Transcribed

John and Craig welcome back writer-producer Aline Brosh McKenna (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The Devil Wears Prada), who brings a basket of topics for the guys to unpack. They discuss the best way to give notes as a producer/boss and why Hollywood only takes serious genres seriously.

We follow up on female figures in ethical conflicts, bad bosses, and specifying race in character descriptions. We also get an update from Oops on dealing with the onset of an on-set crush.

Finally in our bonus segment for premium members, Aline shares what her 23 and Me uncovered about her relationship to Craig!

Links:

• Arclight Cinemas and Pacific Theatres Announce Won’t be Reopening
• Final Draft 12 adds the ability to import PDFs! Download Highland 2 here for free
• Check out the Highland 2 Student License here for professors and students
• David Graham-Caso Thread on his brother’s experience working for Scott Rudin
• “These Puzzles Fund Abortion” via Rachel Fabi
• Embrace the Grind post by Jacob Kaplan-Moss
• Writer Emergency Pack kickstarter — 8,000 decks to send out
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
• John August on Twitter
• Craig Mazin on Twitter
• John on Instagram
• Outro by Peter Hoopes (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Megana Rao and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@dev.johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 5-1-21 The transcript for this episode can now be found here.

John and Craig discuss the projects they’re not currently working on. From sunk cost fallacies to grudge writing, they offer advice for when you should rescue an idea from the Maybe-write list.

We follow up on bad bosses, Ponzi schemes and answer listener questions about what to do when you have a crush on your producer.

Finally in our bonus segment for premium members, John and Craig discuss which words they’d be willing to lose forever and the many interpretations of “Sure.”

Links:

• “Everyone Just Knows He’s an Absolute Monster”: Scott Rudin’s Ex-Staffers Speak Out on Abusive Behavior by Tatiana Siegel for The Hollywood Reporter
• California Employment Lawyers Association
• Hollywood actor arrested in alleged $227-million Ponzi scheme
• Peeps Movie
• Why We Have So Many Problems with Our Teeth by Peter S. Ungar
• Paul Ritter, British Stage, Film and TV Actor, Dies at 54
• John’s Twitter Thread on Words We’d Lose
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
• John August on Twitter
• John on Instagram
• Outro by Nora Beyer (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Megana Rao and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@dev.johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 4-20-21 The transcript for this episode can be found here.

John and Craig tackle the tricky territory of movie titles: what makes them great, why they’re important, and how a bad one can tank a good movie.

We answer listener questions on writing diverse characters, surprising movie expenses, and residuals.

Finally, in our bonus segment for premium members Craig outlines how to behave in a restaurant.

Links:

• 12 Great Movies with Terrible Titles by Margaret Maurer
• That Song In Every Musical That No One Likes by Sarah Smallwood Parsons
• Facer for smart watch faces and Carrot a weather app for the Apple Watch.
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
• John August on Twitter
• Craig Mazin on Twitter
• John on Instagram
• Outro by Chester Howie (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Megana Rao and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@dev.johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 4-9-21 The transcript for this episode can now be found here.