
* The Team America: World Police [puke scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKqGXeX9LhQ), with some bad language
* The opening of [Finding Nemo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG3L98NFyro)
* Aslan’s sacrifice in [The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ6VAGyhWXM)
* [Can We Stop Suicides?](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/opinion/sunday/suicide-ketamine-depression.html) by Moises Velasquez-Manoff for the New York Times
* The environment in [Red Dead Redemption 2](https://www.rockstargames.com/reddeadredemption2/)
* T-shirts are available [here](https://cottonbureau.com/people/john-august-1)! We’ve got new designs, including [Colored Revisions](https://cottonbureau.com/products/colored-revisions), [Karateka](https://cottonbureau.com/products/karateka), and [Highland2](https://cottonbureau.com/products/highland2).
* [John August](https://twitter.com/johnaugust) on Twitter
* [Craig Mazin](https://twitter.com/clmazin) on Twitter
* [John on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/johnaugust/?hl=en)
* [Find past episodes](http://scriptnotes.net/)
* [Scriptnotes Digital Seasons](https://store.johnaugust.com/) are also now available!
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Michael O’Konis ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode [here](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_378.mp3).

**UPDATE 8-13-21:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](https://johnaugust.com/2021/scriptnotes-episode-378-rebroadcast-the-worst-of-the-worst-transcript).

The Second Draft

QandA, Scriptnotes, Story and Plot, Transcribed, WGA, Words on the page, Writing Process

John is joined by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi (The Invitation, Ride Along, the upcoming Destroyer) to talk about the second draft, offering some practical tips for the first big rewrite.

We also answer listener questions about getting scripts to actors, how to label characters with job titles, and the cooler way to describe a montage. We’re also still trying to make “re-quel” happen.

Links:

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 12-11-18: The transcript of this episode can be found here.