John August

Search Results for: notes on notes

Producers and pitching

Episode - 55

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Follow Up, Pitches, Producers, QandA, Scriptnotes, Three Page Challenge, Transcribed

What’s the difference between a reader and a producer? Much more than one high-profile online analyst seems to believe. John and Craig discuss what producers do, and how one plausibly gets started.

From there, we talk pitching. Beyond the plot points, you need to be able to show why you’re dying to write this story, and why you’d pay money to see it.

In follow-up, we talk about visas, HSX, and find out how often the screenwriter is actually mentioned in negative reviews vs. positive reviews.

The first-ever Live Scriptnotes is coming this October in Austin. Follow the link for more details.

And we’re opening back up submissions for the Three Page Challenge. Follow the link and follow the rules, please.

All this, and Craig takes umbrage at sweet tea, in the new Scriptnotes!

LINKS:

* Tim Miller’s report on our perceived [negative screenwriter bias](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/scriptnotes_critics.pdf)
* [HSX](http://www.hsx.com/about/)
* My [original issue](http://johnaugust.com/2009/how-scriptshadow-hurts-screenwriters) with Scriptshadow
* Scriptshadows asks [What the hell does a producer do?](http://scriptshadow.blogspot.com/2012/09/screenwriting-article-what-hell-does.html)
* [Tejava](http://www.tejava.com/), pretty good bottled tea
* How to submit a [Three-Page Challenge](http://johnaugust.com/threepage)
* Scriptnotes Live at the [Austin Film Festival and Screenwriting Conference](http://www.austinfilmfestival.com/)
* INTRO: [Star Trek The Animated Series Opening](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhQFGH527PE)
* OUTRO: [Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOXIlbw4sh8) cover by Pacific UV

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_55.m4a).

**UPDATE** 9-20-12: The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2012/scriptnotes-ep-55-producers-and-pitching-transcript).

Eight Reasonable Questions about Screenwriting

QandA, Scriptnotes, Transcribed

John and Craig tackle eight questions on the profession of screenwriting, ranging from studio execs to sharing credit to pitching via video.

It’s a big show. We cover a lot. And then we talk for quite a while about the unique beauty of Zoe Saldana and Bradley Cooper, because that’s what real screenwriters talk about.

And there’s news! Hangover 3 is in production, Big Fish has announced its Chicago dates, and Frankenweenie comes out October 5.

All this and more in episode 54 of Scriptnotes.

LINKS:

* [Big Fish musical to debut in Chicago](http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/stage/14959954-421/chicago-catches-big-fish-musical-for-pre-broadway-run.html)
* Josh Hallman’s (http://youtu.be/nstuFTBFnnw)
* [HSX.com](http://www.hsx.com/): The Hollywood Stock Exchange
* [The Words](http://www.thewordsmovie.com/)
* HealthMap [Vaccine Finder](http://flushot.healthmap.org/)
* INTRO: [Eight Is Enough](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWMJoV0ozIM)
* OUTRO: […Baby One More Time](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4YG_HH_heI) by Jessica Hendy and Jacob Yates

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_54.m4a).

**UPDATE** 9-14-12: The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2012/scriptnotes-ep-54-eight-reasonable-questions-about-screenwriting-transcript).

Fountain for Sublime Text

Fountain

Jonathan Poritsky has whipped up a [Fountain syntax highlighter](http://www.candlerblog.com/2012/09/10/fountain-for-sublime-text/) for [Sublime Text](http://www.sublimetext.com/), an increasingly popular text editor.

I love to see this kind of itch-scratching. It’s why we made Fountain. We want people to be able use it with whatever tools they prefer, and to whatever extent they find helpful.

Here’s a screenshot:

sublime fountain screenshot

Personally, I don’t find this kind of syntax highlighting all that useful for Fountain.

We designed the markup so elements would be defined by whitespace — both visually and logically. Character names already feel unambiguous to me, so making them a different color doesn’t do much. Putting notes and other meta info in color, on the other hand, seems potentially great. So maybe that will come in a future incarnation.

Regardless, there’s no right or wrong way to use Fountain. I love to see people making it their own.

**UPDATE:** Jonathan has already put out an update that adds in syntax coloring for Notes, Boneyard and other helpful meta-things. Totally worth a look.

Action is more than just gunfights and car chases

Scriptnotes, Three Page Challenge, Transcribed, Words on the page

John and Craig are all action this week, looking at how screenwriters write those things characters do in a movie.

It’s a part of the craft that often goes unnoticed — unlike dialogue, you don’t hear the writer’s work — but smartly-written action pays dividends, helping readers see the movie you want them to make.

We follow-up our discussion with a look at four (!) samples from the Three Page Challenge that focus on action, with ample praise for those that do it well and some suggestions for those who fumble a bit.

Also this week: a short history of (annoyed grunt), better known as d’oh!

If you’re listening to the podcast on the site, do us a favor and also [leave us a review](http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/scriptnotes-podcast/id462495496) on iTunes. Great reviews help other listeners find us, and further Craig’s singing-to-a-stadium agenda.

LINKS:

* Dan Castellaneta [explains Homer Simpson’s “D’oh!”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGiJOHDJEss)
* James Finlayson’s [“Doohh!”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P52rREUyPFo&t=49s)
* [Meltdown Comics](http://www.meltcomics.com/blog/)
* Three pages by [Ben Jacoby](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/BenJacoby.pdf)
* Three pages by [Trevor Hollen](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/TrevorHollen.pdf)
* Three pages by [Randall J. Knox & Jason Zahodnik](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/KnoxZahodnik.pdf)
* Three pages by [David Stripinis](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/DavidStripinis.pdf)
* [Sleepwalk With Me](http://www.sleepwalkmovie.com/), a film by Mike Birbiglia
* INTRO: [GI Joe Epic Opening](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX_9jKFpQKM)
* OUTRO: [Raw (remix)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sYT0lo3d0A) by Big Daddy Kane

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_53.m4a).

**UPDATE** 9-7-12: The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2012/scriptnotes-ep-53-action-is-more-than-just-gunfights-and-car-chases-transcript).