You Can't Make This Script Up

This week we’re talking about world building - from the minutiae to the BIG ideas. We discuss the ones who did it best and our strategies for recreating that magic.

• Pod Racing, George Lucas and the Star Wars prequels
• Kathleen Kennedy - President of Lucasfilm and patron Saint of our career endeavors 
• The 2021 Cannes Film Festival and Brit’s fave - the red carpet fashion 
• Pink suits are in! Spike Lee in Vuitton, Olivia Rodrigo in vintage Chanel, Kamala Harris in Sergio Hudson! (Even Kate Middleton at Wimbleton!)
• Which reminds us - Wimbledon just happened and it was high fashion and star studded. We love to see it. 
• The J.Crew sweater jacket that Meghan Markle wore to Wimbleton. (FYI she has it in heather dove aka light gray)
• HBO announced ANOTHER GOT spinoff. But we finally get to leave Westeros! 
• Tze (pronounced Z) Chun - a cool dude, an AWESOME twitter follow and his timeline which is THE place to find Asian American creators! (Also he’s hella cool and lowkey hilarious.)
• What is World Building? 
• Great examples in literature (and therefore tv/film): Tolkien and Lord of the Rings, Rowling and Harry Potter, GRRM and GOT, CS Lewis and Narnia, etc.
• We have ~ thoughts ~ about The Witcher (on Netflix). Season 2 drops this winter.
• HBO’s new show The Last of US - based on a video game and adapted for screen by Craig Mazin.
• Story archetypes! 
• The Kevin Fiege interview Caitlin loves and recommends too much. 
• Correction: Post credit scenes are called STINGERS (not spider lol). 
• John Francis Daley - Actor (Freaks and Geeks/Bones) but now a successful screenwriter (Horrible Bosses, Vacation, Dungeons and Dragons) 
• Anna Waterhouse - screenwriter (The Gray Man, Rebecca)
• The Edge of Tomorrow (2014) aka Live Die Repeat - Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt sci-fi action movie that is awesome. 
• World building techniques - top to bottom or bottom to top?
• Trying to film something set in NYC while not in NYC.
• Studios and production companies want you to build a world that they can mind for IP for the next 50 years. (Also favorite words from execs “aspirational” and “elevated”)
• Brittany wants to live in The Sopranos universe… HBO open a damn theme park!
• Caitlin makes pretty obvious conclusions about post WWI and WW2 audiences and the rise of film and tv but someone had to say it.
• Emmy Noms - HBO holds its dominance alongside the rise of Disney+. (Which reminds us - Warner Brothers, where are those Harry Potter spin off series at? What are you waiting for?)
• Perfect IP situation - writing within a world people know and love but telling a story audiences know little to nothing about so there are limited expectations or comparisons. 
• John Mayer’s new album “Sob Rock” - out now. Also, we love a well executed theme. The merch! The branding! What a triumph! 
• CAN YOU GET US HARRY STYLE TICKETS?! HELP US PLZ.
• Brit is heading to DisneyWorld and the world is her oyster! 

Hi! We are very burnt out and discussing sequels. This episode may be best consumed with cold medicine. (Kidding. Exhaustion is a drug in and of itself! Let's party!)

• Pixar’s newest film - LUCA (2021)
• The most recent DC/Twitter discourse re: Harley Quinn’s animated series on HBOmax - does Batman give head?
• Funniest tweets from that day. 
• The Room (2003), The Disaster Artist (2017) and Tommy Wiseau
• Audrey Hepburn’s best quotes - “The mind reels!”
• 2022 sequels coming down the pipeline - Jurassic World: Dominion, Scream, Thor: Love and Thunder, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
• Erza Miller - actor (Justice League, Fantastic Beasts)
• We spiral into a bit of a Harry Potter rabbit hole… there’s uh, a lot of Dumbledore discourse.
• Top Gun: Maverick (2021)
• Tom Cruise and the coconut cake
• Avatar and it’s many sequels in development
• IMAX and 3D movies - we have ~ thoughts ~
• 2009 Best Director at the Oscars
• Kathryn Bigelow - director (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Forty)
• Chloe Zhao - director (Nomadland) 
• Jurassic Park: The Lost World (1997)
• The Mummy Returns (2001)
• Grease 2 (1982)
• Aladdin - The Return of Jafar (1994) and The King of Thieves (1996)
• The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride (1998)
• Addams Family Values (1993) NOTE: Caitlin mixed up movie camp counselors here - mistakenly referencing the Parent Trap cast and erasing Christine Baranski from the conversation. She will be watching The Good Fight as penance for her sins.
• The Godfather: Part Two (1974)
• The Pirates of the Caribbean sequels
• HBO’s new series from Craig Mazin - The Last of Us. Starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay. 
• Reboots and Revivals - Gossip Girl, Spring Awakening 
• Tap Dancing! Yes, we really talk about everything. 

Our unplanned hiatus is OVER and we are ready to RAMBLE! Err... rumble?

• Screenwriting competitions, festivals, fellowships
• Spreadsheets are our savior. (Even if Caitlin is a psycho about it!)
• Reflecting on our pre-2021 episodes and our predictions and excitement (Inauguration fashion, Disney+ Marvel shows!)
• Amazon buys MGM for $8 Billion
• Wizard of Oz sequels - Return to OZ (1985)
• John Chu - Director (Crazy Rich Asians, In The Heights, Wicked)
• Our college days in NYC circa 2007-2012 and theater school antics at AMDA
• Anthony Ramos - actor and AMDA alum (Hamilton, In The Heights)
• Acting school tries to make every student a “blank slate” but ends up making everyone homogenous when what usually gets you the job is the thing that makes you stick out from the crowd!
• Originating a role versus replacing a role in theater
• Tick, Tick… BOOM! Movie musical trailer. Directed by Lin Manuel Miranda. 
• Andrew Garfield - actor (The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Under the Silverlake, Spider-Man, The Social Network)
• *Disney+ SPOILERS* and our collective freak out on Disney’s Shareholder Day announcements
• Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni doing the most (and the best) at LucasFilms.
• Daniel Brühl - actor (Falcon and the Winter Soldier, The Alienist)
• Loki, Disney+ series starring Tom Hiddleston
• Brit’s vision for an indie superhero movie a la Logan (2017)
• Brie Larson - actor (Captain Marvel, Room) who is prepping for Captain Marvel 2 with celebrity trainer, Jason Walsh (Rise Movement and Rise Nation - our favorite cardio class in LA!)
• Jurassic World sequel - Bryce Dallas Howard (actor) & Colin Trevorrow (writer/director)
• NOTE: Caitlin calls people by their first names simply because she is lazy. These people are ~ not ~ her friends.
• Dax Shepard’s podcast - Arm Chair Expert, Kerri Russel, and our love of JJ Abrams
• Pacific Palisades - JJ and Caitlin are from the same small town that has recently been dramatically renovated by developer, Rick Caruso
• Pitching! Our two recent pitches - one project to a studio and the other for an OWA at a major production company
• Our career coach, Lee Jessup
• Questions everyone in Hollywood asks about your project: 1. Why are you the person to tell this story? And 2. Why now?
• Adapting a real life event - what about this makes it a movie and not a documentary?
• No matter how specific a story, audiences need an emotional journey to connect to that makes the project feel universal
• Open Writing Assignment - screenwriting work for hire
• A brief interlude on music licensing in podcasting
• General meetings - we’ll cover that soon
• Tent Pole Intellectual Property - example: Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, Star Wars
• ISA - International Screenwriting Association
• “Kill Your Darlings”
• Brit’s SKIMS obsession is real. We sidebar to discuss our favorite Kardashians.
• Caitlin’s recent TV binges: Shrill on Hulu and Peaky Blinders on Netflix
• Lindy West’s book - Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema
• Our DMs are open! (Not THAT way. Or maybe…)

We're pulling inspiration from Pinterest boards, Spotify playlists, Google street view - anything we can get our grubby little hands on 'cause this shit is hard, okay?!  (Recorded November 2020) 

Things we talked about in the episode include:

• Our creative process - research and development 
• Pinterest boards
• Spotify playlists
• Google Street View
• Tudor England and British Invasion classic rock 
• Bad habits we had as young writers
• Jane the Queen, our Lady Jane Grey adaptation
• Princess Leia, Alderaan and learning how to crystalize the inspiration down to brief but descriptive action lines
• Christian Davies, our friend and amazing writer
• Bo Welch, production designer 
• Rugs in movies! Inception (2010) and The Big Lebowski (1998)
• People in Hollywood are obsessed with “white space” in scripts. 
• Being open to “cuts” and taking your ego out of the equation. 
• Writing in Hollywood: where art meets business! 
• Directing “on the page” - should you do it? 
• Scriptnotes podcast episode on “Writing Action” 
• Sunset Boulevard (1950) and Mulholland Drive (2001)
• The many historical “princess” limited series on STARZ
• Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” and The Rolling Stones’ “Lady Jane”
• Spark of inspiration/creation - where do you find it? More on this later. 
• Finding inspiration via the details: titles, loglines, outlines
• Astrological signs (Yes, we went there.)
• Supplementary materials: lookbooks/decks, sizzle reels, pitch videos.
• Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Cosmetics holiday collab with “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” 
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)
• IFC’s Documentary Now! 
• 1970’s Original Cast Album: “Company” documentary and the parody it inspired. 
• Grey Gardens (1975) documentary by Albert and David Maysles
• The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002) documentary by Bob Evans
• New York Magazine’s Approval Matrix

Find us on Instagram and Twitter!

• “Modern Austen” Deadline press release (Y'all are not ready for Caitlin's RANT here, whew apologies!) 
• Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen and her body of work 
• Clueless (1995)
• “Modern Austen” writer, Eleanor Burgess (Perry Mason)
• Optioning books for development in film and tv
• “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” by Judy Blume
• Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)
• “Royal Holiday” by Jasmine Guillory
• Carve outs in options and contracts 
• The immense talent of Octavia Spencer (and Idris Elba)
• “One to Watch” by Kate Stayman-London
• Plus size actresses and casting 
• Our Mamas and Papas biopic - People Like Us
• “You Should See Me in a Crown” by Leah Johnson
• Reese Witherspoon book club and spinoff YA book club 
• Queer/gay high school love stories on screen
• “All American Girl” by Meg Cabot 
• Teri Weinberg, tv producer (The Office, The Tudors, Ugly Betty)
• Charlaine Harris, author (Southern Vampire Mysteries)
• Meg Cabot’s “The Princess Diaries” novels and movie adaptations 
• Party of Five reboot with ICE deportation circumstances
• Shonda Rhimes and “The Princess Diaries 2: A Royal Engagement” (Note: Shonda wrote PD2 featuring Chris Pine - he did not work on the script. Caitlin realizes her word choice was... confusing.)
• Attaching IP to pitches/scripts
• Optioning books, articles, etc.
• Women in Film mentoring circles
• What is IP aka Intellectual Property?
• “The Serpent King” by Jeff Zentner and Brittany’s personal option and adaptation journey
• Entertainment lawyers and option agreements 
• Brian Grazer’s epic quote on people in Hollywood
• Learning from adapting books - try it yourself! 
• Public domain aka FREE IP! 
• Sonya Sklaroff, artist 
• The Crown Season 4 - Prince Charles, yay or nay? 
• Prince William and Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, and Princess Diana - life, death and legacy.
• Christopher Jackson, Getty Images photographer
• Peter Morgan, creator and writer of The Crown 
• Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and the epic black outfit 

Find us on Instagram and Twitter!

• Ryan Murphy’s AHS spinoff series
• American Horror Story, Ratched & Six Feet Under
• WandaVision release date set for Jan. 15th, 2021
• “I Love Dick” tv show, Marfa, TX & the glory of Kathryn Hahn
• “The Shrink Next Door” - new project with Paul Rudd/Will Ferrell
• The Wizard of Oz (1925), Aladdin (1992), Toy Story (1995), Jumanji (1995), The Land Before Time (1988)
• Jurassic Park (1993) - plus the tours you can go on in Hawaii & That Laura Dern scene
• Titanic (1997), Paramount Studios in Hollywood, CA & Ed Debevic's restaurant (RIP)
• The Laemmle on 2nd Street in Santa Monica, CA
• Polish Wedding (1998), Brokeback Mountain (2005)
• Forrest Gump (1994), Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), Erin Brokovich (2000)
• Baz Luhrmann (again!) - Moulin Rouge (2001), Strictly Ballroom (1992) and Romeo + Juliet (1996)
• The Alliance Theater in Atlanta, Georgia
• Broadway shows: Wicked, See What I Want to See, Beauty and the Beast, The Phantom of the Opera, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1999 film with Donny Osmond), CATS, Sunset Boulevard (based on the 1950 film by Billy Wilder), Starlight Express
• The Adderley School for the Performing Arts
• Idina Menzel
• The Notebook (2004), A Walk to Remember (2004 film & 1999 novel)
• Rebel Without A Cause (1955)
• Movie Gallery & Blockbuster Video
• Almost Famous (2000) - yes, AGAIN - & Big Fish (2003)
• Clue (1985)
• Billy Crudup in The Morning Show on Apple TV+
• The Beatles Anthology documentary series
• Home Alone (1990)
• Problematic former faves
• Childhood bedrooms & Caitlin’s Godfather/Beauty and the Beast crossover
• The Peacemaker (1997) - Mimi Leder, Nicole Kidman & Julia Roberts
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
• The historical movie theaters in Westwood Village - Westwood, CA
• Dreamgirls (2006)
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) & The Phantom Menace (1999)
• The prequels were good.
• Christopher John Rogers, designer. (Beyonce's dress in Vogue!)
• 2021 Inauguration Fashion ideas (BRIT WAS RIGHT - OMG!)
• Mispronouncing LA & NY places
• Caitlin’s museum rant: MOMA, The Met, “Starry Night” by Van Gogh, The Louvre, The Musée d'Orsay, visible storage, and the painting “The Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon and the Coronation of Empress Joséphine on December 2, 1804” by Jacques Louis David & an extreme oversimplification of art history and the impressionist movement
• How to pronounce Van Gogh.

As usual, sorry if you hear Caitlin typing - she's taking notes!

We only scratched the surface but don't worry - Brittany still found a way to bring up Almost Famous! (Recorded November 2020)

Things we talked about in the episode include:

• The Queen’s Gambit TV show (2020) and novel (1983)
• Cuban Chess prodigy from 1922 - Maria Teresa Mora 
• Pride & Prejudice (2005) Dir. Joe Wright. Score by Dario Marianelli
• Love Actually (2003) Dir. Richard Curtis. Score by Craig Armstrong.
• Cameron Crowe and Almost Famous (2000)
• Steven Spielberg and the John Williams PBS tribute concert
• Tangled (2010), “When Will My Life Begin (Reprise)” and Alan Menken
• 13 Reasons Why and “Take Me Back to the Night We Met” by Lord Huron
• Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (1997), Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” and screenwriter, Robin Schiff
• Putting songs into your script - Pros and Cons. (The Beatles catalogue! AH!) 
• Led Zeppelin’s music in car commercials and movies
• “I Will Be There When You Die” by My Morning Jacket and Elizabethtown (2005)
• Music Supervisors We Dig: Kier Lehman (Spider-man) and Danny Bramson (Cameron Crowe’s projects).
• Spotify inspirational playlists
• Twyla Tharp, her book on creativity (The Creative Habit) and the Billy Joel show - Movin’ Out! 
• Soundtracks versus Scores
• Baz Luhrmann and the Moulin Rouge (2001) soundtrack 
• John Williams’ body of work, Hans Zimmer, Howard Shore. (Caitlin said Howard Ashman but she meant Howard Shore for LOTR.)
• Love Actually’s mastery of both score and soundtrack. 
• Development people and using discretion with music in scripts
• Baby Driver (2017), Edgar Wright and The Hollywood Reporter video 
• Janet Evanovich Author Bio 
• Caitlin’s Favorite Pandemic Albums: “Folklore” by Taylor Swift, “Spider-man: Into the Spiderverse” soundtrack, “Knives Out” by Nathan Johnson, “Little Women” score by Alexandre Desplat, “Fetch The Bolt Cutters” by Fiona Apple, and “Fine Line” by Harry Styles.

We’re diving deeeeeep. Gird your loins! (Recorded November 2020)

• Hillbilly Elegy (2020 film and 2016 book by J.D. Vance)
• Caitlin brings up ~ screenwriting twitter ~ YET AGAIN.
• A Million Little Pieces (2003 book by James Frey)
• Why does having a personal connection to the story make a script more desirable?
• Sketchy Hollywood Nonsense!
• The “White Trash Narrative” and male, southern writers
• An ode to Ron Howard, director of our hearts.
• White Trash: The 400 Year Old Untold History of Class in America (2017 book by Nancy Isenberg) 
• What You’re Getting Wrong About Appalachia (book By Elizabeth Catte)
• Personal backgrounds and the correlation with a writer’s brand.
• Class, wealth, and all the trappings of that bullshit.
• Realizing you are living through a life moment that will eventually need to be expressed creativity. 
• Drawing on life experience to enrich stories indirectly.
• Don’t be so literal! Nuance is the name of the game, baby!
• Lady Bird (2017) and Greta Gerwig
• Becoming too attached to the truth when adapting real life.
• The Farewell (2019) and Lulu Wang
• Rejecting who we are as young people vs. embracing who we are as adults.
• “One to Watch” a 2020 novel by Kate Stayman-London
• Framebridge - this is not an ad... but it could be! Framebridge, I love you! Call me!
• Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History (2017 children's book by Vashti Harrison)

Few things scarier than working for rich, high-powered narcissists! (Recorded November 2020)

• THR’s article on Hollywood assistants in the pandemic 
• Personal anecdotes on being assistants in entertainment 
• Luddite bosses, boomers, narcs - the works.  
• Catholic, Jewish and Southern Baptist guilt.  
• Hollywood is dead from Thanksgiving through New Years Day - just accept it! 
• Vaccines! A new administration! The hope of 2021!
• “No one wants to be first in Hollywood - they want to be second!”
• Game of Thrones, the spinoff series, et all. 
• What GOT houses do you think we are in? All will be revealed! (Take the quiz here.)
• Roman and Jewel (2021 book by Dana L. Davis) - a YA novel that’s pitched as Romeo + Juliet meets Hamilton. 
• Kiss Me Kate - Cole Porter’s 1948 musical and Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew
• What a showmance?
• MTV’s 2001 adaptation of Georges Bizet’s opera - “Carmen: A Hip Hopera” starring Beyonce Knowles
• Alison Leiby’s Tweet - @AlisonLeiby “I'll say it: watching a movie on tv with commercials is GOOD.” and the ensuing discourse. 
• AMC Network, The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Forrest Gump (1994)
• Our shared, favorite national pastime: Mob Week also on AMC
• PBS, Rick Steves and his pro-marijuana stance. 

*You might hear Caitlin frantically typing notes on her computer in the background - sorry!*

Extra, Extra - read all about it. We’re talking current events and adaptations. (Recorded November 2020)

Things we talked about in the episode include:

• Disney+ Press Release re: subscribers
• Disney+ Press Release re: restructuring
• John Malone wanted to buy Netflix apparently
• Mulan (2020), Hamilton, Soul (2020) releasing on Disney+
• Netflix model versus Disney+ model
• Examples of Onboarding on apps
• What is user experience?
• Netflix Trending Bar
• Haunting of Bly Manor is #1
• 2019 Varsity Blues Scandal
• The Bling Ring (2013), Molly’s Game (2017) and glossy, courtroom dramas
• Shonda Rhimes, Ryan Murphy and Greg Berlanti - the holy trinity of TV Drama
• 21 Jump Street (2012)
• Anna Delvey - the fake heiress, her trial and Shonda Rhimes Netflix show
• Caroline Calloway and The Cut article by her former friend, Natalie Beach 
• Gone Girl (2014), The Girl On The Train (2016), Black Swan (2010) and Single White Female (1992)
• The Muse (1999) and What About Bob? (1991)
• The Cool Girl monologue
• Webtoons and Lore Olympus 
• Henry Thomas Jr.’s ET (1982) audition
• Rachel McAdams’ audition for The Notebook (2004)