Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Screenwriting: From the Trenches
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Screenwriting: From the Trenches
By Rob Hagans & Kay TuxfordTV & Film
Screenwriting: From the Trenches episodes
- Creating in the Horror-Adjacent Space!
This week Rob & Kay interview Lucas McNelly, writer/director of the microbudget thriller film, Up Country, to discuss the perils, pitfalls, and the promise of working in the horror-adjacent space.
Our Weekly Resource:
Sundance Collab – yes, Sundance has a website with paid and free membership with videos on writing, directing, financing, and production as well as Writer Cafe’s where you can zoom in and be held accountable for writing pages.Notes From the Episode:
Zack's Original Instagram video (for our Twitter Drama Bumper)
Lucas's Wordpress Site
Up Country Trailer
Lucas's First Film, Blanc de blanc
How to Make a Movie for $1000
Interview w/Noam Kroll
Lucas' Twitter
Kay's Twitter
Rob's Twitter
Zack's Twitter
Email us(!)
53 min - Does Your Writing Suck?
Sometimes you have to take a long, hard, look at your writing and ask yourself if you've birthed a turkey. It happens, even to the best of us, the question becomes -- what to do next? And that's where Rob & Kay come in, with advice for not only when you should admit to bad writing, but also when maybe folks -- when everyone -- may be wrong about what you've written.
Our Weekly Resource:
We love free shit. You love free shit. We love to recommend free shit to you that will help you along in your journey. So if you want to read a screenplay that does not suck, breaks all the rules, and still sets the standard of what a screenplay should be, we bequeath to you: Michael Clayton. Rob bought the actual script book (which is worth your cash), but we're also including a link to the script up on the script lab where you can download for the price of a free membership.Notes From the Episode:
Zack's Original Instagram video (for our Twitter Drama Bumper)
David Simon Explains Why Writers Must Strike
How to Make a Movie for $1000
Kay's Twitter
Rob's Twitter
Zack's Twitter
Email us(!)
1 hr - Paradigm Shifts in Writing!
From BUFFY to BREAKING BAD, the writing landscape has changed very rapidly to include new mandates, tropes and styles of storytelling. Rob & Kay take a look at what's come before -- inspired by Rob's recently viewing of Severance -- to hopefully give listeners an insight as to how to write to new places in storytelling with their own scripts.
Our Weekly Resource:
We’ve recommended Lessons from the Screenplay before, their channel and podcast are…not unparalleled, but certainly superlative in a crowded field of peers and copycats alike, but this video, featuring John Truby talking about his new book, “the anatomy of genre” will help you in your journey to shift paradigms and tell stories in new ways in your own writing.
Notes From the Episode:
Zack's Original Instagram video (for our Twitter Drama Bumper)
How to Make a Movie for $1000
Kay's Twitter
Rob's Twitter
Zack's Twitter
Email us(!)
1 hr 4 min - Rejection!
This week Rob & Kay talk rejection. How to deal with it, what we can learn from it, and what it can teach us.
Our Weekly Resource:
Lee Jessup’s Article: “Rejection is a Bitch”Notes From the Episode:
Zack's Original Instagram video (for our Twitter Drama Bumper)
"I Killed Optimus Prime"
Strike Rules & FAQ
How to Make a Movie for $1000
Kay's Twitter
Rob's Twitter
Zack's Twitter
Email us(!)
1 hr 12 min - Writing Horror That SELLS!
This week we’re talking money, specifically in terms of writing (horror) screenplays that sell, and to help with that, we have a guest! Writer of both TV and Film Seth M. Sherwood. They talk the benefits of writing spec scripts (even if you won't likely sell them), how "original" horror movies get made (and who gets to make them), how A24 didn't invent "Elevated Horror" (or social horror), and the landscape for Horror TV writers (plus how it pertains to the impending 2023 writer's strike).
Our Weekly Resource:
This week’s resource is…is a movie, AIR. This is the first time I believe that we’ve recommended a movie as the resource where the guest didn’t write it – no offense to Seth, but this is going to be on a lot of "Best" lists at the end of the year, guaranteed. And the story of how screenwriter, Alex Convery, got his very first screen credit is worthy of tracking down for your own inspirational fuel.Notes From the Episode:
Zack's Original Instagram video (for our Twitter Drama Bumper)
Smile makes a profit.
How to Make a Movie for $1000
Seth's Twitter
Kay's Twitter
Rob's Twitter
Zack's Twitter
Email us(!)
1 hr 1 min - Writing Sex Scenes!
Nuisance or necessary? Everyone has their opinions. Rob & Kay give you theirs on how to write them, why we need them, and which are their favorites.
Our Weekly Resource:
This week’s resource is…subtext, specifically a video from StudioBinder on YouTube as they talk about, not only the different types of subtlety, but when to employ it, how actors play what’s on the page, and also various examples of each in terms of how to execute it in your screenplay.
Notes From the Episode:
Zack's Original Instagram video (for our Twitter Drama Bumper)
Organ Trail Trailer
Jeremy's other Podcast with Rob: Dead Poet's Society
Rob's Sexy Movie, "Around the World"
How to Make a Movie for $1000
Kay's Twitter
Rob's Twitter
Zack's Twitter
Email us(!)
53 min - Writing for TikTok!
This week Rob & Kay interview with Sidney Morss whose videos on TikTok have over 13 MILLION LIKES! We talk about her writing (near) daily sketches -- as long as her mental health permits -- and go deep into the process off how to make daily videos, where her videos not only have to be comedic, but frequently satisfy sponsors, too.
Our Weekly Resource:
This week’s resource is our guest. She has a linktree, where you can find her various platforms, so that you may gaze upon the wealth of her talents and humor and be enriched.
Notes From the Episode:
Zack's Original Instagram video (for our Twitter Drama Bumper)
Trailers talked about in the Podcast: Extraction 2, Indiana Jones, Barbie, Secret Invasion, Spider-Verse, Ahsoka, Blue Beetle, HypnoticRob's YouTube Channel
How to Make a Movie for $1000
Sidney's Twitter
Kay's Twitter
Rob's Twitter
Zack's Twitter
Email us(!)
1 hr 7 min - Writing for the Non-Union Market!
This week Rob & Kay have decided to discuss writing for the (arguably bigger) Non Union Market, and to help with that, we have an interview with Canadian writer/director, Heather Taylor, whose film, Lethal Love, is currently available on Netflix.
Our Weekly Resource:
Scriptnotes. the sort of, de facto screenwriting podcast, has re-released episode 193 that is kind of the definitive guide to how writing credits work in the industry under union rules. So feel free to dive into that. I guarantee you’ll learn something, especially for that day when you to are writing things for studios under union contract. And also things that you may want to include in non-union contracts just so you maintain credit on what you wrote.Notes From the Episode:
Zack's Original Instagram video (for our Twitter Drama Bumper)
Heather's Podcast, "Braaains" - a podcast exploring the inner workings of our brains and how film & television portray them
Rob's YouTube ChannelHow to Make a Movie for $1000
Heather's Twitter
Kay's Twitter
Rob's Twitter
Zack's Twitter
Email us(!)
1 hr 9 min - Writing the Unscripted!
This week Kay & Rob talk about how the process of writing films that aren't necessarily written, and to help with that, we have an interview with returning guest, Jeremy Lalonde, whose movie, “Ashgrove”, is currently on tour, and in theaters.
Our Weekly Resource:
SoCreate’s screenwriting Beta is out and they are looking for folks to try out their program, so feel free to take advantage of a free screenwriting program. Later listeners coming to this – we’re sorry, it may not work for you – but for those of you listening to this hot and fresh, if you’re in the market for a new screenwriting program, click the link and give SoCreate a whirl. They are not paying us to say this, this is just us being the tip of the spear, as per usual.Notes From the Episode:
Zack's Original Instagram video (for our Twitter Drama Bumper)
Variety Article about WGA negotiations on AI (updated with WGA's response)
Welcome to the No Budget Era article on Esquire
James vs His Future Self available on Prime
How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town available on Plex
Little Monsters, available on Hulu
Jeremy's other Podcasts with Rob: Witches of Eastwick, Made in Heaven, Dead Poet's SocietyJeremy's Twitter
Jeremy's Instagram
Rob's YouTube Channel
How to Make a Movie for $1000
Kay's Twitter
Rob's Twitter
Zack's Twitter
Email us(!)
1 hr 4 min - From Script to SXSW!
This week we’ve got an interview with Angela Bourassa who’s movie, “If You Were The Last” just played this years, SXSW. We discuss how she got "discovered" after over a decade of hard work, how she got her reps, and how her script came to be made for a four-quadrant audience for millions of dollars.
Our Weekly Resource: Speaking of the SXSW film festival, here is their official podcast, On Story, which we recommended their episode on Shane Black a few episodes – our episodes – back, but this time we want to recommend the podcast proper, it has interviews with everyone whose career you’ve ever wanted to have in screenwriting or filmmaking and more. And if we’ve recommended this before, too bad, because it’s still good and some of y’all are new, as we discussed earlier.
Notes From the Episode:
Zack's Original Instagram video (for our Twitter Drama Bumper)
Eric Haywood's video on the state of the industry (for writers)
Brittani Nichols (@BisHilarious) Thread on the difficulty for TV writers to advance because of minimumsRob's Video on Being an Indie Line ProducerRob's YouTube Channel
Cinema Challenge Series, Round 1 ("How to Make a Movie for $1000")
Angela's Twitter
Zack's Twitter
Kay's Twitter
Rob's Twitter
Email us(!)
56 min
About Screenwriting: From the Trenches
From the publisher's feed
A podcast about the craft and expression of screenwriting -- in all its forms -- from the perspective of writers just like you.