740 - On Competence
Why is it so satisfying to watch a highly-skilled character complete their goals? And why can it be equally hilarious to watch an incompeten...
Radio and PodcastLive Radio & PodcastsTV & Film
Scriptnotes Podcast
Screenwriters John August and Craig Mazin discuss screenwriting and related topics in the film and television industry, everything from getting stuff written to the vagaries of copyright and...
Scriptnotes Podcast Podcast Guide
Listen to Scriptnotes Podcast, a TV & Film podcast by John August. Stream 26 episodes in English, follow new audio stories, and play episodes online on Radio and Podcast.
Show Topic
Browse this show under TV & Film podcasts.
Episodes
20 episodes are loaded now from a catalog of 26. More episodes can be opened from this page.
Discover More
Explore TV & Film podcasts, United States podcasts and English podcasts.
Episodes
20 of 26 episodes739 - The One with David E. Kelley
John and Craig welcome writer and showrunner David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies, Ally McBeal) to look at his process for adapting books to TV,...
738 - Building Your Audience with Courtney Kemp
John welcomes writer and showrunner Courtney Kemp (Power, Nemesis) to ask, how do you find an audience and build momentum on television? The...
737 - Studio-Adjacent
John welcomes back Phil Hay (Destroyer, The Invitation) to ask, how do you get a movie made with independent financing? They look at how ind...
736 - The Devil You Know
John and Craig welcome back Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) to explore the timely questions about art and h...
735 - The Flashforward Fallback
John and Craig go back to the beginning to examine the mechanics of the flash-forward opening — or as it's known on this podcast, the "Stuar...
734 - A Box Full of Teeth
John and Craig welcome back Katie Dippold (Widow's Bay, Ghostbusters) to ask, what advice would you give to your younger self? They revisit...
733 - Learning Comedy
John welcomes five-time Emmy-winning writer Ali Barthwell (Last Week Tonight) to ask, can writers learn to be funny? Drawing from her time a...
732 - Something Very Bad is Going to Happen
John welcomes writer/showrunner Haley Z. Boston for a post-mortem on her terrifying new series, Something Very Bad is Going to Happen. They...
731 - Avoidance and Other Anti-Quests
John and Craig flip the idea of motivation on its head and ask, what are your characters running from? Using examples across film and TV, th...
SC39 - Sidecast: The 2026 MBA
There's a brand new agreement between the WGA and the AMPTP! And since John was the co-chair of the negotiating committee, he's excited to s...
89 - Writing effective transitions (Encore)
John and Craig connect the dots on transitions and how they can be just as important as the scenes themselves. They look at how to get your...
730 - A Frank Conversation About Screenwriting
John sits down with the Northwest Screenwriters Guild at an event to promote the Scriptnotes book, and ends up having a poignant conversatio...
729 - Endings Compendium, Part II
In our first sequel compendium, John and Craig revisit four of their best segments dedicated to crafting a satisfying and emotional ending t...
728 - Beats to Scenes with Drew Goddard
John welcomes back Drew Goddard (Project Hail Mary, High Potential) to ask, how do you turn the beats of your story into full scenes? Using...
197 - How do bad movies get made? (Encore)
John and Craig revisit a favorite episode focused on a single topic: bad movies and how they happen. Using first-hand experience, they look...
727 - Free Work
John and Craig tackle the scourge of free work and offer strategies to avoid it. They look at established norms, potential remedies, the thi...
726 - So you've been nominated for an Oscar
John welcomes writer-directors Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Singh (Two People Exchanging Saliva) to ask, what happens when your short film...
725 - Torn from the pages of Squash Magazine
John and Craig gather our listeners' favorite news articles and ask, How Would This Be a Movie? Stories include an underground network deliv...
724 - Introductions with Joachim Trier
John welcomes writer and director Joachim Trier (Sentimental Value, The Worst Person in the World) to ask, how do you introduce your charact...