Scriptnotes Podcast

• 678 - The On-Set Producer

  John and Craig welcome producer Dan Etheridge (iZombie, High Potential, Party Down) to look at how non-writing producers develop projects, coordinate across departments, and maintain the tone of the show as directors come and go. We offer practical tips for making the most of video village, regardless of your role, and solutions for the scourge of directors chairs. Highland Pro, John’s next generation screenwriting app is now available now for Mac, iPad and iPhone! We discuss what’s new and what’s coming next. We also answer listener questions pitching multiple projects, writing on tablets and how to launch an app. In our bonus segment for premium members, John, Craig and Dan look back on their experience officiating weddings, and offer advice for those about to marry people. Dan even officiated John’s wedding! Links: Highland Pro | Download on the App Store Dan Etheridge on IMDb Buck Rodgers’ robot sidekick [The Tom Thumb locomotive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Thumb_(locomotive) Statpage and DuckDuckGo I Miss the Music from Curtains Curule Evercast Scripto Night Moves, Prime Cut, and Scarecrow Lorelei and the Laser Eyes on Steam Diplomacy Beneath the Moon and Long Dead Stars by Daniel Wallace 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, and Instagram Outro by Richard Barrett (send us yours!) Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli. Email us at [email protected] You can download the episode here.

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• 677 - Puzzle Box Storytelling

  John and Craig decipher mystery box shows, where the premise and audience experience involve solving the puzzle of what’s really happening. They look at strategies for revealing clues and information, being mindful of the audience’s expectations, and the importance of the emotional journey inside the labyrinth. We also announce a new video game, discuss what we can learn by revisiting old projects, follow up on unlocked pages and home automation, and answer listener questions on live instruments, pulling story from D&D campaigns, and where to draw the line between INT. and EXT. In our bonus segment for premium members, how do you set boundaries when you feel like you’re always supposed to be writing? That’s not rhetorical — we need help. Links: Birdigo on Steam Lutron HomeWorks and Home Assistant The Prisoner (1967) Scriptnotes, Ep 296: Television with Damon Lindelof Patrick Wilson, Jordan Donica Leading Industry Reading of Revised, Broadway-Aimed Big Fish on Playbill.com Falling Slowly scene in Once Life and Trust 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, and Instagram Outro by Spencer Lackey (send us yours!) Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli. Email us at [email protected] You can download the episode here.  

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• 676 - Writing while the World is on Fire

  How do you keep doing creative work when the world is falling apart around you? To sift through the despair and doubt, John welcomes back legendary Scriptnotes guest, writer-turned-psychotherapist Dennis Palumbo. They discuss the many feelings that catastrophic events can bring up in artists, the personal narratives that often inform those feelings, and how to keep moving forward when you feel like the band on the Titanic. We also follow up on AI, and answer listener questions on competing with brain trusts and how to support a friend embroiled in controversy. In our bonus segment for premium members, Dennis guides us through the best examples and worst mistakes of portraying therapists on screen. Links: “Am I Just Fiddling While Rome Burns?” by Dennis Palumbo for Psychiatric Times Scriptnotes 99 – Psychotherapy for Screenwriters ShotDeck River Runner Global At the Existentialist Café by Sarah Bakewell 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, and Instagram Outro by Spencer Lackey (send us yours!) Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli. Email us at [email protected] You can download the episode here.

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• 675 - Say Nothing with Joshua Zetumer

  Craig welcomes writer and showrunner Joshua Zetumer, creator of the limited series Say Nothing, to explore the process of dramatizing real events — particularly when the subject matter can be volatile. They discuss how to keep a sprawling historical epic from feeling like a lecture, keeping a consistent tone, humanizing complicated people, and how not to get sued by the people who were really involved. They also answer listener questions on following up with people after the fires, charting the emotional journey of the audience, and whether writers need to cite their sources when writing about real events. In our bonus segment for premium members, Craig and Joshua pretend to be civil engineers and ask, how can we make Los Angeles function better? Links: Say Nothing Joshua Zetumer Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe Difficult Men by Brett Martin Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk 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 [email protected] You can download the episode here.

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• 674 - The One vvith Robert Eggers

  Hearken well! John sitteth in discourse with the learned Robert Eggers, weaver of dreadsome visions (The Witch, The Lighthouse), whose latest labour bringeth forth Nosferatu from the mistes of antiquity. Together, they dost unravel the craft of breathing newe life into the ghastly count of olde, how Robert didst hone his vision through toil and cunning in his firste labours, and the summoning of terror moste unholy upon the silver’d screen. We do also taketh to hand the queries of our faithful listeners on the perils of o’ermuch detail in one’s scribings, on what may be done when one doth feel oneself a dullard, and whether those who spin tales be ill-fitted for matters of courtship and love. In our boon segment for those of premium patronage, Robert doth speak of his fervent love for the wheeled steed and pursuits beyond the shaping of moving pictures. Links: Robert Eggers Nosferatu | Screenplay Robert Eggers’ shorts Hansel and Gretel and The Tell-Tale Heart The Girl with the Needle Making School Cafeteria Pizza from the 1980s & ‘90s 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 Guy Fee (send us yours!) Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt with help this week from Zoe Black, and edited by Matthew Chilelli. Email us at [email protected] You can download the episode here.

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