John and Craig investigate what characters know and how we know they know what they know. It’s something that can be as confusing as that last sentence was, but they offer clear guidance on building informed characters, audience expectations, and how to get everybody on the same page.

We also look at how ad breaks in streaming are interrupting established act breaks. But first we follow up on AI transcription and character voice, and answer listener questions on authentic depictions and how to ask for a WGA contract.

In our bonus segment for premium members, how should you act when you meet a famous person? John and Craig have big (but well-concealed) feelings.

Links:

• Do I Sound Gay? Documentary
• International Dialects of English Archive
• Accent Tag on YouTube
• Chilean beer ads in Star Wars
• Letter Jam
• TacticalMap
• Fallout on Prime Video
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
• Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
• Craig Mazin on Threads and Instagram
• John August on Threads, Instagram and Twitter
• John on Mastodon
• Outro by Nica Brooke (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

John welcomes writer and comedian Alex Edelman to look at how he wrote his solo show Just For Us, and dig into the meaning of “write what you know.” They discuss finding your voice as a writer, developing your story with an audience, why Alex doesn’t write his shows down, and the sample that first got him staffed.

We also answer listener questions on what to do when your manager doesn’t understand your comedy, and the value of characters speaking to themselves.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John asks Alex, how do you set boundaries on material when you’re dating another comedian?

Links:

• Alex Edelman
• Just For Us on HBO
• Replay by Jordan Mechner
• Replay by Ken Grimwood
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
• Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
• Craig Mazin on Threads and Instagram
• John August on Threads, Instagram and Twitter
• John on Mastodon
• Outro by Ali Clifton (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

John and Craig can’t help but look at intrinsic motivations — those specific internal drives that guide characters behavior. They discuss how to structure and expose that internal drive, the importance of an innate irritability, how it can stop your characters from becoming flat, and rewarding that intrinsic motivation with choice.

But first, we follow up on AI training, blueprints and “important” movies. We also weigh in on a high-school senior’s college dilemma and answer a listener question on writing with your trailer in mind.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Craig parse out their reasons for why humans may – or may not – ever leave the solar system.

Links:

• My Pal Foot Foot by The Shaggs
• Braid by Jonathan Blow
• Connections from the New York Times
• Q: Who Found a Way to Crack the U.K.’s Premier Quiz Show? by David Segal for The New York Times
• On what motivates us: a detailed review of intrinsic v. extrinsic motivation by Laurel S. Morris, Mora M. Grehl, Sarah B. Rutter, Marishka Mehta, and Margaret L. Westwater
• Why are there so many illegal weed stores in New York City? by PJ Vogt
• Shōgun on FX
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
• Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
• Craig Mazin on Threads and Instagram
• John August on Threads, Instagram and Twitter
• John on Mastodon
• Outro by Ben Singer (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

John and Craig lawyer up with criminal defense attorney Ken White (aka Popehat) to look at legal scenes in movies and TV, and separate the tropes from the truth.

How do lawyers actually prepare a case? Will they meet a client in jail? Do they need to gather evidence themselves? And what happens when they go to trial? What are the rules for examining witnesses? How often do people represent themselves in court? And do judges really bang their gavel like that?

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Craig invite Ken to imagine traveling somewhere worse than prison — the beach.

Links:

• Ken White on BlueSky, Facebook and Threads
• Serious Trouble podcast
• The Popehat Report by Ken White
• Hello, My Name Is Stephen Glass, and I’m Sorry by Hanna Rosin for The New Republic
• LibreOffice
• Sovereign Citizens Getting Owned
• The Rest is History podcast
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
• Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
• Craig Mazin on Threads and Instagram
• John August on Threads, Instagram and Twitter
• John on Mastodon
• Outro by Lou Stone Borenstein (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

John welcomes back Pamela Ribon (Nimona, My Year of Dicks) to quietly ask: what’s with all the whispering in movies these days? They discuss trends and techniques in voice and volume, picking the right moment to whisper, and the value of voices across decibel levels.

We also revisit Pamela’s work on Moana to look at what you can learn from reading early drafts, ponder the threat of TikTok and YouTube, follow-up on vetting potential co-workers, and answer a listener question on writing animation.

In our bonus segment for premium members, Pam shares all her star-studded stories from sitting in the 5th row at this year’s Oscars.

Links:

• Pamela Ribon on Instagram
• Listen to Sassy
• My Year of Dicks
• Nimona on Netflix
• Hire Survivors Hollywood
• Dune: Part Two Clip
• ‘Fundie Baby Voice’ Seems To Be Everywhere Now. Here’s What You Should Know by Caroline Bologna for Huffpost
• In a World – Smoothie
• Natural Born Killers 1990 Draft
• Natural Born Killers 1993 Draft
• Lin-Manuel Miranda on ‘I Want’ Songs, Going Method for ‘Moana’ and Fearing David Bowie
• More (Outtake) from Moana
• How Far I’ll Go from Moana
• How Bad Can It Get for Hollywood? by Mark Harris for NYT
• This Sitcom Got WEIRD When Nobody Watched It by David Friedman
• Researching An Old Sitcom With AI by David Friedman
• Coucou French classes
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
• Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
• Craig Mazin on Threads and Instagram
• John August on Threads, Instagram and Twitter
• John on Mastodon
• Outro by Vincent DeVito (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt with help from Chris Csont, and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

John and Craig wring their hands and ask, how do you make sure the person you’re hiring isn’t a monster? They look at best practices for vetting colleagues, sussing out problematic people, and managing your own emotions when you’re the person with power.

We also discuss writing for non-native English speakers, using three examples to illustrate the importance of syntax, musicality and authenticity. But first, we answer listener questions on giving notes and kids playing D&D.

In our bonus segment for premium members, we spill the kool-aid on our fears and fascinations with cults.

Links:

• Strands from the New York Times
• Anatomy of a Fall – Clip
• Past Lives by Celine Song
• Irma Vep – Clip
• Is This Hollywood’s #MeanToo Moment? by David Mack for Slate
• How to play Dungeons and Dragons for kids
• RuPaul Doesn’t See How That’s Any of Your Business by Ronan Farrow for The New Yorker
• Recursion – Glitch Games
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
• Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
• Craig Mazin on Threads and Instagram
• John August on Threads, Instagram and Twitter
• John on Mastodon
• Outro by Eric Pearson (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

John and Craig explore the counterfactuals of Hollywood history — the relatively small moments that, if the coin toss had gone the other way, would have massive ramifications on the world as we know it.

What if Edison was allowed to keep his monopoly on motion pictures? What does our industry look like without the Paramount Consent Decree? What if George Lucas died in his car accident? Would superhero movies have dominated our culture if Iron Man had bombed? What studios would have gone down if Titanic had sunk? And what if Netflix had stayed with its DVD-only model?

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Craig talk capitalism and solve its problems once and for all.

Links:

• What If? by Robert Cowley
• Thomas Edison: The Unintentional Founder of Hollywood by Garrett O’Brien for the Saturday Evening Post
• United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. on Wikipedia
• George Lucas: The Car Wreck That Changed His Life and Led Him to ‘Star Wars’ by Tim Ott for Biography
• When ‘Titanic’ Was Expected to Be a Huge Flop by Jake Rossen for Mental Floss
• ‘John Carter’ Changed Hollywood, but Not in the Way Disney Hoped by Richard Newby for THR
• Financial Interest and Syndication Rules
• Post-Quantum Cryptography
• S’more! S’more! His artisanal marshmallows were the greatest. Then he tried to scale them. by Adam Rogers
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
• Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
• Craig Mazin on Threads and Instagram
• John August on Threads, Instagram and Twitter
• John on Mastodon
• Outro by Zach Lo (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.