John August

Strike

Sidecast: Writers Who Read

Episode - SC32

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Scriptnotes, Sidecast, Strike

John and Drew talk about one of the best things writers can do to keep their skills sharp during the strike: reading.

They discuss where to find scripts, what you can learn from other people’s writing, and what they’ve been working on while pencils are down.

Links:

* [Weekend Read 2](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/weekend-read-2/id1534798355) on the App Store
* [Scriptslug.com](https://www.scriptslug.com/)
* [Summary of Negotiations: WGA proposals and AMPTP responses](https://www.wgacontract2023.org/uploadedfiles/members/member_info/contract-2023/wga_proposals.pdf)
* [2023 WGA Strike Rules](https://www.wgacontract2023.org/strike/strike-rules)
* [Strike Rules FAQ](https://www.wgacontract2023.org/strike/strike-rules-faq)
* [Picket Schedules and Locations](https://www.wgacontract2023.org/strike/picket-schedules-and-locations)
* Find more about the 2023 WGA negotiations [here at WGAContract2023.org](https://www.wgacontract2023.org/)
* John on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/johnaugust), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/johnaugust/?hl=en) and [Mastodon](https://mastodon.art/@johnaugust)
* Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode [here](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/SC32standard.mp3).

Sidecast: Picket Line Q & A

Scriptnotes, Sidecast, Strike

John answers the most common questions he hears out on the picket line, including the nervous, “Wait, why are you here? Is something wrong?”

Links:

* [wgacontract2023.org](https://www.wgacontract2023.org/)
* [It’s All Relative](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0RgdQDZlrg) on YouTube
* [Summary of Negotiations: WGA proposals and AMPTP responses](https://www.wgacontract2023.org/uploadedfiles/members/member_info/contract-2023/wga_proposals.pdf)
* [2023 WGA Strike Rules](https://www.wgacontract2023.org/strike/strike-rules)
* [Strike Rules FAQ](https://www.wgacontract2023.org/strike/strike-rules-faq)
* [Picket Schedules and Locations](https://www.wgacontract2023.org/strike/picket-schedules-and-locations)
* Find more about the 2023 WGA negotiations [here at WGAContract2023.org](https://www.wgacontract2023.org/)
* John on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/johnaugust), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/johnaugust/?hl=en) and [Mastodon](https://mastodon.art/@johnaugust)
* Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode [here](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/SC29standard.mp3).

One Year Later

Citizenship, Film Industry, Follow Up, Los Angeles, News, Producers, Scriptnotes, Strike, Transcribed

Aline Brosh McKenna joins John and Craig to discuss the progress made in the year following the Weinstein revelations. Have the systems for reporting and preventing sexual harassment improved, or are we still just dealing with hurricanes?

We also follow up on The Academy’s decision to nix the Popular Film category, the IATSE agreement, missing movies, and Craig’s distaste for ventriloquism. And Final Draft teaches us that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Links:

* [The Academy decided against adding the Popular Film Category this year](https://deadline.com/2018/09/oscars-most-popular-film-category-scrapped-academy-board-1202458508/).
* [Site supporting the IATSE Basic Agreement](https://www.iatsebasicagreement.com)
* A listener let us know when he saw a [familiar looking typewriter](https://twitter.com/dtsarmento/status/1037520618898374657), but [Final Draft apologized](https://twitter.com/johnaugust/status/1037773489510305792).
* Matt followed up with insight on [how murky rights keep movies in limbo](http://johnaugust.com/2018/its-mostly-about-underlying-rights).
* Even [Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxoYKt65vSQ), [12-year old Darcy Lynne on America’s Got Talent](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rk_qLtk0m2c#) and [Avenue Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXnM1uHhsOI) can’t change Craig’s mind about ventriloquism.
* An [iPad stand](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XVFKYL5/?tag=johnaugustcom-20)
* [Awards Are Stupid](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u-dxn8IgQo), Jerry Seinfeld’s acceptance speech for his HBO Comedian Award
* [The USB drives!](https://store.johnaugust.com/collections/frontpage/products/scriptnotes-300-episode-usb-flash-drive)
* [Aline Brosh McKenna](https://twitter.com/alinebmckenna) on Twitter
* [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 Luke Davis ([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_367.mp3).

**UPDATE 9-19-18:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2018/scriptnotes-ep-367-one-year-later-transcript).

Video from Rancho Mirage Q&A

Education, How-To, Strike, Video

Synthian Sharp, one of the nicest folks I met during the strike, took it upon himself to tape my [Q&A in Rancho Mirage](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2009/speaking-in-rancho-mirage). He now has it online at Vimeo, where you can also download a much beefier 934MB version.

This talk was very much geared towards a general audience. While there were some film students, most of the crowd was over fifty. We spoke more about the career than the craft of screenwriting.

I showed five clips. Weirdly, I didn’t pick one from The Nines, but I did show one scene from Scott Frank’s Minority Report that had my fingerprints on it.

At 112 minutes, it’s quite a time commitment. If you’re skipping around in the video, here’s the rough order of what I talk about:

* How I got started
* Go
* DC
* Charlie’s Angels
* Minority Report
* Big Fish
* Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
* God (the short film on The Nines DVD)
* The Nines
* Audience questions

Thanks to The Friends of the Rancho Mirage Public Library, Palm Springs International Film Society, and moderator Deborah Dearth. And of course Synthian for putting this up.