John August

Search Results for: notes on notes

20 Questions (2024 Edition)

Episode - 662

Go to Archive

Scriptnotes

John and Craig answer twenty listener questions on craft, career, and the future of the industry.

Questions include: How do you correct well wishes you haven’t earned? What kind of relationship should you have with the person who created your source material? How do you keep your reps invested? What’s going on with that Stereophonic lawsuit? And are writers retreats helpful or a total waste of time?

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Craig celebrate the new D&D Player’s Handbook by looking back through every edition since 1978. Like the handbook, it gets less dense as it goes.

Links:

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 11-20-24: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

Screenwriting is a Poorly Defined Problem

Scriptnotes, Three Page Challenge, Transcribed

Why is screenwriting so difficult, even for the smartest people? John and Craig look at the relationship between intelligence and wisdom, the kinds of problems writers attempt to solve, and the unmeasurable skills that screenwriters need to succeed.

Then it’s another round of the Three Page Challenge, where they give their honest feedback on three listener-submitted scripts. We also follow up on Moneyball, green envelopes, shorts, script coordinating, and what Craig means by writers being “calculating.”

In our bonus segment for premium members, how do you talk about movies and TV shows without spoiling them? John and Craig reason out how to dance around the twist that the two leads are actually the same perso– oh, shoot!

Links:

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 11-20-24: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

Moneyball

Scriptnotes, Transcribed

John and Craig welcome back Taffy Brodesser-Akner (Fleishman is in Trouble) for a deep dive on 2011’s sports drama Moneyball.

What makes Moneyball work? Is it a traditional underdog movie, or does it break all the rules? Is Billy Beane a hero or a villain? What advantages do sports movies give you, and how much do you have to explain to your audience? How are movies like this developed? And how can you not be romantic about baseball?

In our bonus segment for premium members, John, Craig and Taffy dig further into the ways money is used to determine a person’s value.

Links:

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 11-19-24: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

Buckling Down (Encore)

Scriptnotes, Transcribed

John and Craig are on opposite sides of the world this week, so they’re revisiting an episode from 2016 to look at the many psychological barriers facing writers tackling big projects, and offer practical strategies for actually getting the work done.

They also discuss the then-upcoming election (same as it ever was), and answer a listener question about how autism spectrum disorder might impact a screenwriting career.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Drew reflect on what’s changed in the eight years since this episode last aired, and then like all conversations in 2024, they just start talking about Moo Deng.

Links:

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.