Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

By Chas Fisher and Stuart Willis

What's Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast about?

Two emerging screenwriters – Chas Fisher and Stuart Willis – try to work out what makes great screenplays work. Discovering what it takes by analysing what successful writers put on the page.

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Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast episodes:

03.31.2024
DZ-108: The Emotional Event with Judith Weston
How and why should every scene have an emotional event? For the first episode of our tenth anniversary year, we are joined by Judith Weston to talk about Emotional Events. What is an emotional event? Well, it’s a way of thinking...
02.29.2024
DZ-107: Establishing Tone Through Character
How can we use dramatisation to create tone? In this episode, Chas and Stu continue their deep dive into how to write tone by examining films with “light” (we use the phrase loosely) tones: LADY BIRD, EMILY THE CRIMINAL, THE...
12.31.2023
DZ-106: How do you know if you have enough story?
How do you know if you have enough narrative fuel to write a script? In this episode, Chas, Stu and Mel attempt to answer a listener question: “In your own pre-writing process, how do you know you have enough for...
11.30.2023
DZ-105: Establishing Tone Through Big Print
How can we teach the reader to find the humour in our darkness? Chas and Stu finally start their long-mooted exploration of tone with a series that examines films and shows with unusual tones and dives into how the writers...
11.01.2023
DZ-104: Characters Alone - Dramatizing the Internal
How can scenes where characters are alone increase our connection with them? In this episode, we explore the audience's connection with characters through the lens of characters being alone. Chas and Stu breakdown scenes (and their scripts) from AFTERSUN, SENSE...
10.01.2023
DZ-103: Game of the Scene 2 - Triangle of Sadness, The Favourite
How can games elevate dramatic scenes? In part two of this two parter, Stu and Chas go further into the game (of the scene) and look at how games force characters *other* than the protagonist to interact. We deep dive...
08.31.2023
DZ-102: Game of the Scene - Bluey, John Wick 4
How can ‘games’ help us write better scenes? Stu and Chas turn their attention to a topic that has long eluded them: the game of the scene. We look at how considering the game that characters are playing — its...
07.03.2023
DZ-101 Creating Immediacy & Anchoring Action on the Page
What can we learn by analysing how ‘oners’ are written on the page? Chas, Stu and Mel reunite to talk about writing the *feel* of camerawork in screenplays. We use “oners” — a long-playing continuous take — as a lens...
05.29.2023
DZ-100: Scenes through Swords
What scene work tools can be learned from martial arts? In this slightly unusual episode of Draft Zero (but also incredibly on brand), Stu and philosopher swordsperson Damon Young discuss how the lessons they have learned from martial arts can...
05.01.2023
DZ-99: Scene Questions
How do audience questions shape scenes? nspired by our earlier episodes on sequences, Chas and Stu narrow their focus to look at the atomic unit of screen storytelling: the scene. In particular, we breakdown how question and answers prompted in...
03.31.2023
DZ-98: Ensembles 3 - Character Function & Theme
What effect does adding a ton of characters have on your story? In Part 3 (the final part? Ha!) of our exploration into ensemble stories, Stu, Chas & Mel examine films whose genres do not conventionally require a ton of...
02.28.2023
DZ-97: Ensembles 2 - Servicing Characters
How do you give your audience access to a lot of characters? In Part 2 of our exploration into ensemble stories, Stu, Chas and Mel examine films whose plot and genre require a lot of characters. Thus we tackle a...
01.31.2023
DZ-96: Ensembles 1 - What do we mean by an ensemble?
DZ-96: Ensembles 1 - What do we mean by an ensemble? How can the same story feel different when you have more characters? In the first part of our series on ensembles, Chas, Stu and Mel start by laying the...
12.31.2022
DZ-95: Backmatter - Building and Maintenance
How do you maintain hope in the face of, er, screenwriting? Time for our annual backmatter episode, where we drop any ruse of any objectivity, and fully embrace our subjective opinions! In this episode we discuss: potential topics for 2023;...
11.30.2022
DZ-94: Talismans (Part 2)
How can you use physical objects to track character change… wordlessly? In part two of our two-part series on TALISMANS, we break down the beats used to turn objects (in a broad sense) into talismans; how talismans can track character...
10.31.2022
DZ-93: Talismans (Part 1)
How can you use physical objects to reveal inner character? In this series, Chas and Stu discuss TALISMANS. Physical objects that are imbued with meaning by a character or characters. They’re a powerful tool to access inner character. In this...
09.29.2022
DZ-92: Insightful recognition in powerful endings
How can endings prompt an audience to reflect on your story? Stu & Chas set out to explore what makes certain endings powerful, in particular those of LA LA LAND, INCEPTION, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN and TURNING RED. The...
08.31.2022
DZ-91: Raising (different kinds of) Stakes
How can you keep your audience hooked when they know the end of the story? Chas, Stu and Mel take a deep dive into stakes, using then lens of biopics to help us think about them. If an audience already...
07.27.2022
DZ-90: Setups & Payoffs in Everything Everywhere All At Once
How can you use setups and payoffs to stitch your film together? In this one-shot, Chas and Stu dive into the awesomeness of EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE. In particular, we focus on its use of setups, payoffs and reversals;...
05.31.2022
DZ-89: Opening Sequences
How does your opening sequence set up your audience? Inspired by her tweet on how subversive an opening OCEAN’S ELEVEN has, Chas and Stu invited amazing writer/director Jessica Ellis onto the show to deep dive into opening sequences. How does...
04.30.2022
DZ-88: Drama in Genre clothing
How can dramas use genre elements to hook their audiences? Stu and Chas reunite with TV writer & director Kodie Bedford to look at how some films start out as genre but gradually become character dramas. Or, as Stu never...
03.28.2022
DZ-87: Keeping Genre fresh
How do you deliver on the emotional contract of a genre while surprising the audience? In tackling this enormous topic, Stu and Chads enlist professional TV writer and director for Kodie Bedford, someone who has somehow managed to defy genre...
02.01.2022
DZ-86: Backmatter - Minimum Viable Product
How do you determine what is your MVP? In their annual full backwater episode, Stu and Chas let out their pandemic hair, drop the ruse of objectivity, and allow themselves to have even more options about writing and the business...
11.17.2021
DZ-85: Choices & Decisions 2 - The Farewell & Wrath of Man
What is difference between choice and decision when it comes to audience experience? In our second part of our “series” on Choices and Decisions, we take a deep dive into THE FAREWELL and WRATH OF MAN, with a sidebar on...
10.30.2021
DZ-84: Choices & Decisions 1 - Booksmart
What is the difference between choice and decision when it comes to characters? In order to better understand dramatising of character, Chas and Stu take a very draft zero look at very specific tool: choices and decisions. We analyse three...
09.08.2021
DZ-83: A Very Thematic Stand-up Special!
What can screenwriters learn from the storytelling techniques used by stand-up comedians? Standup comedians can keep audiences gripped to their every word for over an hour, and often bring them to emotional climaxes by the end. So how do they...
08.18.2021
DZ-82: Dramatising Given Circumstances in Watchmen
How can writers dramatise Given Circumstances? In this final podcast release of last year’s run of LiveSoLation episodes, Chas and Stu are joined by Uber-geek Mel Killingsworth (who else?) in an epic exploration of how Dave Gibbons’ and Alan...
06.30.2021
DZ-81: Pitch Decks & Look Books - Development Tools 4
How do you make effective pitch decks and look books for your projects? Chas and Stu are joined by writer/director/producer/multi-hyphenate Marc Furmie of Rezistor Studios to talk all things pitch decks and look books. Coming from an advertising and music...
05.31.2021
DZ-80: Interweaving Timelines 3 - Little Women
How can interweaving timelines elevate the emotional experience for the audience? In our final part, part 3, of our Interweaving Timelines series, we — Chas, Stu & Mel — take a deep dive into Greta Gerwig's 2019 adaptation of Little Women....
04.30.2021
DZ-79: Interweaving Timelines 2 - The Social Network
How can interweaving two timelines change how we feel about a character? In this Part 2 of Interweaving Timelines (aka The Stu Monologue Episode), Mel, Chas and Stu tackle Sorkin/Fincher's The Social Network. As you’ll hear, it is clearly Stu’s...
04.01.2021
DZ-78: Interweaving Timelines 1 - Destroyer
How does interweaving two timelines change how the audience feel? Stu and Chas are joined by Mel Killingsworth to dissect interweaving timelines. Not anthology films. Not Cloud Atlas. But films where two plot lines featuring the same characters, but from...
02.28.2021
DZ-77: Backmatter - Prioritising and choosing projects
How do you choose which project to start next? In their now-annual full backmatter episode, Stu and Chas let their hair down, drop the guise of objectivity, and allow themselves to have an even more subjective opinion about writing and...
02.01.2021
DZ-76: Spotlight on Sofia Coppola
What can we learn from Sofia Coppola’s on-the-page skills over her career? Following the success of the Tips from Tarantino episode, we have again decided to look at three different scripts from over the course of a long screenwriting career...
12.31.2020
DZ-75: Fury Road & Visual Storytelling
How can you do powerful storytelling... without dialogue? Stu and Chas are joined by filmmaker, podcaster and writer Matthew Brown to deep dive into FURY ROAD and its astounding visual storytelling, both on the page and on screen. We talk...
12.01.2020
DZ-74: Midsommar & Folk Horror
What can we learn from folk horror? Draft Zero return with their next YouTube livestream! Stu and Chas are joined by previous guest (and successful screenwriter) C.S. McMullen for a deep dive into MIDSOMMAR! We analyse the film through the...
10.21.2020
DZ-73: Selling documents - Development Tools 3
How do I write selling documents differently to development documents? In developing our stories and scripts, we have probably written some combination of treatments and loglines and outlines. Some of us have probably even sent these development materials out to...
09.28.2020
DZ-72: Theme & The Story Synopsis – Development Tools 2
How can I develop my theme without writing script pages? Continuing our look at tools used in development, Chas & Stu are joined by Stephen Cleary to talk about Theme, The Thematic Logline and what Stephen calls The Story Synopsis....
09.01.2020
DZ-71: Treatments & Loglines - Development Tools 1
How can I develop my plot before writing the screenplay? Stu and Chas are joined by fan-favourite, Stephen Cleary, to NOT look at what makes great screenplays work -- but what makes great "short documents" work. We draw on Stephen...
07.23.2020
DZ-70: Joker & Melodrama
How does Joker use melodramatic techniques to elevate its storytelling? Draft Zero return with their next YouTube livestream! Stu and Chas take a deep dive into JOKER and analyse the film through the story paradigm of melodrama. Is it a...
06.10.2020
DZ-69: Parasite & Audience Questions
How can you use audience questions to heighten emotional investment? Draft Zero return with their next YouTube livestream! Stu and Chas take a deep dive into PARASITE and how its mastery of audience questions elevates the film. They then answer...
05.17.2020
DZ-68: Using POV to structure KNIVES OUT
How can shifting narrative point of view drive your sequences? Born out of isolation madness, this episode is an edited version of Draft Zero’s first YouTube livestream. Stu and Chas both watched KNIVES OUT and - together with our listeners...
04.30.2020
DZ-67: Writing “Passive” Protagonists & Melodrama
How do I tell a powerful story where the protagonist cannot drive the plot? Stu and Chas are joined by Stephen Cleary following his exploration into Melodrama, and together they try to reclaim the word from its pejorative meaning. By...
04.07.2020
DZ LiVEsolation Annoucement
How does Draft Zero cope with lockdown? LINKS Facebook: http://facebook.com/draftzeropodcast/ Patreon: http://patreon.com/draftzero/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIEz5b9FMNa7Tj8DkcJQWRA Dear DZ Listeners, We hope you are all staying healthy and safe. Due this difficult time of lockdown, Chas and Stu have decided...
03.17.2020
DZ-66: The Mandalorian and The Rise of Skywalker - Audience Knowledge vs Character Motivation
How does audience knowledge affect your character’s motivations? Chas and Stu are joined by special guest - filmmaker Mel Killingsworth - to talk all things Star Wars. Well. Focusing on The Mandalorian and The Rise of Skywalker and wherever else...
02.14.2020
DZ-65: Collaborating with a Director - The Snip
What changes in your writing and development when collaborating with a director? This episode, Chas steps down as co-host (kinda) and is interviewed by Stu as a guest, alongside director Ben Mizzi, about the short rom-com that Chas wrote and...
01.30.2020
DZ-64: Backmatter - Controlling your Work, Treatments, and Writing Styles
In our annual Backmatter-only episode, Stu and Chas indulge themselves by offering personal opinions on the life and work of emerging screenwriters based on their own personal experience. To that end, they discuss: what is and is not in your...
12.31.2019
DZ-63: Tools for Better Dialogue 2 - Hook and Eye
How can you create flow and contrast in your dialogue? A full three years after the first instalment (and one of our most popular), Stu and Chas have kidnapped Stephen Cleary to once again develop some craft tools around dialogue....
12.02.2019
DZ-62: Unfilmables and Unscriptables 3 - As Ifs & Emotional context
How do you know if your unfilmable is good... or if you’re just being a wanker? In this third and final part of our series on unfilmables, Chas and Stu turn their critical eye to... each other’s work! They take...
09.25.2019
DZ-61: Unfilmables and Unscriptables 2 - Moments of Awe
How can unfilmables help you create those cinematic moments of awe? In this second part of our series on unfilmables, Chas and Stu continue their deep dive into how writing the “unfilmable” can enhance your script. Rather than looking at...
08.07.2019
DZ-60 Unfilmables and Unscriptables 1 - Engaging imagination
How can unfilmables enhance the experience of your script? AKA Why your screenwriting guru is wrong In this episode, Chas and Stu deep dive into the controversial area of “unfilmables” — those alleged screenwriting sins, where a writer writes a...

What's Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast episodes:

DZ-108: The Emotional Event with Judith Weston

DZ-107: Establishing Tone Through Character

DZ-106: How do you know if you have enough story?

DZ-105: Establishing Tone Through Big Print

DZ-104: Characters Alone - Dramatizing the Internal

DZ-103: Game of the Scene 2 - Triangle of Sadness, The Favourite

DZ-102: Game of the Scene - Bluey, John Wick 4

DZ-101 Creating Immediacy & Anchoring Action on the Page

DZ-100: Scenes through Swords

DZ-99: Scene Questions

DZ-98: Ensembles 3 - Character Function & Theme

DZ-97: Ensembles 2 - Servicing Characters

DZ-96: Ensembles 1 - What do we mean by an ensemble?

DZ-95: Backmatter - Building and Maintenance

DZ-94: Talismans (Part 2)

DZ-93: Talismans (Part 1)

DZ-92: Insightful recognition in powerful endings

DZ-91: Raising (different kinds of) Stakes

DZ-90: Setups & Payoffs in Everything Everywhere All At Once

DZ-89: Opening Sequences

DZ-88: Drama in Genre clothing

DZ-87: Keeping Genre fresh

DZ-86: Backmatter - Minimum Viable Product

DZ-85: Choices & Decisions 2 - The Farewell & Wrath of Man

DZ-84: Choices & Decisions 1 - Booksmart

DZ-83: A Very Thematic Stand-up Special!

DZ-82: Dramatising Given Circumstances in Watchmen

DZ-81: Pitch Decks & Look Books - Development Tools 4

DZ-80: Interweaving Timelines 3 - Little Women

DZ-79: Interweaving Timelines 2 - The Social Network

DZ-78: Interweaving Timelines 1 - Destroyer

DZ-77: Backmatter - Prioritising and choosing projects

DZ-76: Spotlight on Sofia Coppola

DZ-75: Fury Road & Visual Storytelling

DZ-74: Midsommar & Folk Horror

DZ-73: Selling documents - Development Tools 3

DZ-72: Theme & The Story Synopsis – Development Tools 2

DZ-71: Treatments & Loglines - Development Tools 1

DZ-70: Joker & Melodrama

DZ-69: Parasite & Audience Questions

DZ-68: Using POV to structure KNIVES OUT

DZ-67: Writing “Passive” Protagonists & Melodrama

DZ LiVEsolation Annoucement

DZ-66: The Mandalorian and The Rise of Skywalker - Audience Knowledge vs Character Motivation

DZ-65: Collaborating with a Director - The Snip

DZ-64: Backmatter - Controlling your Work, Treatments, and Writing Styles

DZ-63: Tools for Better Dialogue 2 - Hook and Eye

DZ-62: Unfilmables and Unscriptables 3 - As Ifs & Emotional context

DZ-61: Unfilmables and Unscriptables 2 - Moments of Awe

DZ-60 Unfilmables and Unscriptables 1 - Engaging imagination