Scriptnotes, Episode 717: The Screenwriting Life: The Craft Lessons That Matter Most, Transcript

The original post for this episode can be found here. John August: Hello, and welcome. My name is John August, and you’re listening to Episode 717 of Scriptnotes. It’s a podcast about screenwriting and things that are interesting to screenwriters. While this is, in fact, Episode 717 of Scriptnotes, it’s also Episode 277 of The […]

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Scriptnotes, Episode 716: Personality Typologies, Transcript

The original post for this episode can be found here. John August: Hey, this is John. Standard warning for people who are in the car with their kids, there’s some swearing in this episode. Hello and welcome. My name is John August. Craig Mazin: My name is Craig Mazin. John: You’re listening to Episode 716 […]

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The Value of Public Domain Day

Out of roughly 16,000 eligible books, movies, or music, no more than five percent could expect to earn more than a total of $100 in the space of 20 years. The rest of the works—more than 15,000 of them—were expected to be worth less than five dollars per year (economically speaking) to their rights holders.

No Worries if Not

John and Craig circle back on all the euphemisms and stock phrases that float around Hollywood. Using some favorite examples, they attempt to define and demystify the current industry-speak so everyone is looped in when we come up for air after the holidays. We also wrap-up 2025 with a look at Scriptnotes by the numbers, […]

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What I did in 2025

This was a tough year. American democracy strained under authoritarian assault. Here in Los Angeles, friends lost homes in the fires while many in the industry struggled to find work. But good things happened as well. Babies were born. Terrific movies and TV shows debuted. My family was happy and healthy. My husband has a […]

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The Screenwriting Life: The Craft Lessons That Matter Most

In a Christmas crossover event, John and Craig join Meg LeFauve (Inside Out) and Lorien McKenna (Tab Time) on their podcast, The Screenwriting Life. We talk about why rigid structure can miss the point, how theme emerges from character, what fear and denial really look like on the page, and how writers can survive rejection […]

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Back-of-the-Envelope Math on What Payouts We May See in the Bartz v. Anthropic Settlement

Now that the Bartz settlement has passed some initial judicial hurdles and is moving along, with important deadlines approaching (opt-out […]

Universities as Internet Service Providers (ISPs), an Interview with Stephen Wolfson

In Cox v. Sony, a jury found internet service provider Cox Communications liable for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement after […]

Personality Typologies

John and Craig welcome back screenwriter Mike Makowsky (Death by Lightning, Bad Education) to ask, how do you dramatize a historical event that no one’s heard of? They look at the dramatic engine behind the Garfield assassination, the long journey Death by Lightning had to getting made, and the importance of finding great stories in […]

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