Scriptnotes Podcast

John welcomes five-time Emmy-winning writer Ali Barthwell (Last Week Tonight) to ask, can writers learn to be funny? Drawing from her time as a teacher at The Second City, they look at what writers can learn from sketch and improv, and how to reliably find ways to make an audience laugh. We also celebrate the WGA membership's ratification of the 2026 MBA, the educational future of the Scriptnotes book, and answer listener questions on the first scene of a comedy and when to stop taking assistant gigs and bet on yourself. In our bonus segment for premium members, Ali shares how she built a thriving writing career without ever having to live in New York or LA. Links: Ali Barthwell Preorder Ali's new book, Reality TV for Snobs The Second City Pre-inked star stamps The Padilla Pause: How the Breakout Star of SNL Nails Comic Timing by Jason Zinoman for NYTimes Funnier by Anne Libera Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book! Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt! Check out the Inneresting Newsletter Become a Scriptnotes Premium member, or gift a subscription Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube Follow Scriptnotes on Instagram and TikTok John August on Bluesky and Instagram Outro by Matt Gillespie (send us yours!) Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli. Email us at [email protected] You can download the episode here.

John welcomes writer/showrunner Haley Z. Boston for a post-mortem on her terrifying new series, Something Very Bad is Going to Happen. They look at how the series evolved from initial idea through production, her experience as a first-time showrunner, the special relationship between women and horror, and how she constructs terror on the page. We also chart her early career, and answer listener questions on splitting scenes and how to handle an overwhelming amount of development notes. In our bonus segment for premium members, it's spoiler territory as we look at what we can learn from the clever red herrings and misdirects of the series. Links: Haley Z. Boston on Instagram Something Very Bad is Going to Happen on Netflix Read along with an excerpt from the pilot Saying 'I do' is supposed to be joyous — unless something very bad happens by Gina McIntyre for LA Times Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film by Carol J. Clover Tasting Day Freaks Only Atomic Wave Dance by The Comet is Coming Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book! Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt! Check out the Inneresting Newsletter Become a Scriptnotes Premium member, or gift a subscription Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube Scriptnotes on Instagram and TikTok John August on Bluesky and Instagram Outro by Gloom Canyon (send us yours!) Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli. Email us at [email protected] You can download the episode here.

John and Craig flip the idea of motivation on its head and ask, what are your characters running from? Using examples across film and TV, they look at the psychological underpinnings of discomfort, and how to use avoidance as a driving force of character and story. We've also been away for a minute, so there's a lot to catch up on! We follow-up on where the heck we've been, locked pages, a Scottish rap duo, and a new scientific answer for whether one page of script really equals one minute of movie. We also answer listener questions on the afterlife of residuals and writing with a significant other. In our bonus segment for premium members, we go through their feedback on our first ever video podcast and announce our plans for the future of the show. Links: Does one page of a screenplay really equal one minute of screen time? by Stephen Follows California Schemin' trailer Indistractable by Nir Eyal Explanation of Disbursement of Residual Payments After Death from the WGA West Parseword Frankenstein's Regrets by Ben Tarnoff for The Nation The AI Paradox: How to Make Sense of a Complex Future by Virginia Dignum Indigo Girls Tour featuring Jessie Mazin! Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book! Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt! Check out the Inneresting Newsletter Become a Scriptnotes Premium member, or gift a subscription Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube Scriptnotes on Instagram and TikTok John August on Bluesky and Instagram Outro by James Ashley McLaren (send us yours!) Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli. Email us at [email protected] You can download the episode here.

There's a brand new agreement between the WGA and the AMPTP! And since John was the co-chair of the negotiating committee, he's excited to share all the details of the 2026 MBA. Links: The 2026 MBA agreement memorandum John August on Instagram and Bluesky Scriptnotes on Instagram and TikTok Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt Email us at [email protected] You can download the episode here.

John and Craig connect the dots on transitions and how they can be just as important as the scenes themselves. They look at how to get your scenes flowing into one another, the many different types of transitions, when to use "CUT TO," and how to use your cuts to tell your story. We also discuss those shots we no longer need to see in movies, and use a lawsuit filed by two GI Joe writers to examine some common issues created by prewriting. In our bonus segment for premium members, the Olympics are coming to Los Angeles and we have conflicting feelings! Links: Episode 89 – Transcript The 100th episode The Inebriati from That Mitchell and Webb Look Paramount & MGM Sued By 'G.I. Joe' Writers from Deadline Twenty Shots to Be Henceforth Retired from Film Vocabulary on Reverse Shot Good Times | Florida Breaks Down The Los Angeles Times on Studios donating film set materials to Habitat for Humanity Scandal Revealed, Episode 221 Mistresses on ABC We're the Millers on Wikipedia LA28 Design Guide torched.la Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book! Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt! Check out the Inneresting Newsletter Become a Scriptnotes Premium member, or gift a subscription Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube Scriptnotes on Instagram and TikTok John August on Bluesky and Instagram Outro by Matthew Chilelli (send us yours!) This episode was originally produced by Stuart Friedel. Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli. Email us at [email protected] You can download the episode here.