Scriptnotes Podcast

John and Craig gather a congregation of writers in St. David's Episcopal Church for a live round of the Three Page Challenge. They look at three listener-submitted scripts to offer them their honest feedback, face-to-face.

They offer suggestions on world building in the apocalypse, making military characters specific, building mystery and suspense, and crafting con-artist logic.

In our bonus segment for premium members, we answer questions from our audience on how to know if a script looks correct, what we want to see in the first three pages, using actor names in character descriptions, what comedy requires, and how to direct a reader's attention on the page.

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John welcomes Danya Jimenez & Hannah McMechan, the writing team behind KPop Demon Hunters, to chart their path from film school to first feature.

They look at navigating early career difficulties like finding your voice and trying to get reps, their method of building a writing partnership, and how a bad pitch led them to writing one of the biggest movies of the year.

We also follow up on breaking in later in life and writing with ADHD.

In our bonus segment for premium members, what does Hollywood get wrong about Gen Z? Danya and Hannah share what drives them crazy about how their generation is portrayed on screen.

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John and Craig welcome back Dana Fox (Wicked, The Lost City) for a magical flight through everything that went into adapting Wicked and its upcoming sequel, Wicked: For Good. They look at the history of the project, why it was split into two movies, the process for writing when you're shooting two movies at the same time, and the exhausting effort it takes for big movies to defy gravity.

We also chat with Graham Rowat, the narrator of the Scriptnotes audiobook, follow up on weird movies and cuck chairs, answer listener questions on the limits of torturing your heroes and ask, did the 90's really have the best actions movies?

In our bonus segment for premium members, Dana sticks around to take us behind the scenes of a big movie's promo circuit, and how to stay sane (and even popular!) throughout the world tour.

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John welcomes back Aline Brosh McKenna (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The Devil Wears Prada) to ask, what do executives expect from a pitch these days? They look at the typical structure of a pitch deck, how that differs from lookbooks, how pitches have evolved over the years, and best practices for pitching on Zoom.

Also, what happened to single-lady sitcoms? If you remember Monday nights in the 90's, you know what we're talking about. We reflect on what they did for the culture and how social media and reality TV may be taking their place.

In our bonus segment for premium members, Aline tells us what it was like being back on the set for The Devil Wears Prada 2. Gird your loins, people!

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John and Craig look at all the pleasant, normal people around them and ask, what happened to the weirdos? They root out the causes of cultural stagnation, offer potential solutions, and explore the entertainment that still finds a way to be weird.

We also look at the tipping point between "wanting to write" and "actually writing," follow up on printer prices and billboard queens, and answer listener questions on soundtracks, adapting a podcast and feeling ownership over your ideas.

In our bonus segment for premium members, we try to remember how we construct our personal narratives, and the pros and cons of remembering our past.

Our LIVE book release show will be at Dynasty Typewriter in LA on November 30th — get your tickets now!

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