695 - Advice to a Young Film Student (with Scott Frank)
Release Date: 07/15/2025
712 - Something Wicked This Way Comes
Scriptnotes Podcast
John and Craig welcome back Dana Fox (Wicked, The Lost City) for a magical flight through everything that went into adapting Wicked and its upcoming sequel, Wicked: For Good. They look at the history of the project, why it was split into two movies, the process for writing when you’re shooting two movies at the same time, and the exhausting effort it takes for big movies to defy gravity. We also chat with Graham Rowat, the narrator of the Scriptnotes audiobook, follow up on weird movies and cuck chairs, answer listener questions on the limits of torturing your heroes and ask, did the 90’s...
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711 - The State of Pitching
Scriptnotes Podcast
John welcomes back Aline Brosh McKenna (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The Devil Wears Prada) to ask, what do executives expect from a pitch these days? They look at the typical structure of a pitch deck, how that differs from lookbooks, how pitches have evolved over the years, and best practices for pitching on Zoom. Also, what happened to single-lady sitcoms? If you remember Monday nights in the 90’s, you know what we’re talking about. We reflect on what they did for the culture and how social media and reality TV may be taking their place. In our bonus segment for premium members, Aline tells us...
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710 - What Happened To Weird?
Scriptnotes Podcast
John and Craig look at all the pleasant, normal people around them and ask, what happened to the weirdos? They root out the causes of cultural stagnation, offer potential solutions, and explore the entertainment that still finds a way to be weird. We also look at the tipping point between “wanting to write” and “actually writing,” follow up on printer prices and billboard queens, and answer listener questions on soundtracks, adapting a podcast and feeling ownership over your ideas. In our bonus segment for premium members, we try to remember how we construct our personal narratives,...
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709 - Live at the Austin Film Festival 2025
Scriptnotes Podcast
John and Craig return to Texas for their 11th show at the Austin Film Festival. They welcome writer Pamela Ribon (Nimona, My Year of Dicks) and showrunner Anthony Sparks (Queen Sugar, Bel-Air) to look at what makes character relationships compelling, and how to build a writing career later in life. We also answer lister questions on getting un-stuck in a script, how podcasting has made us better writers, the limits of exposition, using AI for sizzle reels, and where we get the cajones selling a screenwriting book after slagging-off screenwriting books for fourteen years. In our bonus segment...
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708 - Ambition Meets Fabrication
Scriptnotes Podcast
John and Craig look at three tales of lies, betrayal and deceit and ask, How Would This be a Movie? Stories include a flamboyant show-business grifter, a sibling rivalry between two LA billboard queens, and American students tricked into attending a fake Oxford college. We also follow up on audio dramas, last looks, and answer listener questions on a suspicious AI story and what do do with producers that are too keen. In our bonus segment for premium members, how do you watch TV when you’re away from home, particularly overseas? We share the joys and frustrations of tuning in while you’re...
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707 - After the Hunt
Scriptnotes Podcast
by Jessica DeFino , or Scriptnotes on John August on and by Nick Moore () Scriptnotes is produced by and edited by . Email us at ask@johnaugust.com You can download the episode .
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161 - A Cheap Cut of Meat Soaked in Butter (Encore)
Scriptnotes Podcast
John and Craig invite Aline Brosh McKenna back to celebrate the third anniversary of Scriptnotes. It’s a jam-packed, glass-and-a-half of wine, listener-favorite episode. They look at ways to breathe new life into scenes and characters that aren’t working, box office journalism and how Hollywood is always dying, scene geography, and the role of emotional intelligence (or EQ) in a writer’s career. In our bonus segment for premium members, we have original outtakes from the episode where we look at what changed in the world in our first three years on air, make predictions for what’s to...
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706 - Is TV Better Now?
Scriptnotes Podcast
John and Craig wonder, how has TV changed in the last ten years? They compare what’s better and worse, the tradeoffs between quality and quantity, how curation is changing, the pros and cons of shorter seasons, and what this all means for writers and viewers. We also look forward to our time at the Austin Film Festival, offer paths for writers to keep their health insurance, follow up on Three Page Challenge selections that actually got made, and answer listener questions on adapting a screenplay into an audio drama and payment for work after a script is turned in. In our bonus segment for...
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705 - Short Films and Existential Threats
Scriptnotes Podcast
John and Craig discuss short films: what makes a great short, when should you make one, and what should you realistically expect out of it? We also update our predictions on whether the career of “screenwriter” can survive potential global catastrophes. We then answer listener questions on staff writer wages and using URLs in a script. In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Craig talk intermissions and why more movies should have them. Links: John’s post on Megana Rao on and , or Scriptnotes on John August on and ...
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704 - Places, Everyone
Scriptnotes Podcast
John welcomes back Liz Hannah (The Post, The Girl from Plainville) to discuss how to construct and communicate setting in a script. They talk about the balance between establishing a sense of space while avoiding the beginner’s mistake of over-blocking. We also follow up on accountability groups, last looks, and French composers. Then, we answer listener questions on revisions and getting your Hollywood Card revoked. In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Liz consider how to explain screenwriting to your kids (and others). LINKS: Interested in being our new UI/UX...
info_outlineJohn and Craig welcome back Scott Frank (The Queen’s Gambit, Dept. Q) to offer their best advice to film students and the people who teach them. They look at ways to improve how we educate writers, and offer advice to an aspiring development executive.
We also look at the intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivations of characters in Scott’s new series, Dept. Q, follow up on the decline of sex in movies, and ask, what genres of movies should people see at least one of?
In our bonus segment for premium members, John, Craig and Scott take a broader view of education in America to see what they’ve learned and what they would change.
Links:
- Dept. Q on Netflix
- Scott Frank
- Scott’s last time on Scriptnotes, Episode 476: The Other Senses
- Everyone Is Beautiful And No One Is Horny by RS Benedict for Blood Knife
- Scriptnotes 639: Intrinsic Motivation
- Antimemetics: Why Some Ideas Resist Spreading by Nadia Asparouhova
- Elmore Leonard’s Perfect Pitch by Anthony Lane for The New Yorker
- Richard Price’s Street Life by Kevin Lozano for The New Yorker
- McDonald’s AI Hiring Bot Exposed Millions of Applicants’ Data to Hackers Who Tried the Password ‘123456’ by Andy Greenberg for Wired
- Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
- Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
- Become a Scriptnotes Premium member, or gift a subscription
- Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube
- Craig Mazin on Instagram
- John August on Bluesky and Instagram
- Outro by Nico Mansy (send us yours!)
- Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.
Email us at ask@johnaugust.com
You can download the episode here.