John August

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Damsels in distress

Episode - 116

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Film Industry, QandA, Scriptnotes, Story and Plot, Transcribed

Craig and John love women and jeopardy, but folks, we gotta stop kidnapping girlfriends as plot devices. We discuss ways to avoid this trope.

In other news, T-Bone Burnett has a great name and strong words about copyright and making a living. Readers have questions about pseudonyms, second acts and breaking the back of a new project. Plus, more terrible managers.

T-shirts are back, starting today! But pre-orders stop November 15th, so don’t dally.

John is hosting a Big Fish talkback on Saturday, November 23rd after the matinee, so use your SCRIPT code to get tickets now.

Links:

* The [John August Store](http://store.johnaugust.com/) is open for business!
* [Get your Big Fish tickets now](http://www.bigfishthemusical.com/), and use discount code SCRIPT (for November 23rd or otherwise)
* John’s post on [how we record Scriptnotes](http://johnaugust.com/2013/how-we-record-scriptnotes)
* T-Bone Burnett [in the Hollywood Reporter](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/earshot/t-bone-burnett-silicon-valley-652114)
* [Anita Sarkeesian](http://www.feministfrequency.com/) and her Tropes vs Women in Video Games project
* Complex’s [The 15 Hottest Damsels In Distress In Movies](http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2012/07/the-15-hottest-damsels-in-distress-in-movies)
* TV Tropes on [damsels in distress](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DamselInDistress?from=Main.DistressedDamsel)
* MacGuffins on [TV Tropes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MacGuffin) and [Screenwriting.io](http://screenwriting.io/what-is-a-mcguffin/)
* [Planet Money podcast](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/npr-planet-money-podcast/id290783428?mt=2)
* Planet Money on the [American check system](http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/10/04/229224964/episode-489-the-invisible-plumbing-of-our-economy)
* Craig’s [One Cool Thing](http://johnaugust.com/onecoolthings) is [John August](http://johnaugust.com/)
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Scriptnotes listener Matthew Chielli

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_116.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_116.mp3).

**UPDATE** 11-9-13: The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-ep-116-damsels-in-distress-transcript).

Solitude and getting stuff written

Psych 101, Television, Writing Process

American Psycho screenwriter Guinevere Turner doesn’t want to talk to you, [not when she’s writing](http://www.filmmakingstuff.com/screenwriting-advice/):

> For me, it’s about morning, quiet, solitude and no Internet to plug me into the cacophony until I have written something. Also about not having a conversation with anyone. Which might be why I am single. I have often woken up to a person next to me who says in a sleepy affectionate way “Hey – what are you up today?” and I answer but all I am thinking is “You killed it! It’s over! Now I can’t write today.”

Kelly Marcel said something similar at AFF. She wants to go straight from bed to writing, no words spoken except on the page. If that helps, try it.

Turner points out that writing for TV forces you to rethink your process:

> Working in TV was great for me though, because I learned to get over myself and just get the damn thing done. In film, you can lie on your chaise lounge with a Garbo-esque hand to the forehead and claim that you “Just don’t feel inspired today” and get away with it for a bit – in TV you either finish the script when you are told to, or you are fired. And there’s a line of people around the block who are ready to do your job.

I know and adore Turner from Outfest Labs, where we advise screenwriters on their scripts. She’s in fundraising mode for her next project, [Creeps](http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/creeps-a-darkly-comedic-feature-by-guinevere-turner), for which she’s offering a range of perks including notes sessions. She’s smart, tough and thoughtful, exactly the kind of person you’d want reading your script.

Blockbusters

Film Industry, QandA, Scriptnotes, Transcribed

This week, John and Craig go big to look all things blockbuster. First, Anita Elberse’s new book Blockbusters argues that giant movies are a comparatively safe bet for Hollywood. Meanwhile, Gravity is the movie on everyone’s lips, but will we learn the right lessons, or just try to put more movie stars in space?

Speaking of big name actors, wow, some of them don’t seem to like being directed. Finally, we offer some advice on following up after general meetings. All this and slightly more in the 114th edition of Scriptnotes.

Links:

* Come see Scriptnotes live at the 2013 [Austin Film Festival](http://www.austinfilmfestival.com/)
* [The Atlantic](http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/10/the-big-business-of-big-hits-how-blockbusters-conquered-movies-tv-and-music/280298/) on Anita Elberse’s new book, Blockbusters, and the book [on Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0805094334/?tag=johnaugustcom-20)
* [Gravity](http://gravitymovie.warnerbros.com/) is in theaters now
* The relevant [Last Vegas interview excerpt](http://instagram.com/p/faO_XwGZ1W/)
* KnowYourMeme on [Morgan Freeman, Titty sprinkles](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/people/morgan-freeman)
* IndieWire on [the Blade: Trinity lawsuit](http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/details-of-chaos-on-the-set-of-blade-trinity-indicate-production-was-troubled-from-the-start)
* Sundance Institute’s [feature film programs](http://www.sundance.org/programs/feature-film/)
* [Internet killed the Video Store: An Abandoned Industry](http://www.messynessychic.com/2012/09/06/internet-killed-the-video-store-an-abandoned-industry/) is John’s [One Cool Thing](http://johnaugust.com/onecoolthings)
* And [GTA V Mythbusters](http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVSZoKmDBr8UdW2MjaDo5uZ8ESO68Bdrk) is Craig’s [One Cool Thing](http://johnaugust.com/onecoolthings)
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Scriptnotes listener Ashley Kotzur

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_114.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_114.mp3).

**UPDATE** 10-23-13: The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-ep-114-blockbusters-transcript).

Storing stuff in other people’s houses

Follow Up, Geek Alert

Last week, Stuart and I were talking about strategies for backing up the early episodes of Scriptnotes in case of fire or other calamity.

And then I remembered we effectively had. We shipped several hundred of the Scriptnotes USB drives, each loaded with the first 100 episodes of the show in both mp3 and m4a format.

scriptnotes drive

Even if LA got nuked, listeners in Prague and Peoria would be able to share these files. Craig and I actually talked about it in [Episode 103](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-ep-103-disaster-porn-and-spelling-things-out-transcript):

**John:** So, again, if a nuclear apocalypse happens and we’re all wiped out — or maybe zombies, it could be anything that actually wipes out all of humanity and our ability to access the internet — if you had one of these little drives and some sort of computer that was capable of reading them, like a laptop that you’re powering through some sort of pedal bicycle in a kind of Gilligan’s Island scenario, you would still be able to listen to [Scriptnotes]. And be able to follow along on the Three Page Challenge, which is I think really important as you’re rebuilding civilization. You have access to not just our words of advice but the words on the page that you can see why we were giving the notes we were giving about these Three Page Challenges.

**Craig:** I don’t know where it would fall on the hierarchy of goals, but it would probably be between procuring food and medicine.

We’re making another batch of the Scriptnotes USB drives if [you’d like to buy one](http://store.johnaugust.com/product/scriptnotes-100-episode-usb-flash-drive).

I truly believe in storing important things at other people’s houses. A good example is photos. We had all of my dad’s old photos scanned, then bought a bunch of [cheap hard drives](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00834SJSK/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00834SJSK&linkCode=as2&tag=johnaugustcom-20) so we could give the whole set to relatives. It’s a kind of legacy insurance.

Google isn’t helping me find the exact quote, but in the age before refrigeration they used to say the best place to store food is in your neighbor’s stomach. If you have more than you need, throw a feast.

Podcasts aren’t parties and photos aren’t food, but sharing these assets is similarly communal — and mutually-beneficial. Often, the best backup strategy is giving it away.