The Screenwriting Life with Meg LeFauve and Lorien McKenna

Melissa Rosenberg - creator of JESSICA JONES, head writer of DEXTER, and screenwriter of the TWILIGHT films - joins Lorien to talk about what it takes to stay grounded as a storyteller.

From building creative communities to rediscovering her artistic voice after decades in Hollywood, Melissa reflects on the evolving balance between ambition, authenticity, and healing through story.

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Looking for more support on your writing journey? Join Meg and Lorien inside ⁠TSL Workshops ⁠- your first 5 days are free.

Episode Links:

• Bennington College's new MFA in Screenwriting
• Check out the TSL merch shop
• TSL on Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky

The Screenwriting Life is produced by Jonathan Hurwitz and edited by Kate Mishkin.

Email us at [email protected].

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Jenny Han - creator, showrunner, and bestselling author of THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY - joins Lorien to talk about the art of writing love, longing, and growing up.

From balancing fandom expectations to crafting authentic emotion, Jenny shares how she translates deeply personal themes to the screen, keeps romantic tension alive over multiple seasons, and why writing about first love never gets old.

Whether you’re Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah, this one’s for you. 

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Looking for more support on your writing journey? Join Meg and Lorien inside ⁠TSL Workshops ⁠- your first 5 days are free.

Episode Links:

• Jenny Han's website
• "The Summer I Turned Pretty" on Amazon Prime
• Check out the TSL merch shop
• TSL on Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky

The Screenwriting Life is produced by Jonathan Hurwitz and edited by Kate Mishkin.

Email us at [email protected].

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Halloween around the corner, we’re revisiting one of our favorite spooky episodes.

Join us for a conversation with the team behind Hulu’s CARVED — director and co-writer Justin Harding, co-writer Cheryl Meyer, and star Peyton Elizabeth Lee — as they share how they brought their campy slasher film to life and what it takes to write really great horror.

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Looking for more support on your writing journey? Join Meg and Lorien inside ⁠TSL Workshops ⁠- your first 5 days are free.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So you want to be a screenwriter… now what?
In a rebroadcast of one of our most popular episodes, we dig into the essential questions every writer should ask before jumping into a draft — questions that are just as valuable for seasoned pros as they are for those starting out.

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Looking for more support on your writing journey? Join Meg and Lorien inside TSL Workshops - your first 5 days are free.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

JOIN TSL WORKSHOPS: https://tslworkshops.circle.so

With the Austin Film Festival coming up next week, we’re revisiting one of our favorite episodes to help everyone attending get ready to share their stories!

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The Austin Film Festival is known for many things — but few are as legendary as its annual 90-Second Pitch Competition, where writers have just 90 seconds to share their stories. In Hollywood, we call that “the elevator pitch” — and it’s more essential than ever.

To unpack what makes a pitch truly land, we’re joined by an incredible lineup: TSL veteran and producer Sheila Hanahan Taylor, Austin Film Festival’s Screenplay Director Alyssa Alvarado, and five brave writers who step up to pitch their hearts out.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

JOIN TSL WORKSHOPS: https://tslworkshops.circle.so

Meg was already a fan of Jeff Hiller from his Emmy-winning performance in SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE, but after listening to his moving and hilarious memoir Actress of a Certain Age, she fell completely in love with his honesty, humor, and heart. She knew she had to have him on the show — and we were deeply honored when he said yes, fresh off his big Emmy win.

In this conversation, Jeff opens up about the myth of the “big break,” finding your authentic voice, navigating rejection with grace, and why it’s never too late to chase your dreams.

Check out Jeff's memoir HERE: goodreads.com/book/show/220902134-actress-of-a-certain-age

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

JOIN TSL WORKSHOPS: https://tslworkshops.circle.so

This week, we’re joined by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, the writer-directors of KPOP DEMON HUNTERS, to unpack the craft behind one of the year's biggest movies.

From finding the emotional core of their story to shaping "Golden" into a late-breaking "I Want" song, Maggie and Chris share how they balanced friendship, romance, comedy, worldbuilding, and music all in one movie.

We also dive into the messy joy of writing in editorial, why tiny character moments like "Couch, Couch, Couch" carry so much weight, and how specificity in both music and story can unlock something universal.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

JOIN TSL WORKSHOPS: https://tslworkshops.circle.so

We’re thrilled to welcome Oscar-winner Akiva Goldsman for a masterclass on making writing sustainable. For Akiva, the real “tragedy” is living in the anxious space between drafts. His cure? Treat writing like a job: set hours, clock out, and commit to the work.
Akiva unpacks his process – why a first draft should feel like seduction, why knowing the ending matters, and the simple litmus test he applies to every scene: What do you want the audience to feel? We also explore his approach to dialogue that truly listens, “smuggling” personal truth into adaptations, and his no-nonsense stance on writer’s block: just lay more bricks.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Check out our premium TSL WORKSHOPS program here: https://tslworkshops.circle.so

STORY ENGINE. Two words we so often dread, but let's be honest: the engine of your story is what POWERS your movie. It's make, or break. And today, we break down eight elements to test whether or not you are on your way to a feature film story engine that will take you from fade in, to fade out!

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What does it take to make a celebrity-free, microbudget feature and premiere at one of the most competitive festivals in the world?

Filmmaker and No Film School podcast host GG Hawkins joins Jeff to share how she turned a family house in Panama, a tiny team, and a three-month timeline into I REALLY LOVE MY HUSBAND, a breakout SXSW premiere with no celebrity attachments.

They break down every stage of the journey:

• Writing a script around what you already have
• Casting for chemistry
• Financing in waves while production is underway
• Festival strategy and PR on a shoestring
• Why specificity and “weirdness” can be your biggest assets

Whether you’re a filmmaker planning your first feature, or just curious how indie films actually get made, this episode pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to crack SXSW.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.