Scriptnotes Podcast

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 without letting it define them.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John breaks Drew’s heart with his lovely memories of Rob & Michele Reiner.

Links:

Email us at [email protected]

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 1-2-26: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

John and Craig celebrate the release of the Scriptnotes Book with a sold-out show full of arguments, games and holiday cheer at Dynasty Typewriter in LA.

Slate’s Julia Turner returns to interview John and Craig about the fifteen year journey towards creating the book, and challenges Craig’s dismissal of critics. We also welcome back Ashley Nicole Black (Shrinking, Ted Lasso) to help us get through a fridgeful of leftover questions, and invite three lucky audience members to play our new game: “Somewhat strange lines from Christmas movies.”

In our bonus segment for premium members, we invite our audience to ask us questions in a live Q&A.

Links:

Email us at [email protected]

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 12-10-25: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

John and Craig gather a congregation of writers in St. David’s Episcopal Church for a live round of the Three Page Challenge. They look at three listener-submitted scripts to offer them their honest feedback, face-to-face.

They offer suggestions on world building in the apocalypse, making military characters specific, building mystery and suspense, and crafting con-artist logic.

In our bonus segment for premium members, we answer questions from our audience on how to know if a script looks correct, what we want to see in the first three pages, using actor names in character descriptions, what comedy requires, and how to direct a reader’s attention on the page.

Links:

Email us at [email protected]

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 12-10-25: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

John welcomes Danya Jimenez & Hannah McMechan, the writing team behind KPop Demon Hunters, to chart their path from film school to first feature.

They look at navigating early career difficulties like finding your voice and trying to get reps, their method of building a writing partnership, and how a bad pitch led them to writing one of the biggest movies of the year.

We also follow up on breaking in later in life and writing with ADHD.

In our bonus segment for premium members, what does Hollywood get wrong about Gen Z? Danya and Hannah share what drives them crazy about how their generation is portrayed on screen.

Links:

Email us at [email protected]

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 12-10-25: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

John and Craig welcome back Dana Fox (Wicked, The Lost City) for a magical flight through everything that went into adapting Wicked and its upcoming sequel, Wicked: For Good. They look at the history of the project, why it was split into two movies, the process for writing when you’re shooting two movies at the same time, and the exhausting effort it takes for big movies to defy gravity.

We also chat with Graham Rowat, the narrator of the Scriptnotes audiobook, follow up on weird movies and cuck chairs, answer listener questions on the limits of torturing your heroes and ask, did the 90’s really have the best actions movies?

In our bonus segment for premium members, Dana sticks around to take us behind the scenes of a big movie’s promo circuit, and how to stay sane (and even popular!) throughout the world tour.

Links:

Email us at [email protected]

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 11-18-25: The transcript for this epsidoe can be found here.

John and Craig return to Texas for their 11th show at the Austin Film Festival. They welcome writer Pamela Ribon (Nimona, My Year of Dicks) and showrunner Anthony Sparks (Queen Sugar, Bel-Air) to look at what makes character relationships compelling, and how to build a writing career later in life.

We also answer lister questions on getting un-stuck in a script, how podcasting has made us better writers, the limits of exposition, using AI for sizzle reels, and where we get the cajones selling a screenwriting book after slagging-off screenwriting books for fourteen years.

In our bonus segment for premium members, we invite two Scriptnotes super-fans up to the stage to compete for the ultimate prize: an early, signed copy of the Scriptnotes book.

Links:

Email us at [email protected]

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 11-12-25: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

John and Craig invite Aline Brosh McKenna back to celebrate the third anniversary of Scriptnotes. It’s a jam-packed, glass-and-a-half of wine, listener-favorite episode.

They look at ways to breathe new life into scenes and characters that aren’t working, box office journalism and how Hollywood is always dying, scene geography, and the role of emotional intelligence (or EQ) in a writer’s career.

In our bonus segment for premium members, we have original outtakes from the episode where we look at what changed in the world in our first three years on air, make predictions for what’s to come, re-invent Spanx, and of course talk about D&D.

Links:

Email us at [email protected]

You can download the episode here.

John and Craig discuss short films: what makes a great short, when should you make one, and what should you realistically expect out of it? We also update our predictions on whether the career of “screenwriter” can survive potential global catastrophes.

We then answer listener questions on staff writer wages and using URLs in a script.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Craig talk intermissions and why more movies should have them.

Links:

Email us at [email protected]

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 10-15-25: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

John welcomes back Liz Hannah (The Post, The Girl from Plainville) to discuss how to construct and communicate setting in a script. They talk about the balance between establishing a sense of space while avoiding the beginner’s mistake of over-blocking.

We also follow up on accountability groups, last looks, and French composers. Then, we answer listener questions on revisions and getting your Hollywood Card revoked.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Liz consider how to explain screenwriting to your kids (and others).

LINKS:

Email us at [email protected]

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 10-15-25: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

John and Craig ask, how do you keep your period films from being a boring history lesson? They offer ten tips to keep your setting from taking over your story, defining the scope of your research, and how to balance the reality of the era with what’s relevant to audiences today.

We also follow up on navigating industry connections and answer three period-appropriate listener questions on transitions across time, accurate dialogue, and how to handle historical sensitivities on the page.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Craig get into some toil and trouble as they give their rankings of the most iconic witches.

Links:

Email us at [email protected]

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 9-25-25: The transcript for this episode can be found here.