QandA

Upgrade

Episode - 354

June 12, 2018 Directors, Film Industry, Genres, Indie, Scriptnotes, Transcribed

Craig welcomes Leigh Whannell, writer of the Saw and Insidious franchises, to discuss low-budget filmmaking, sequels on sequels, the horror landscape and his new movie, Upgrade.

We also answer listener questions about sharing an agent with your writing partner and the ethics of hiring someone to punch up your own script.

Links:

Thanks for joining us, Leigh Whannell!
Leigh wrote Saw, Insidious, and, most recently, Upgrade, (here’s the fairly violent trailer).
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara
Matthew Lillard’s company, Beadle & Grimm’s Pandemonium Warehouse, is releasing a luxury Dungeons and Dragons campaign called Platinum Edition Dungeons & Dragons: Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, which is available to pre-order.
The Scriptnotes Listeners’ Guide!
The USB drives!
John August on Twitter
Craig Mazin on Twitter
Leigh Whannell on Twitter
John on Instagram
Find past episodes
Outro by Matthew Chilelli (send us yours!)

Email us at ask@dev.johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 6-20-18: The transcript of this episode can be found here.

Bad Behavior

June 5, 2018 Directors, Film Industry, Follow Up, Scriptnotes, Television, Tools, Transcribed, Videogames, Words on the page

John and Craig discuss the hot new trend of firing jerks from successful TV shows. Why is it happening now like never before? Is there an important distinction between being “difficult” and being a jerk?

We also follow up on listener suggestions for outlining tools, and answer questions about the landscape of feature comedy, the art of biopic postscripts, shopping agreements, and the etiquette around replacing another writer.

Links:

A series is in development based on Elif Batuman’s New Yorker article about rental families.
Some listener-recommended outliners include Workflowy, Gingko, Cloud Outliner, OmniOutliner from Omni Group, Pages, Causality, and good old index cards.
Some recently fired examples include Roseanne Barr, Jeffrey Tambor, Clayne Crawford, and Bryan Singer.
A question of etiquette regarding replacing another writer
No Thanks!, a game by Thorsten Gimmler
Faraway 3, a puzzle game for iOS
The Scriptnotes Listeners’ Guide!
The USB drives!
John August on Twitter
Craig Mazin on Twitter
John on Instagram
Find past episodes
Outro by Jon Spurney (send us yours!)

Email us at ask@dev.johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 6-13-18: The transcript of this episode can be found here.

Infinite Westworld

May 29, 2018 Directors, Genres, QandA, Scriptnotes, Story and Plot, Television, Transcribed, Writing Process

John and Craig welcome Lisa Joy & Jonah Nolan (Westworld) and Stephen McFeely & Christopher Markus (Avengers: Infinity War) to our annual live show benefitting Hollywood Heart.

We discuss worldbuilding, the challenges and delights of serialized storytelling, and the extreme measures taken to keep secrets.

We also answer audience questions on villains as protagonists, music supervision, and research as procrastination.

Recorded May 22, 2018 at the ArcLight in Hollywood

Links:

Thanks to the ArcLight, Hollywood HEART, and everyone who came out for this Live Show!
Lisa Joy and Jonah Nolan are on the second season of Westworld on HBO.
Stephen McFeely & Christopher Markus’s Avengers: Infinity War is in theaters now.
The Scriptnotes Listeners’ Guide!
The USB drives!
John August on Twitter
Craig Mazin on Twitter
John on Instagram
Find past episodes
Intro by Jon Spurney and Outro by Matthew Chilleli (send us yours!)

Email us at ask@dev.johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 6-6-18: The transcript of this episode can be found here.

Full Circle

May 22, 2018 Big Fish, Follow Up, Los Angeles, News, Scriptnotes, Software, Story and Plot, Transcribed, Writing Process

John and Craig talk about the way that movies tend to bring their stories full circle, and what that means for writers trying to figure out their story beats. They discuss rhyming, bookending and how properly setting up the central thematic question helps make the answer feel meaningful.

We also answer listener questions about putting one’s work on YouTube, annotating scripts, and arbitration.

Links:

Our next live Scriptnotes with Jonah Nolan & Lisa Joy (Westworld) and Stephen McFeely & Christopher Markus (Avengers: Infinity War) is TONIGHT, Tuesday, May 22nd at the ArcLight in Hollywood. Proceeds benefit Hollywood HEART, which runs special programs and summer camps for at-risk youth.
John’s statement on one theater’s choice to cancel their performance of Big Fish over the inclusion of same-sex parents.
Highland 2 is officially out! This is the New York Times article about our Gender Analysis feature.
Names on the Globe by George R. Stewart discusses the pronunciation of L.A.
One space between each sentence, they said. Science just proved them wrong. is a Washington Post article by Avi Selk about whether to put one space or two after a period.
According to Craig, Fun Home is a good example of a moving bookending.
The Sandman comics by Neil Gaiman
Dan Harmon’s Story Circle
21 Things to Know Before Losing Your Gay Virginity by Alexander Cheves
Moodnotes is an app that tracks your mood
The Scriptnotes Listeners’ Guide!
The USB drives!
John August on Twitter
Craig Mazin on Twitter
John on Instagram
Find past episodes
Outro by Olufemi Sowemimo (send us yours!)

Email us at ask@dev.johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 5-30-18: The transcript of this episode can be found here.

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