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Drew Marquardt

Writing Across Mediums

Episode - 670

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December 24, 2024 Scriptnotes

Live from the Austin Film Festival, John joins panelists Jordan Mechner (Prince of Persia) and Erica Harrell & Desirée Proctor (The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners) for an in-depth discussion on working across movies, tv, comics, plays, videogames and VR.

Moderated by Evan Narcisse (Rise of the Black Panther), they discuss what led them to new mediums, the storytelling strengths each medium offers, and building a career that moves between them.

In our bonus segment for premium members, the panelists answer some video game specific questions, including how to stand out as a writer to the major game developers.

Scriptnotes audio provided courtesy of ©Austin Film Festival

Links:

  • Austin Film Festival’s On Story
  • Writing Across Mediums panel at the Austin Film Festival
  • Evan Narcisse on Bluesky
  • Jordan Mechner
  • Erica Harell
  • Desirée Proctor
  • Nuclear Power by Desirée Proctor & Erica Harrell
  • The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners on Steam, Meta store and Playstation
  • Prince of Persia games
  • Spy magazine
  • Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
  • Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
  • Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
  • Craig Mazin on Threads and Instagram
  • John August on BlueSky, Threads, Instagram, and Mastodon
  • Outro by Matthew Chilelli (send us yours!)
  • Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@dev.johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

Featured Friday: Fantasy Epics

December 20, 2024 Weekend Read

Weekend Read, our app for reading scripts on your phone, features a new curated collection of screenplays each week.

This week, we look at how fantasy epics use their wizards, world building and wonder to create their own kind of magic.

Our collection includes:

  • Game of Thrones – “Pilot” by David Benioff & D.B. Weiss
  • Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by Steve Kloves
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 by Steve Kloves
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 by Steve Kloves
  • His Dark Materials – “Episode 1” by Jack Thorne
  • House of the Dragon – “The Heirs of the Dragon” by Ryan Condal
  • Labyrinth by Terry Jones
  • Onward by Dan Scanlon, Jason Headley & Keith Bunin
  • Pan’s Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro
  • Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope by George Lucas
  • Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back by Lawrence Kasdan and Leigh Brackett
  • Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas
  • Stardust by Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Stephen Sinclair & Peter Jackson
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson
  • The Princess Bride by William Goldman
  • The Wheel of Time – “Leavetaking” by Rafe Judkins
  • The Wizard of Oz by Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf
  • Willow by Bob Dolman

Read these and other featured collections only on Weekend Read 2, available on all Mac and iOS devices. Download for free!

They Ate Our Scripts

December 17, 2024 Scriptnotes, Transcribed

Many of the biggest AI models have been trained on film and TV dialogue, and writers are furious. John and Craig explore the legal, ethical and philosophical implications of this revelation, our emotional reactions to it, and offer strategies for picking the right hills to die on.

But first, we follow up on the definition of horror vs. thriller, generational narcissism, and young people’s ambition. We also answer listener questions on when to bail on a script and how to approach your first contract.

In our bonus segment for premium members, we dig into the philosophical implications of Craig believing we live in a simulation, and whether that necessarily implies a creator. Woah, man.

Links:

  • Flightplan (and The Lady Vanishes)
  • There’s No Longer Any Doubt That Hollywood Writing Is Powering AI by Alex Reisner for The Atlantic
  • Vince Gilligan Statement on AI to USCO
  • Lunchables
  • The Serenity Prayer
  • Jon Batiste hears Green Day for the First Time
  • Tini’s Mac and Cheese on TikTok
  • Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
  • Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
  • Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
  • Craig Mazin on Threads and Instagram
  • John August on BlueSky, Threads, Instagram, and Mastodon
  • Outro by Nick Moore (send us yours!)
  • Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@dev.johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 1-8-25: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

Featured Friday: Awards 2024

December 13, 2024 Weekend Read

Weekend Read, our app for reading scripts on your phone, features a new curated collection of screenplays each week.

This week, we ring in the FYC season with all the screenplays that have been released (so far) as part of studio award campaigns. We’ll be updating this collection as more scripts are made available!

Our collection includes:

  • A Complete Unknown by James Mangold and Jay Cocks
  • A Real Pain by Jesse Eisenberg
  • All We Imagine As Light by Payal Kapadia
  • Babygirl by Halina Reijn
  • Blink Twice by Zoë Kravitz & E.T. Feigenbaum
  • Blitz by Steve McQueen
  • Challengers by Justin Kuritzkes
  • Conclave by Peter Straughan
  • Daddio by Christy Hall
  • Deadpool & Wolverine by Ryan Reynolds & Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick & Zeb Wells & Shawn Levy
  • Dìdi by Sean Wang
  • Dune: Part Two by Denis Villeneuve & Jon Spaihts
  • Emilia Pérez by Jacques Audiard
  • Fly Me to the Moon by Rose Gilroy
  • Gladiator II by David Scarpa
  • Heretic by Scott Beck & Bryan Woods
  • His Three Daughters by Azazel Jacobs
  • Hit Man by Richard Linklater & Glen Powell
  • I’m Still Here by Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega
  • Inside Out 2 by Meg LeFauve & Dave Holstein
  • Maria by Steven Knight
  • Nightbitch by Marielle Heller
  • Queer by Justin Kuritzkes
  • Red One by Chris Morgan
  • Saturday Night by Gil Kenan & Jason Reitman
  • September 5 by Moritz Binder and Tim Fehlbaum
  • Sing Sing by Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar
  • The Apprentice by Gabriel Sherman
  • The Brutalist by Brady Corbet & Mona Fastvold
  • The Idea of You by Michael Showalter and Jennifer Westfeldt
  • The Last Showgirl by Kate Gersten
  • The Order by Zach Baylin
  • The Outrun by Nora Fingscheidt & Amy Liptrot
  • The Piano Lesson by Virgil Williams & Malcolm Washington
  • The Room Next Door by Pedro Almodóvar
  • The Substance by Coralie Fargeat
  • The Wild Robot by Chris Sanders
  • Twisters by Mark L Smith
  • Unstoppable by Eric Champnella and Alex Harris and John Hindman

Read these and other featured collections only on Weekend Read 2, available on all Mac and iOS devices. Download for free!

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