Web series

(Adjective) Soldier

Episode - 325

November 14, 2017 Adaptation, Film Industry, Resources, Rights and Copyright, Scriptnotes, Transcribed, Web series, Writing Process

Craig and John open the overflowing listener mailbag to tackle questions on everything from montages to life rights to passive heroes. Plus, we have a definitive answer on whether to number minor characters. (Don’t.)

We also finally address a major controversy: Craig’s missing cover of “Killing the Blues” from Episode 109. It exists, and you can listen to it today.

The Scriptnotes 2017 Holiday Live Show will be December 7th in Hollywood. Mark your calendars! Tickets available soon.

Links:

Tickets available for the Holiday Live Show now!
Team America: World Police’s defense of “Montage”
NOLO’s Getting Permission: Using & Licensing Copyright-Protected Materials Online & Off, a handy legal guide for rights and rights purchases.
Cosmo Kramer, from Seinfeld, is based on Kenny Kramer, who sued a writer for defamation
James Bond and the Berne Convention
Trademark, Copyright, and a snazzy video on the difference between them from the USPTO.
The Copyright Term Extension Act, AKA the Sonny Bono Act, AKA the Mickey Mouse Protection Act.
Charles Dickens’ struggle with piracy in the US is illuminated in Fifty Inventions that Shaped the Modern World by Tim Harford.
Go’s character, Spider Marine, comes from John’s mishearing the Smashing Pumpkins lyric “despite all my rage.”
Craig’s cover of “Killing the Blues,” by Rowland Salley.
The South Park video game, South Park: The Fractured but Whole (a sequel to The Stick of Truth) *all possible trigger warnings apply
The Adelante Shoe Co. makes shoes for the discerning global citizen.
Next week’s episode is the 2017 Austin Live Three Page Challenge — you can check out the pages here or on Weekend Read.
Matthew Chilelli’s video about his definitely-not-haunted apartment in Japan
The Scriptnotes Listeners’ Guide!
The USB drives!
John August on Twitter
Craig Mazin on Twitter
John on Instagram
Find past episodes
Outro by Rowland Salley, performed by Craig Mazin (send us yours!)

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 11-20-17: The transcript of this episode can be found here.

The One with the Kates

June 14, 2016 Film Industry, Follow Up, Scriptnotes, Transcribed, Web series

John and Craig welcome Kate McLennan and Kate McCartney, the Australian creator/stars of The Katering Show (a previous One Cool Thing).

We discuss the process and economics of making a web series, signing with a US agency, and trying to figure out what comes next.

Thanks to our Scriptnotes fans on both sides of the world for making this meet-up happen.

Links:

The Katering Show
Kate McLennan and Kate McCartney on Twitter
Watch season 2 of The Katering Show on Fullscreen
Dance Academy, and on Wikipedia
Tall poppy syndrome on Wikipedia
Catastrophe on Amazon Prime
Duqqa on Wikipedia
Mini Metro and Human Resource Machine
Sunspring, a short film written by Benjamin
The Shaggs on Wikipedia
Hunt for the Wilderpeople is playing at Arclight Hollywood starting June 23
Cope St Collective’s Bjorn on how to do blackface
Outro by Rajesh Naroth (send us yours!)

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 6-20-16: The transcript of this episode can be found here.

Rob Corddry on getting stuff written

August 18, 2011 Geek Alert, Television, Web series

Merlin Mann’s Back to Work podcast has a great discussion with Rob Corddry this week, talking about Children’s Hospital. (Which, if you’re not watching, is available on iTunes.)

I was especially interested in how Corddry and his team are breaking stories for the upcoming season: using the simultaneous editing features in Google Docs. That’s the same way Stuart and I wrote the point-counterpoint for yesterday’s article about FCP X. The collaboration features in Google Docs are fairly amazing and under-heralded.

You can listen to the Corddry podcast here.

The podcast with me in it

April 12, 2011 Film Industry, Web series

I’m the guest on the most recent installment of the New Mediacracy podcast, discussing The Remnants, this blog, and the shifting role of the screenwriter.

You can hear it at their site, or download the mp3 here.

There’s a fair amount of housekeeping at the start of the show, so you may choose to skip to about three minutes in, where I begin the John August genesis story. And if you’ve already heard that — unlike politicians, mine never changes — skip to 14:30, where we start talking about new media.

The whole thing runs a little over an hour. If you find moments you want to highlight for other readers, feel free to flag them in the comments. For example, at 11:45, I explain why I am invisible to Oliver Stone.

Thanks to Zadi Diaz, Chris McCaleb, and Steve Woolf for a great discussion.