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Software

Getting TextExpander and WorkFlowy to play nicely

July 24, 2020 Geek Alert, Meta, Software

We use WorkFlowy to outline Scriptnotes before we record. After 462 episodes, I finally decided to make a template for it so that I wasn’t typing it all from scratch every time. So I made a skeleton outline, which you can see here. Excited for the all time I was going to save, I copy-pasted […]

From Indie to Action Comedy

Episode - 361

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July 31, 2018 Directors, Film Industry, Genres, Highland, Producers, QandA, Scriptnotes, Software, Transcribed, Writing Process

John welcomes Susanna Fogel and David Iserson to talk about making their new movie, The Spy Who Dumped Me. They discuss the transition from TV and indie film to blockbuster, the collaboration involved in crafting a comic action sequence, and the fun of production overseas. Susanna and David explain the advantages of spec scripts (this […]

Full Circle

May 22, 2018 Big Fish, Follow Up, Los Angeles, News, Scriptnotes, Software, Story and Plot, Transcribed, Writing Process

John and Craig talk about the way that movies tend to bring their stories full circle, and what that means for writers trying to figure out their story beats. They discuss rhyming, bookending and how properly setting up the central thematic question helps make the answer feel meaningful. We also answer listener questions about putting […]

Putting Words on the Page

May 8, 2018 Directors, Follow Up, Formatting, Los Angeles, News, Scriptnotes, Software, Television, Tools, Transcribed, Treatments, Words on the page, Writing Process

John and Craig discuss the digital tools of the trade. From outline to first draft to production rewrites, screenwriters find themselves facing different challenges. We talk about what works for each of us. We also speculate on what impact Highland 2’s gender analysis tool will have. Then we answer listener questions about following the “rules” […]

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