Scriptnotes Podcast

• 702 - Last Looks

  John and Craig welcome back producer Megana Rao, who has a question: how do you polish a script before sending it out? From obvious things like typos and title pages to tougher choices like cutting and transitions, they look at what to consider on a final pass so you can email your script with confidence. Then it’s another round of the Three Page Challenge, where we look at three listener-submitted scripts to offer our honest feedback on what’s working and what could use another pass. We also follow-up on advice for general meetings. In our bonus segment for premium members, what makes a great score? We look at the function of the soundtrack for feature films and how to work with composers. Links: Follow along with our Three Page Challenge selections! The Thin Place – “Pilot” by Katie Seward, Sunset Paycheck by Holden Potter, and Levelling Up by Sylvia-Anne Parker Submit to the next Three Page Challenge Megana Rao on Instagram and X Fixed-do vs. movable do solfège How to Tell if Something is AI-Written by Hollis Robbins Mark Halpin 2025 Labor Day Extravaganza Pageant of the Masters Preorder the Scriptnotes Book! Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt! Check out the Inneresting Newsletter Become a Scriptnotes Premium member, or gift a subscription Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube Scriptnotes on Instagram John August on Bluesky and Instagram 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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• 701 - Connections

  John and Craig examine how to best use your connections to help yourself and others. They look at ways to identify the strength of a connection, leverage them without being manipulative, the nitty-gritty of approaching others for a favor, and the important ways to be generous in return. We also look at the good news in the WGA’s 2025 Screen Compensation Guide, follow-up on creator pay through streaming services, and answer listener questions on how to tell if you’re improving something, and whether having kids changes our storytelling. In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Craig piece together their feelings on modern LEGO sets. Links: Scriptnotes Book is now on Goodreads! Scriptnotes 700 on YouTube Episode 645 with Meredith Scardino Vimeo on Demand Kanopy WGAw Screen Compensation Guide NYT Connections Pips 50 Things I Know by Cate Hall Preorder the Scriptnotes Book! Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt! Check out the Inneresting Newsletter Become a Scriptnotes Premium member, or gift a subscription Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube Scriptnotes on Instagram John August on Bluesky 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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• 700 - The Live Call-In Show

  To celebrate our 700th episode, John and Craig open the phone lines for a live late-night call-in show (recorded at 10 a.m. on a Wednesday). Through the power of Zoom (and YouTube), listeners ask questions about rewrites in post, avoiding traps as a production designer, changing characters in a rewrite, and advice on leaving the entertainment industry. We also welcome back familiar faces from Scriptnotes history for a brand-new segment, “People, Places and Things,” where we look at movie stills and ask how we might describe them on the page. Also for debate, what is the boundary between “spoiler” and “what’s happening in culture”? In our bonus segment for premium members, we keep the videophone lines open for more listener questions on juggling multiple projects, preparing alt lines for production, and whether studios option projects just to kill them. You can (and should!) watch the entire episode on our YouTube channel. Just search for Scriptnotes Podcast. While you’re there, give us a Like and a Follow. Links: Watch episode 700 on YouTube! Stuart Friedel, Megan McDonell, and Megana Rao Weapons The Hunting Wives on Netflix Vince Gilligan YouTube video Our Back to School collection on Weekend Read Play along with People, Places and Things: Woman one, woman two, man one, kid duo, oceanside, house, and city. Scriptnotes Episode 399: Notes on Notes Spike tape Bridge Base Online Preorder the Scriptnotes Book! 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 Matthew Chilelli (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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• 699 - How to Talk About Yourself

  Every writer has to pitch themselves, but how do you do it without sounding like a tool? John welcomes back Pamela Ribon (Nimona, My Year of Dicks) for a big talk about small talk and general meetings. They offer practical tips on what to expect, how to get people to open up, navigating NDAs, staying true to yourself, and organically moving the conversation away from the weather and towards your work. We also look at a pernicious effect of underemployment (starting with a prompt from Ryan Knighton,) and answer listener questions on alternating POV, reusing adjectives, and giving your story beats cause and effect. In our bonus segment for premium members, we get meta as we discuss the modern podcast landscape and next era of Scriptnotes. Links: Scriptnotes Episode 700 – LIVE Pamela Ribon My Year of Dicks Rental Family trailer Japan’s Rent-A-Family Industry by Elif Batuman for The New Yorker 37 Seconds Good conversations have lots of doorknobs by Adam Mastroianni Real Time Lightning Map Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT) Who Is Watching All These Podcasts? by Joseph Bernstein for NYT 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 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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• 698 - Movies that Never Were

  John and Craig descend into development hell to look at films that almost but never quite existed. Using both widely-publicized and little-known examples, they examine common patterns that keep movies frozen in script form. We also follow up on solar storms, writer education and genres people should see at least one of. We then answer listener questions on writing empathetically, late-career stamina, non-English dialogue, multi-part movies, and the Scriptnotes theme itself. In our bonus segment for premium members, if John and Craig were never paid to write in the screenplay format again, would they still do it? Links: Preorder the Scriptnotes Book! Birdigo on Steam Aurora by David Koepp Pale Flower Deep Red Suspiria Hands on a Hard Body American Movie Wonderland Hands on a Hardbody the musical Cure Pulse Moft magnetic wallet stand Total Party Skill podcast 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 Steve Pietrowski (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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