Also available on Apple, Spotify and YouTube.

On today’s podcast, Tara and I are talking to screenwriter Erin Martin.

Erin’s script, Mayfair Lady, was a quarter-finalist in the 2025 InspiredScreenwriting Competition.

When you hear the words ‘period drama’, you might picture corsets, drawing rooms, and all the usual literary adaptations. But Erin Martin’s script ‘Mayfair Lady’ starts with something more interesting: a real relationship that was messy, intimate, and stranger than fiction.

In this conversation, Erin shares how she went from USC film school to late-night TV, then into drama, and finally into the research rabbit hole that led to Mayfair Lady. Along the way, she explains why she fell in love with London, how she built a script around real history, and what it takes to make a period piece feel both authentic and cinematic.

If you’re interested in how to write historical drama, there’s a lot to learn here.

Erin is a writer and script coordinator with sixteen years of experience in film and television. She co-wrote the penultimate episode of The Walking Dead: World Beyond. Past script coordinator projects include Spider-Man: No Way Home, How I Met Your Mother, The Man in the High Castle, and CONAN. More recently, Erin worked alongside J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan on their series, Duster. In January, she received her MA in Script Writing with Distinction from Goldsmiths, University of London. Erin is passionate about telling female-led stories from new and previously unheard-of perspectives.

For more information about Erin and her work, reach out to [email protected] or visit www.inspiredscreenwriting.com

Key Topics

* Erin Martin’s journey from film school to TV writing

* The development of her period drama script inspired by Victorian art

* Her research process and emphasis on historical accuracy

* Her fascination with Icelandic folklore and its influence on her storytelling

* Insights into the film industry, casting, and project development

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit inspiredwriting.substack.com/subscribe

Also available on Apple, Spotify and YouTube.

On today’s podcast, Tara and I are talking to screenwriter Stephanie Weber.

Stephanie’s script, Comediettes, was a semi-finalist in the 2025 InspiredScreenwriting Competition.

Stephanie Weber is a Cuban-American writer and comedian from Chicago, currently living in Los Angeles. She’s a regular contributor to Reductress, Collider, and Mr. Skin.

She has written for Mental Floss, The A.V. Club, Slate, Atlas Obscura, Jackbox Games, and more. She has appeared on the TV shows Haunted USA and Where Murder Lies and is the writer and director of the short film Real Live Girls. In 2024, she completed her MFA in screenwriting from SCAD.

Listen to the interview to hear how she used her own experiences to pull back the curtain on the world of stand-up comedy.

For more information about Stephanie and her work, reach out to [email protected] or visit www.inspiredscreenwriting.com

Key Topics

* Stephanie Weber’s journey from comedy to screenwriting

* The creative process behind ‘Comediettes’

* The importance of multi-generational perspectives in storytelling

* Adapting a play into a screenplay

* Strategies for micro-budget filmmaking

Takeaways

* Diverse experiences enrich storytelling and character development.

* Writing with a clear vision can open doors to directing and producing.

* Infusing personal inspiration into scripts enhances authenticity.

* Proof of concept shorts can be a strategic tool for funding.

* Surrounding yourself with supportive, talented collaborators is crucial.

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction and Stephanie’s Writing Background

01:59 Transition from Comedy to Screenwriting

03:47 Studying at SCAD and New Perspectives

07:05 Inspiration Behind ‘Comediettes’

08:50 From Play to Screenplay: Creative Process

11:57 Visual and Cinematic Elements in the Script

14:55 Future Projects and Directing Aspirations

18:02 The Power of Inspiration and Past Influences

21:01 Advice for Aspiring Filmmakers and Writers

23:00 Closing Remarks and Next Steps

Don’t forget to visit the Inspired substack for more posts about finding inspiration at the movies.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit inspiredwriting.substack.com/subscribe

On today’s podcast, Tara and I are talking to screenwriter Eleonora Saravalle.

Eleonora’s script, Briefly Before I Die, was a quarter-finalist in the Inspired Screenwriting Competition.

Eleonora Saravalle is an actress and writer born and raised in Milan, Italy. After graduating from Brown University, she started out in Los Angeles before moving to New York. Her scripts tend to focus on stories that expose unpolished but very human facets we like to keep hidden, especially when it comes to mental health, but all handled with a touch of humor.

In 2022, she performed her one-woman show, Dried Apricots, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and then at Theatre Row in New York through another festival. More recently, she’s authored a pilot, a vertical web series, and various features, including one that earned seven International Best Screenplay nominations.

We talk about Eleonora’s path from acting to screenwriting, how her one-woman show helped unlock her voice, and why her work keeps circling the same questions about honesty, self-expression, and what artists owe their audience.

For more information about Eleonora and her work, reach out to [email protected] or visit www.inspiredscreenwriting.com

* Introduction to Eleonora Saravalle and her work

* Eleonora’s background and journey from Italy to the US

* Her transition from acting to writing and storytelling

* The inspiration behind her one-woman show and its themes

* Exploring authenticity and vulnerability in art

* The impact of social media and industry pressures on honesty

* Her script ‘Briefly Before I Die’ and its personal significance

* Balancing mental health and artistic expression

* Future projects and her creative aspirations

* he role of storytelling in creating safe spaces

* Closing thoughts and advice for aspiring artists

Don’t forget to visit the Inspired substack for more posts about finding inspiration at the movies. https://inspiredwriting.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit inspiredwriting.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to another episode of the Inspired Movie Podcast! Today we are discussing the movies I brought up in last week’s post:

Check out the podcast here in its full video glory or find it in all the usual places you find such things as well like Apple (give us a follow and a rating if you’d, like) and Spotify.

Oh, and here it is on YouTube, too.

FOR PEOPLE WHO DON’T LIKE WATCHING VIDEO / PLAYING AUDIO (which is me, actually, most days) - the transcript is here as well as captions for your general perusal (the buttons are up there somewhere by the video).

Also, if you missed the last podcast, you can find it here:

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit inspiredwriting.substack.com/subscribe

My friend Jim Hall and I have been trying to figure out a podcast for almost a year at this point.

We’ve tried a bunch of different formats, played around with different ideas. We interviewed filmmakers and screenwriters and the conversations were definitely fun and interesting but… it just felt like… two random people interviewing somebody. I don’t know. It didn’t feel… right.

(Don’t worry, I still plan on cannibalizing those interviews for posts because we talked to some pretty smart and talented people who had fascinating takes on their creative processes as well as a lot of insight on their professional experiences in the business.)

And then I posted this list of movies I won’t see for petty reasons -

- and boy did people have a LOT to say about it. Jim especially! He was all up in my text messages within an hour of that thing hitting the web telling me that I just HAD TO WATCH MAGNOLIA.

So, I figured, why not talk about it and see if that’s fun?

And it was!

Hopefully it’s fun to watch/listen to/read too. We’re going to try and do more of these and see where it goes. In the meantime, I’m going to go ahead and publish this as a podcast, because… why not?

So, it’ll be in all the usual places you find such things as well like Apple and Spotify.

FOR PEOPLE WHO DON’T LIKE WATCHING VIDEO / PLAYING AUDIO (which is me, actually, most days) - the transcript is here as well as captions for your general perusal (the buttons are up there somewhere by the video).

And if that’s still too much, then here’s a snippet of Jim explaining the totally valid reason why he will never see the movie Titanic:

“The main reason I didn't watch it was only because... it was a movie that literally everybody in my school saw and for some reason when all my friends were going i think i was sick or there was some reason i couldn't go so i didn't go with them and then my best friend, Dana, was like, “yeah, I mean, it wasn't that good.” And then a week later he said, “it'd be kind of funny if you just never saw this movie that everybody has seen.”

And I was like, yeah, that would be kind of funny. And I just rolled with it. Then eventually, I just decided, ah, f**k it, I'm never going to see it.” - Jim Hall

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit inspiredwriting.substack.com/subscribe

Stay tuned!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit inspiredwriting.substack.com/subscribe