John August

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, particularly with his latest series Margo’s Got Money Troubles. They explore where to find your act breaks, crafting complicated tones, and when to trust the writer of the book. We also look at how TV has changed over David’s storied career, how he runs a writers room, creating story engines, the difference between writing for broadcast TV and streaming, and the one thing a TV show should never be. In our bonus segment for premium members, David coaches John and Craig on how to survive a long running series. Links: David E. Kelley on IMDb Margo’s Got Money Troubles on AppleTV Harvard Alcohol Project: Designated Driver The Painful Truth About Long Covid by Alan Levinovitz for WIRED Salmon Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book! Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt! Check out the Inneresting Newsletter Become a Scriptnotes Premium member , or gift a subscription Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube Follow Scriptnotes on Instagram and TikTok John August on Bluesky and Instagram Outro by Nick Moore ( send us yours! ) Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli . Our intern is Lauren Loesberg. Email us at ask@johnaugust.com You can download the episode here . UPDATE 6 -10-26 : The transcript of this episode can be found here . The post The One with David E. Kelley first appeared on John August .

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, particularly with his latest series Margo's Got Money Troubles. They explore where to find your act breaks, crafting complicated tones, and when to trust the writer of the book. We also look at how TV has changed over David's storied career, how he runs a writers room, creating story engines, the difference between writing for broadcast TV and streaming, and the one thing a TV show should never be. In our bonus segment for premium members, David coaches John and Craig on how to survive a long running series. Links: David E. Kelley on IMDb Margo's Got Money Troubles on AppleTV Harvard Alcohol Project: Designated Driver The Painful Truth About Long Covid by Alan Levinovitz for WIRED Salmon Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book! Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt! Check out the Inneresting Newsletter Become a Scriptnotes Premium member , or gift a subscription Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube Follow Scriptnotes on Instagram and TikTok John August on Bluesky and Instagram Outro by Nick Moore ( send us yours! ) Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli . Our intern is Lauren Loesberg. Email us at ask@johnaugust.com You can download the episode here .

John welcomes writer and showrunner Courtney Kemp (Power, Nemesis) to ask, how do you find an audience and build momentum on television? They look at how writers can match their voice to an underserved audience, the pitfalls of being boxed in by a niche, and what new writers can do to get people excited about their work. We also chart how Courtney built her career from magazine writer to creating the television franchise Power, look at the exciting success of Obsession and Backrooms, and answer listener questions on talking to your reps about financial struggles, and how to find your project’s “why now?” In our bonus segment for premium members, Courtney shot her new show Nemesis entirely in Los Angeles, and you can too! Links: Courtney Kemp on Instagram and Wikipedia Nemesis on Netflix ‘Obsession’ Makes History With Biggest Second-Weekend Spike in Modern Times by Pamela McClintock and Lexi Carson for The Hollywood Reporter The ‘Pitt’ Effect: A Scramble to Get Shows Back on Air Faster by Lesley Goldberg for Ankler Media Ryan Walker hotel reviews Star City Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book! Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt! Check out the Inneresting Newsletter Become a Scriptnotes Premium member , or gift a subscription Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube Follow Scriptnotes on Instagram and TikTok John August on Bluesky and Instagram 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 . UPDATE 6-5-26: The transcript for this episode can be found here . The post Building Your Audience with Courtney Kemp first appeared on John August .

John welcomes back Phil Hay (Destroyer, The Invitation) to ask, how do you get a movie made with independent financing? They look at how indie movies get made, where you get the money, deciding when to go indie, and whether streamers complicate the picture. We also follow up on testing movies with focus groups and answer listener questions on how to navigate the editing room, daily routines, and what to do when your story has too many themes. In our bonus segment for premium members, we look back on what Phil learned about D&D from his documentary The Dungeon Masters. Links: Phil Hay Scriptnotes Episode 244 , Episode 377 , and Episode 505 The Dungeon Masters The Answering Machine Meltdown from Swingers John’s daily to-do template Pamela Ribon’s One Act documentary Petey USA’s The Yips KOXY College Radio Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book! Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt! Check out the Inneresting Newsletter Become a Scriptnotes Premium member , or gift a subscription Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube Follow Scriptnotes on Instagram and TikTok John August on Bluesky and Instagram Outro by Craig Good ( 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 . UPDATE 6-5-26: The transcript for this episode can be found here . The post Studio-Adjacent first appeared on John August .

John welcomes back Phil Hay (Destroyer, The Invitation) to ask, how do you get a movie made with independent financing? They look at how indie movies get made, where you get the money, deciding when to go indie, and whether streamers complicate the picture. We also follow up on testing movies with focus groups and answer listener questions on how to navigate the editing room, daily routines, and what to do when your story has too many themes. In our bonus segment for premium members, we look back on what Phil learned about D&D from his documentary The Dungeon Masters. Links: Phil Hay Scriptnotes Episode 244 , Episode 377 , and Episode 505 The Dungeon Masters The Answering Machine Meltdown from Swingers John's daily to-do template Pamela Ribon's One Act documentary Petey USA's The Yips KOXY College Radio Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book! Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt! Check out the Inneresting Newsletter Become a Scriptnotes Premium member , or gift a subscription Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube Follow Scriptnotes on Instagram and TikTok John August on Bluesky and Instagram Outro by Craig Good ( 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 go back to the beginning to examine the mechanics of the flash-forward opening — or as it’s known on this podcast, the “Stuart Special.” They look at what makes a strong flash-forward, when to avoid them, and how to pay back the narrative debt they incur. We also follow up on the Scriptnotes survey and answer a massive grab-bag blitz of listener questions including the potential pitfalls of child protagonists, “unfilmable” elements, and how to end a scene. In our bonus segment for premium members, how do you socialize at Hollywood parties? We’ve made all the mistakes so you don’t have to. Links: The script for episode one of Chernobyl Scriptnotes episode 493: Opening Scenes Greta Gerwig’s Little Women screenplay The Sheep Detectives Scriptnotes episode 731: Avoidance and Other Anti-Quests Sorkinisms – A Supercut by Kevin T. Porter My journey to the microwave alternate timeline by Malmesbury Solasta 2 Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book! Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt! Check out the Inneresting Newsletter Become a Scriptnotes Premium member , or gift a subscription Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube Follow Scriptnotes on Instagram and TikTok John August on Bluesky and Instagram Outro by Nick Moore ( 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 . UPDATE 5-13-26: The transcript of this episode can be found here . The post The Flashforward Fallback first appeared on John August .

John welcomes five-time Emmy-winning writer Ali Barthwell (Last Week Tonight) to ask, can writers learn to be funny? Drawing from her time as a teacher at The Second City, they look at what writers can learn from sketch and improv, and how to reliably find ways to make an audience laugh. We also celebrate the WGA membership’s ratification of the 2026 MBA, the educational future of the Scriptnotes book, and answer listener questions on the first scene of a comedy and when to stop taking assistant gigs and bet on yourself. In our bonus segment for premium members, Ali shares how she built a thriving writing career without ever having to live in New York or LA. Links: Ali Barthwell Preorder Ali’s new book, Reality TV for Snobs The Second City Pre-inked star stamps The Padilla Pause: How the Breakout Star of SNL Nails Comic Timing by Jason Zinoman for NYTimes Funnier by Anne Libera Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book! Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt! Check out the Inneresting Newsletter Become a Scriptnotes Premium member , or gift a subscription Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube Follow Scriptnotes on Instagram and TikTok John August on Bluesky and Instagram Outro by Matt Gillespie ( 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 . UPDATE 5-4-26: The transcript for this episode can be found here . The post Learning Comedy first appeared on John August .

John welcomes writer/showrunner Haley Z. Boston for a post-mortem on her terrifying new series, Something Very Bad is Going to Happen. They look at how the series evolved from initial idea through production, her experience as a first-time showrunner, the special relationship between women and horror, and how she constructs terror on the page. We also chart her early career, and answer listener questions on splitting scenes and how to handle an overwhelming amount of development notes. In our bonus segment for premium members, it’s spoiler territory as we look at what we can learn from the clever red herrings and misdirects of the series. Links: Haley Z. Boston on Instagram Something Very Bad is Going to Happen on Netflix Read along with an excerpt from the pilot Saying ‘I do’ is supposed to be joyous — unless something very bad happens by Gina McIntyre for LA Times Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film by Carol J. Clover Tasting Day Freaks Only Atomic Wave Dance by The Comet is Coming Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book! Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt! Check out the Inneresting Newsletter Become a Scriptnotes Premium member , or gift a subscription Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube Scriptnotes on Instagram and TikTok John August on Bluesky and Instagram Outro by Gloom Canyon ( 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 . UPDATE 5-28-26: The transcript for this episode can be found here . The post Something Very Bad is Going to Happen first appeared on John August .

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, they look at the psychological underpinnings of discomfort, and how to use avoidance as a driving force of character and story. We’ve also been away for a minute, so there’s a lot to catch up on! We follow-up on where the heck we’ve been, locked pages, a Scottish rap duo, and a new scientific answer for whether one page of script really equals one minute of movie. We also answer listener questions on the afterlife of residuals and writing with a significant other. In our bonus segment for premium members, we go through their feedback on our first ever video podcast and announce our plans for the future of the show. Links: Does one page of a screenplay really equal one minute of screen time? by Stephen Follows California Schemin’ trailer Indistractable by Nir Eyal Explanation of Disbursement of Residual Payments After Death from the WGA West Parseword Frankenstein’s Regrets by Ben Tarnoff for The Nation The AI Paradox: How to Make Sense of a Complex Future by Virginia Dignum Indigo Girls Tour featuring Jessie Mazin! Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book! Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt! Check out the Inneresting Newsletter Become a Scriptnotes Premium member , or gift a subscription Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube Scriptnotes on Instagram and TikTok John August on Bluesky and Instagram Outro by James Ashley McLaren ( 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 . UPDATE 4-23-26: The transcript for this episode can be found here . The post Avoidance and Other Anti-Quests first appeared on John August .

John sits down with the Northwest Screenwriters Guild at an event to promote the Scriptnotes book, and ends up having a poignant conversation about how the career of screenwriting has changed, missteps John made throughout his career, and how his approach to screenwriting has evolved over time. He also answers questions on kicking bad writing habits, screenwriting careers outside of Hollywood, what to look for in the projects you choose, whether age matters in a screenwriting career, writing your calling card movie, the sidekick problem, and the real story behind the Prince of Persia movie. In our bonus segment for premium members, John has been hanging out with sketch writers for the last few weeks and is excited to share what he’s learned about writing sketch comedy. Links: Northwest Screenwriters Guild Steven Soderbergh’s Sex Lies and Videotape book Our episode with KPop Demon Hunters writers Danya Jimenez & Hannah McMechan Notes on Notes John’s screenplay library Dennis Palumbo episodes, 99 – Psychotherapy for screenwriters and 676 – Writing while the World is on Fire LA Material Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book! Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt! Check out the Inneresting Newsletter Become a Scriptnotes Premium member , or gift a subscription Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube Scriptnotes on Instagram and TikTok John August on Bluesky and Instagram Outro by Nick Moore ( 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 . UPDATE 4-23-26: The transcript for this episode can be found here . The post A Frank Conversation About Screenwriting first appeared on John August .

John sits down with the Northwest Screenwriters Guild at an event to promote the Scriptnotes book, and ends up having a poignant conversation about how the career of screenwriting has changed, missteps John made throughout his career, and how his approach to screenwriting has evolved over time. He also answers questions on kicking bad writing habits, screenwriting careers outside of Hollywood, what to look for in the projects you choose, whether age matters in a screenwriting career, writing your calling card movie, the sidekick problem, and the real story behind the Prince of Persia movie. In our bonus segment for premium members, John has been hanging out with sketch writers for the last few weeks and is excited to share what he's learned about writing sketch comedy. Links: Northwest Screenwriters Guild Steven Soderbergh's Sex Lies and Videotape book Our episode with KPop Demon Hunters writers Danya Jimenez & Hannah McMechan Notes on Notes John's screenplay library Dennis Palumbo episodes, 99 – Psychotherapy for screenwriters and 676 – Writing while the World is on Fire LA Material Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book! Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt! Check out the Inneresting Newsletter Become a Scriptnotes Premium member , or gift a subscription Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube Scriptnotes on Instagram and TikTok John August on Bluesky and Instagram Outro by Nick Moore ( 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 .

In our first sequel compendium, John and Craig revisit four of their best segments dedicated to crafting a satisfying and emotional ending to your story. They look at rooting your ending in character, the function of the denouement, what makes a memorable farewell, how and why our endings can change, and how to bring everything full-circle. In our bonus segment for premium members, John and producer Drew continue a discussion that Drew Goddard started on character sides and the process of casting minor characters. Links: Our first endings compendium, Episode 524 – The Home Stretch A video essay of our farewell scenes discussion with Aline Brosh McKenna Episodes 44 – Endings for beginners , 366 – Tying Things Up , 648 – Farewell Scenes , and 392 – The Final Moment Dan Harmon story circle Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book! Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt! Check out the Inneresting Newsletter Become a Scriptnotes Premium member , or gift a subscription Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube Scriptnotes on Instagram and TikTok John August on Bluesky and Instagram Outro by Eric Pearson ( send us yours! ) Segments originally produced by Stuart Friedel , Megan McDonnell , Drew Marquardt and Megana Rao . Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli . Email us at ask@johnaugust.com You can download the episode here .