Drew Marquardt

John and Craig examine the foundation of every story: the premise. What is your story really about? What questions is it trying to answer? How does that differ from your logline? And what should writers do to make sure those things match up?

We also follow up on AI copyright, physical media, Esperanto and lingua franca. We then answer listener questions on the usefulness of “Fade in,” what studios actually do, and whether or not to put spec scripts on your website.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Craig reminisce about the highs and lows of going back to school.

Links:

• AI-Created Art Isn’t Copyrightable, Judge Says in Ruling That Could Give Hollywood Studios Pause by Winston Cho for The Hollywood Reporter
• Thaler v. Perlmutter
• The Mandalorian, Loki, And WandaVision Are Getting Limited Edition 4K And Blu-Ray Releases by Ryan Scott for Slash Film
• Lingua franca
• Where Story Begins – Premise by Michael Tabb for Script Magazine
• The premise, or what’s the point? by John August
• We Need to See More Parents Having Abortions in Film and Television by Danielle Campoamor for Marie Claire
• Dungeons & Dragons: Trials of Tempus
• Highland 2
• Writer Emergency Pack XL
• 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 Threads, Instagram and Twitter
• John on Mastodon
• Outro by Adam Pineless (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and is edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@dev.johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 9-18-22: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

John and Craig look at how well-written dialogue is used to give characters a unique voice. Using clips from previous episodes they present a history of dialogue and its evolution, how it informs your actors, and how communicating an idea sometimes comes down to the smallest words our characters say.

How can writers use dialogue to make their characters feel distinct and alive? What are tests for character voice? What can memorizing dialogue can teach us about writing it? And how do you keep all your characters active (and your actors happy) in group scenes?

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Craig stay on-topic to look at the pros and cons of dual dialogue.

Links:

• Scriptnotes Episode 37 – Let’s talk about dialogue
• Scriptnotes Episode 286 – Script Doctors, Dialogue and Hacks
• Scriptnotes Episode 371 – Writing Memorable Dialogue
• Highland 2
• Writer Emergency Pack XL
• 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 Threads, Instagram and Twitter
• John on Mastodon
• Outro by Matthew Chilelli (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt, featuring segments originally produced by Stuart Friedel, Godwin Jabangwe, Megan McDonnell and Megana Rao. It is edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@dev.johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 09-06-23: The transcript for this episode can be found here.