Write On: A Screenwriting Podcast

The hit Netflix horror series is adapted from a found footage horror podcast about ritual, stories, and sound. Showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine talks to Write On about the adaptation process: "In terms of adapting something, you just have to crack it wide open, and we diverge in many places, and in many ways, it's very different from the podcast. In many ways, it has the same spirit but we definitely made a lot of changes… but a lot of that was adapting to the television format and the visual way of telling stories."   Rebecca goes on to talk about what advice to take as a writer: "Sometimes you take a note, and then you're sorry you took the note. In terms of writing, I think there's a balance between believing in what you're doing and listening to other people's thoughts… I have this tendency - I think a lot of women do - to want to be a good student and take all the notes, and sometimes you just can't do that."   Don’t forget to subscribe to the Write On Podcast on iTunes!     Now available on Google Podcasts!   

The acclaimed British screenwriter, showrunner and producer breaks down writing the haunting Princess Diana biopic for director Pablo Larraín (Jackie): "The instruction I gave to myself is that because this is a princess and it's a castle, it's a fairy tale, and I think most fairy tales are horror stories with a happy ending… I wanted to go there to make this a fairy tale, and it does have a happy ending, but along the way, it's a princess who's held captive in a haunted castle."   Steven goes on to give advice about hooking the reader in the first ten pages of your screenplay: "Don't think that there is a 'right' way of doing this… The thing that writers should try to do - especially those first ten pages - is make it as unlike anything that anybody's ever seen because we all know that the people who are going to read the script have read a thousand scripts that month and have seen it all, know it all, but if something happens when they're reading it that they weren't expecting, you have attention.   Don’t forget to subscribe to the Write On Podcast on iTunes!     Now available on Google Podcasts!    

In this special 2-part episode of Write On we talk to Flatbush Misdemeanors staff writer and co-writer of Hip Hop Family Christmas Saeed Crumpler about his career transition from rapper to screenwriter: "Coming from music, I used to look at each song as a ball of clay that had to be sculpted. I look at scripts the same way, even more so. I feel like you get even more time to make it better. I feel like in music, you only have a certain amount of time but with screenwriting, you have a lot of time to make it better, so why not make it better?"   Saeed gives advice for how to make your screenplay the best it can possibly be: "Get [notes] early and often. To me, the sooner you can get notes on something, the better because then you don't get attached to it… if you wrote something in a month, and somebody gives you notes, it's like, 'All right, cool.' But if you've been working on it for six months or a year, then it's way more personal."    Don’t forget to subscribe to the Write On Podcast on iTunes!     Now available on Google Podcasts!    

The hit Netflix series starring Henry Cavill returns! Geralt of Rivia, a solitary monster hunter, struggles to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts. Showrunner Lauren tells Write On: "I think I always think about keeping all of [the] fans in mind while also laying out a world that people who have never heard of The Witcher can follow and can enjoy. The way that I did that, alongside the writers, was to make sure that any person who wanted to watch the show felt like they were represented in the show."   Lauren goes on to talk about her career, writing process, and how she assembles a writer’s room. "When I was putting together the writer's room for season one, season two, and season three, I looked for a real mix of people. I think that everyone has to love genre somehow; everyone has to be able to tell me that they love science fiction, they love fantasy, they love comic books, they love something - something that feels not of this world necessarily."     Don’t forget to subscribe to the Write On Podcast on iTunes!   Now available on Google Podcasts!  

In this special 2-part episode of Write On we talk to Flatbush Misdemeanors staff writer and co-writer of Hip Hop Family Christmas Saeed Crumpler about going from rapper to screenwriter: "I had to make a change; I always loved film, and I just went back to school. I took $5,000, invested it in myself, took a UCLA online writing course… and I came out of there with two specs and an original pilot, and that original pilot is the one that's getting me jobs."    Saeed goes on to talk about collaborating with other writers: "When you're co-writing, you go through so many drafts, so many polishes. We worked so well together that I don't remember [who wrote what]. To me, when you're writing with a partner, it should feel like that, where at the end of the day it becomes a cohesive thing."   Don’t forget to subscribe to the Write On Podcast on iTunes!   Now available on Google Podcasts!  

The late night TV writer talks to Write On about breaking in and his early inspirations: "I was kind of the weird kid who at, like, 11 was watching David Letterman… [the realization] came to me in my very early teens like, 'Oh, this guy's not just saying jokes off the cuff, there are people writing there?'"   Robert goes on to give advice to writers aspiring to work in late night: "I would say to folks out there who want to do a late night packet that you should do one! It's intimidating - especially your first one -  but you can do it. You can sit down for six hours and make your packet really perfect and good."    Don’t forget to subscribe to the Write On Podcast on iTunes!   Now available on Google Podcasts!  

Kelly is a development executive turned writer and author of ‘The Executive Chair: A Writer’s Guide to TV Series Development.’ She spoke to Write On about her decision to leave the executive world after 30 years and pursue her passion: "[Writing] was my own little private secret; I'd go home, and I'd write, and I'd enjoy the little worlds that I'd create and the short stories that I would write and the scripts that I would write, but I wasn't really actively pursuing it."   Kelly goes on to discuss what she learned as an exec and how it can be applied to the work: "It's really not about the concept. You need material that shows how good of a writer you are and how deep a thinker you are and how emotive you can be on a page… if you can be as honest and authentic and as deep and as rich with your characters as you possibly can, people will respond to that."   Don’t forget to subscribe to the Write On Podcast on iTunes!   Now available on Google Podcasts!  

Tracey talks to Write On about tackling the life story of music icon Aretha Franklin: "I began to live, breathe, eat Aretha 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I listened to nothing but her music, everything I read was about her; I just completely submerged myself into that world."   Tracey goes on to talk about her writing process and how she fosters her own creativity: "Part of the beauty of writing is that you evolve with it. As you change, your writing changes. The most important thing is you being in touch with your feelings and conveying that honesty and conveying that passion through the writing."    Don’t forget to subscribe to the Write On Podcast on iTunes!   Now available on Google Podcasts!  

An elite squad of Navy SEAL's, on a covert mission to transport a prisoner off a CIA black site island prison, are trapped when insurgents attack while trying to rescue the same prisoner. Co-Writer/Director James Nunn talks to Write On about what it takes to make an action movie: "When I'm reading an action movie, I think what separates the [direct-to-video] stuff from the stuff that gets a wider release is concept, predominantly, and character. If there's a really unique concept for an action movie, hold onto it and make it; those are the ones that are really going to transcend a normal fight movie."   James goes on to discuss his filmmaking career and what inspired him to get behind the camera: "I knew [I wanted to be a filmmaker] when I saw Jurassic Park when I was nine. I was just like, 'Right, I can be a paleontologist or I can be a moviemaker…' Something hit me in that screening where seeing a dinosaur and having this level of storytelling come to life transcended the movie, and it was like, 'Wow, I want to do that.'"   Don’t forget to subscribe to the Write On Podcast on iTunes!   Now available on Google Podcasts!  

A soldier has been tasked with preventing an imminent terrorist threat to the Vatican in this action thriller from filmmaker Abel Ferrara starring Ethan Hawke. "[The film is a] real inside take on the CIA but it's also the understanding of truth,” Abel tells Write On. “We're living through the pandemic, so it's news, it's fake news, it's Photoshop, it's images, it's 'What's the truth?' What are you seeing?"   Abel goes on to talk about his writing process: "I'm writing [the script], and I don't know where the film is going. I'm writing it, and I’m feeling it, and I'm feeling it organically from scene to scene. I don’t have anything structured, I don't have any outline; I'm letting it surprise me."   Don’t forget to subscribe to the Write On Podcast on iTunes!   Now available on Google Podcasts!