John welcomes back Christina Hodson (The Flash, Bumblebee) to ask, how do you to construct a great action sequence? Using examples from three different movies, they discuss what good action looks like on the page, how to keep your reader from getting bored or confused, and why production can sometimes blow your plans to smithereens.

Then it’s a round of How Would This be a Movie?, where we take four stories from the news and pitch how we might adapt them for the screen. Stories include a mysterious painting, a train trapped in a blizzard, a teen who sued his parents, and zombie colleges.

We also follow up on director’s chairs and mammograms, and answer listener questions on side characters and creating a healthy work/life balance.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Christina examine the do’s and don’ts of introducing yourself to a stranger through email.

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UPDATE 3-24-25: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

John welcomes back Liz Hannah (The Girl From Plainville, The Post) to ask, how do you know if a character can carry a story? They look at ways of identifying your protagonist, defining privileged storytelling power, and the choices to make when figuring out which characters can hold narrative point of view.

We also look a the phenomenon of the “Stranger in the Room,” follow up on writing during crazy times, brain trusts, plays vs movies, the phrase “begs the question,” and the usefulness of sharing your pronouns.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Liz explain the difference between East LA, West LA, and why the valley might beat them both.

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UPDATE 3-25-25: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

John and Craig welcome producer Dan Etheridge (iZombie, High Potential, Party Down) to look at how non-writing producers develop projects, coordinate across departments, and maintain the tone of the show as directors come and go.

We offer practical tips for making the most of video village, regardless of your role, and solutions for the scourge of directors chairs.

Highland Pro, John’s next generation screenwriting app is now available now for Mac, iPad and iPhone! We discuss what’s new and what’s coming next.

We also answer listener questions pitching multiple projects, writing on tablets and how to launch an app.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John, Craig and Dan look back on their experience officiating weddings, and offer advice for those about to marry people. Dan even officiated John’s wedding!

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UPDATE 3-21-25: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

John and Craig decipher mystery box shows, where the premise and audience experience involve solving the puzzle of what’s really happening. They look at strategies for revealing clues and information, being mindful of the audience’s expectations, and the importance of the emotional journey inside the labyrinth.

We also announce a new video game, discuss what we can learn by revisiting old projects, follow up on unlocked pages and home automation, and answer listener questions on live instruments, pulling story from D&D campaigns, and where to draw the line between INT. and EXT.

In our bonus segment for premium members, how do you set boundaries when you feel like you’re always supposed to be writing? That’s not rhetorical — we need help.

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UPDATE 3-17-25: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

How do you keep doing creative work when the world is falling apart around you? To sift through the despair and doubt, John welcomes back legendary Scriptnotes guest, writer-turned-psychotherapist Dennis Palumbo. They discuss the many feelings that catastrophic events can bring up in artists, the personal narratives that often inform those feelings, and how to keep moving forward when you feel like the band on the Titanic.

We also follow up on AI, and answer listener questions on competing with brain trusts and how to support a friend embroiled in controversy.

In our bonus segment for premium members, Dennis guides us through the best examples and worst mistakes of portraying therapists on screen.

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UPDATE 2-19-25: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

Craig welcomes writer and showrunner Joshua Zetumer, creator of the limited series Say Nothing, to explore the process of dramatizing real events — particularly when the subject matter can be volatile. They discuss how to keep a sprawling historical epic from feeling like a lecture, keeping a consistent tone, humanizing complicated people, and how not to get sued by the people who were really involved.

They also answer listener questions on following up with people after the fires, charting the emotional journey of the audience, and whether writers need to cite their sources when writing about real events.

In our bonus segment for premium members, Craig and Joshua pretend to be civil engineers and ask, how can we make Los Angeles function better?

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UPDATE 2-12-25: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

Hearken well! John sitteth in discourse with the learned Robert Eggers, weaver of dreadsome visions (The Witch, The Lighthouse), whose latest labour bringeth forth Nosferatu from the mistes of antiquity. Together, they dost unravel the craft of breathing newe life into the ghastly count of olde, how Robert didst hone his vision through toil and cunning in his firste labours, and the summoning of terror moste unholy upon the silver’d screen.

We do also taketh to hand the queries of our faithful listeners on the perils of o’ermuch detail in one’s scribings, on what may be done when one doth feel oneself a dullard, and whether those who spin tales be ill-fitted for matters of courtship and love.

In our boon segment for those of premium patronage, Robert doth speak of his fervent love for the wheeled steed and pursuits beyond the shaping of moving pictures.

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UPDATE 2-5-25: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

Structure is the fundamental skeleton of every story ever told, so why does it flummox so many writers? John and Craig outline what structure really is, ways to find it in your story, and how to keep it from tying your brain in knots.

We also look at ways to find nuance in our appreciation of movies, follow up on erotic fiction, and answer listener questions on how to work with a director and point of view shots.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Craig measure the helpfulness of their wearable body monitors.

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UPDATE 2-4-25: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

After a difficult few weeks in Los Angeles, John welcomes writer, director and actor Jesse Eisenberg to peel apart the complicated human reactions to grief and loss. They look at how both collective and personal grief inform the characters of Jesse’s latest film, A Real Pain, and reflect on the ongoing LA fires and the loss of David Lynch.

They also explore Jesse’s evolution as a writer, directing himself as an actor, and answer listener questions on artistic signatures and simultaneous perspectives in action.

In our bonus segment for premium members, Jesse and John look at the creative opportunities and frustrating restrictions of making radio dramas and audiobooks.

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UPDATE 1-23-25: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

After a week of devastating fires in Los Angeles, we’re revisiting John’s conversation with Anna Jane Joyner and Quinn Emmett from Good Energy Stories on how to talk about climate change on screen. They discuss opportunities for writers to inspire change, raise awareness, and capture the environmental concerns of our time.

We follow up on disability representation in Hollywood with the release of the Cost of Accommodations report from the Inevitable Foundation.

In our bonus segment for premium members, we talk about asking people for money, whether it’s to finance a movie or launch a campaign to save the planet.

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You can download the episode here.