John August

WGA

Pitching Television, or Being a Passionate Widget

Episode - 328

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Citizenship, Film Industry, Follow Up, Pitches, Resources, Scriptnotes, Television, Transcribed, WGA, Writing Process

John and Craig share their insight into pitching for television. How is it different that pitching features? How do express your passion for the project? How do you avoid being a Willy Loman pitching to a Willy Loman? (Sometimes you don’t.)

We also follow-up on the conversation about sexual harassment, with a focus on how men, bosses, and unions can work to make a safer, more comfortable workplace for everyone.

Reminder that the Scriptnotes Holiday Live Show is this Thursday in Hollywood. Ticket link below.

Links:

* Holiday Live Show [tickets](https://www.wgfoundation.org/screenwriting-events/scriptnotes-holiday-live-show-john-august-craig-mazin/) are available.
* A sexual harrassment [resource guide](https://www.wgaeast.org/resources/sexual-harassment-resource-guide/) from the WGA.
* The [Tangle Teezer](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001S261Q6/?tag=johnaugustcom-20) hair brush as recommended on Kevin Kelly’s [Cool Tools](http://kk.org/cooltools/)
* [Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sleep-cycle-alarm-clock/id320606217?mt=8)
* Initial write ups/pitch documents for [DC](http://johnaugust.com/downloads_ripley/dc-what-it-is.pdf), [The Circle (a.k.a. Alaska)](http://johnaugust.com/downloads_ripley/alaska_writeup.pdf), and [Ops](http://johnaugust.com/downloads_ripley/ops_writeup.pdf).
* [The Scriptnotes Listeners’ Guide!](johnaugust.com/guide)
* [The USB drives!](https://store.johnaugust.com/collections/frontpage/products/scriptnotes-300-episode-usb-flash-drive)
* [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/)
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Phil Baker ([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_328.mp3).

**UPDATE 12-13-17:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2017/scriptnotes-ep-328-pitching-television-or-being-a-passionate-widget-transcript)

The Post-Weinstein Era

Citizenship, Film Industry, News, Random Advice, Scriptnotes, Television, Transcribed, WGA

John and Craig welcome Daley Haggar and Dara Resnik to examine the potential impacts of the Harvey Weinstein revelations on Hollywood.

What should have been done? And what should happen next to foster a safer, saner and more inclusive industry culture?

We also explore gender dynamics in a television writers room, discuss ways to address power imbalances and learn what it means to dial something in on the “Penis Phone.”

Links:

* Scriptnotes T-shirts are [here](https://cottonbureau.com/people/scriptnotes-podcast)! We’ve got Classic (in [light](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/classic_shirt_light.jpg) and [dark](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/classic_shirt_dark.jpg) mode), the [Umbrage Strikes Back](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/umbrage_strikes_back_shirt.jpg), and [Umbrage & Reason](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/umbrage__and_reason_shirt.jpg).
* We’ll be at the [Austin Film Festival](https://www.austinfilmfestival.com/aff/live/) for our Live Show and Three Page Challenge.
* If you encounter a late night submission packet that seems iffy, you can email them to contracts@wga.org.
* Daley Haggar’s [“Why I’m Snitching on Hollywood Sexism”](http://www.lennyletter.com/work/a1024/why-im-snitching-on-hollywood-sexism/) for Lenny Letter.
* Dara Resnik and Gillian Boher’s [“Don’t be so sure Harvey Weinstein is going away for good”](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/10/13/dont-be-so-sure-harvey-weinstein-is-going-away-for-good/?utm_term=.76dbbe5b0dc3) for The Washington Post.
* Here is some information about [Harvey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Weinstein) and [Bob](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Weinstein) Weinstein who founded [Miramax](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miramax) and [The Weinstein Company,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Weinstein_Company) for reference.
* [“Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades”](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/us/harvey-weinstein-harassment-allegations.html) by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey for The New York Times, and Harvey Weinstein’s official [response](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/05/us/statement-from-harvey-weinstein.html).
* [“From Aggressive Overtures to Sexual Assault: Harvey Weinstein’s Accusers Tell Their Stories”](https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/from-aggressive-overtures-to-sexual-assault-harvey-weinsteins-accusers-tell-their-stories) by Ronan Farrow for The New Yorker.
* [“Harvey Weinstein Is Fired After Sexual Harassment Reports”](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/08/business/harvey-weinstein-fired.html) by Megan Twohey for the New York Times.
* [“‘Beautiful Girls’ Scribe Scott Rosenberg On A Complicated Legacy With Harvey Weinstein”](http://deadline.com/2017/10/scott-rosenberg-harvey-weinstein-miramax-beautiful-girls-guilt-over-sexual-assault-allegations-1202189525/)
* The case of [Lyle v. Warner Brothers](http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/05/04/grossman.friends/index.html) (aka the Friends lawsuit) and [the Supreme Court’s dismissal](http://articles.latimes.com/2006/apr/21/local/me-friends21)
* The last [Disneyland Half Marathon](https://www.rundisney.com/super-heroes-half-marathon/) (at least for a while)!
* The [CIA’s twitter account](https://twitter.com/cia) (feat. dogs).
* Rihanna [can’t wink.](http://www.vulture.com/2016/08/can-rihanna-actually-wink-a-twitter-expose.html)
* And Mariah Carey [doesn’t dance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWyfuaAjUiI).
* [The Scriptnotes Listeners’ Guide!](johnaugust.com/guide)
* [The USB drives!](https://store.johnaugust.com/collections/frontpage/products/scriptnotes-300-episode-usb-flash-drive)
* [Daley Haggar](https://twitter.com/d_haggar) on Twitter
* [Dara Resnik](https://twitter.com/BadassMomWriter) 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/)
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Matthew Chilleli ([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_322.mp3).

**UPDATE 10-31-17:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2017/scriptnotes-ep-322-the-post-weinstein-era-transcript).

Movies Dodged a Bullet

Books, Follow Up, Formatting, Highland, Scriptnotes, Three Page Challenge, Transcribed, WGA, Words, Words on the page, Writing Process

John and Craig speculate about why the film industry fared better in the transition to digital while the music industry struggled.

We also follow up on the WGA elections, hearing John’s priorities as a new board member. Lured back into the intrigue of MoviePass, we discuss new information on this business model.

Then it’s another installment of the Three Page Challenge, in which we discuss listener-submitted pages of their screenplays.

Finally, we answer the most provocative of listener-questions: how do you name your files?

Links:

* [WGA Section of johnaugust.com](http://johnaugust.com/wga-board)
* [I’m Joining the WGA Board](http://johnaugust.com/2017/im-joining-the-wga-board)
* [CEO Mitch Lowe Pulls Back The Curtain On MoviePass And Explains Its Economics](https://www.forbes.com/sites/robcain/2017/09/18/ceo-mitch-lowe-pulls-back-the-curtain-on-moviepass-and-explains-its-economics/) from Forbes, by Rob Cain
* Three Pages by [Steven Wood](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/Wood_3pgs.pdf)
* Three Pages by [Elizabeth Boston](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/Boston_3pgs.pdf)
* Three Pages by [Dan Pavlik](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/Pavlik_3pgs.pdf)
* [Submit](http://johnaugust.com/threepage) for the Three Page Challenge
* [Austin Film Festival 2017 Film Slate](https://austinfilmfestival.com/festival-and-conference-aff/festival/film-slate/)
* [Conversations with Friends](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0451499050/?tag=johnaugustcom-20) by Sally Rooney
* [Meet Cute](http://www.indiewire.com/2017/09/juno-temple-jon-bass-meet-cute-short-film-1201878128/) – Short Film on Indiewire
* [The Scriptnotes Listeners’ Guide!](johnaugust.com/guide)
* [The USB drives](https://store.johnaugust.com/collections/frontpage/products/scriptnotes-300-episode-usb-flash-drive) will be available again in a few days!
* [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/)
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Rajesh Naroth ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

Credits:
Produced by Megan McDonnell
Edited by Matthew Chilelli
With Nima Yousefi and Dustin Bocks

You can download the episode [here](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_319.mp3).

**UPDATE 10-2-17:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2017/scriptnotes-ep-319-movies-dodged-a-bullet-transcript)

I’m joining the WGA board

News, WGA

On Monday, I was [elected to the board of directors](http://www.wga.org/news-events/news/press/2017/wgaw-announces-2017-officers-and-board-election-results) for the Writers Guild of America, West. I’ll be serving a two-year term.

Huge thanks to everyone who voted, and the folks who encouraged me to run.

At one of the campaign mixers, I had the chance to speak with some writers who had only been in the guild for a few weeks. It got me thinking back to the first time I voted, about 20 years ago. I remember going through the campaign booklet, reading every statement, and marking each one on a scale of one to ten. Then I’d go back through and pick the six or eight candidates I was going to vote for.

I took it really seriously, and I still do.

What’s funny to realize is that most of those candidate statements from 20 years ago could have been written today. They were talking about many of the same issues: late payments, improving diversity, free rewrites, protecting our health plan. And it’s easy to see why: these are some of the fundamental objectives of the guild. The WGA exists to make sure our members get paid and protected.

We’re always going to be fighting these fights, whether it’s through negotiation or enforcement. It’s always been the same.

That’s not to say nothing has changed in 20 years. Things are changing quickly. And that’s why I decided to run this year.

Through this site and Scriptnotes, I get the chance to talk to a lot of writers, both in features and TV. Established writers, aspiring writers, everyone in between.

And the consistent thing I’m hearing is, huh. Nothing is working the way it used to, or “supposed to.” There’s a ton of TV being made, but the seasons are short. Features are being figured out in writers rooms, and no one’s quite sure when the “writing” begins, or how we should figure out credit.

We’re in the middle of a disruption. The industry is shifting to some new form, and none of us know what it’s going to become. No one in the guild, no one on the studio lots in Burbank. We’re all flying blind.

Maybe it will be great for writers — like the start of home video, or cable, with new opportunities and new revenue streams. We’ll all be getting fat paychecks to write VR experiences unlike anything we’ve seen before.

But maybe we won’t.

What keeps me up at night is that second possibility, that we’re facing a future where it becomes almost impossible to make a living as a professional writer in Hollywood. I worry that those new WGA members I talked to at the mixer won’t be working 20 years from now because the industry will become unrecognizable.

For me, these next two years are not about a negotiation, but an investigation of where we’re at and what our priorities should be. We elect the board to be trustees of the guild. And part of that is making sure there is still such a thing as a professional writer.

But while we keep an eye out for future dangers, we have to make sure we’re doing everything we can for writers today.

From late pay to unpaid rewrites to exclusivity clauses, there are many areas where members are looking to the WGA to take action.

Some issues can only be addressed through negotiation. But I believe better enforcement is key to improving the day-to-day life of writers — and screenwriters in particular. I talk with feature writers trapped in an endless fog of development, hostage to a paycheck that never comes.

We need to make sure the WGA represents writers not just collectively at the negotiating table, but also individually when employers abuse their power.

I want to believe I’m approaching the work ahead with an appropriate blend of idealism and realism. As I said in my [campaign statement](https://medium.com/@johnaugust/why-im-running-for-the-wga-board-cd9116eb4dd5), many of the issues we face are structural, historical and/or intractable. But the progress we’ve made in recent negotiations points to our ability to address new problems with new solutions. That’s what I’m looking forward to doing along with the new board and officers.