Not every movie or show gets a reunion reboot or legacy sequel. Sometimes we can feel the influence of the past, but with an additional twist. These are the spiritual successors. They may not always be obvious in what stories they owe a debt to, but you feel the connection.
Weekend Read, our app for reading scripts on your phone, features a new curated collection of screenplays each week. This week, we look at detective TV series -- how their writers set up the intricate mysteries and murders, line up compelling suspects, and create detectives that keep us coming back
Back in 2010, John answered a question about second guessing yourself and deciding what sample to send to a producer if you think your work doesn't match their taste.
Tony Gilroy recently stopped by Scriptnotes to talk about the new season of Andor, but mostly what I took away from it is what a badass he is. Tony has a lot of pride in his work, so his standards are high – which is a quality that many people strive
Likeability. The idea that there's some objective sense of whether or not this person is someone you could be friends with/grab a beer with/watch for 90 minutes on a screen without getting annoyed. It's not just a measurement of morality, because there are plenty
Weekend Read, our app for reading scripts on your phone, features a new curated collection of screenplays each week. This week, we look at those characters that every studio executive will note to death and has online misogynists frothing at the mouth: The “unlikeable” female protagonist. Which, when looking over
We touched on coincidences in storytelling with this week's rebroadcast of John's blog on Spider-Man 3, so let's take a broader look at coincidences both in fiction and how people experience them in the real world. Lisa M.P. Munoz interviews Christian Rominger about
Weekend Read, our app for reading scripts on your phone, features a new curated collection of screenplays each week. This week, it’s basketball season (or so we’ve been told, we were all indoor kids here at Weekend Read)! Whether you’re a fan of the sport or not,
In 2007, John came back from a screening of Spider-Man 3 and used his reactions to point to the hurdles a writer can throw in their story's path when relying too heavily on coincidence.
Weekend Read, our app for reading scripts on your phone, features a new curated collection of screenplays each week. This week, inspired by Christina Hodson’s recommendation on a recent Scriptnotes for great action writing, we look at one of the oldest genres: the sword and sandals epic. Our collection
In Highland Pro, you can change the colors of just about anything. Use one of our built-in themes, or create one exactly to your taste. In this short video, I explain how themes work, how to create a custom theme, and how to share your creation with others. Here'
Weekend Read, our app for reading scripts on your phone, features a new curated collection of screenplays each week. This week, we look at the many different iterations of the buddy cop character dynamic and the benefits of a clearly-defined central relationship. Our collection includes: * 21 Jump Street by Michael
Scriptnotes Recap
This is only the third recap I’ve done, and I’m assuming that by this point you’re onto me. I highlight that we spoke with a celebrity filmmaker, offer pithy but ultimately empty insights about them, highlight a few bangers from the conversation, and then you click through
Featured Friday
Weekend Read, our app for reading scripts on your phone, features a new curated collection of screenplays each week. This week, we look at stories of artificial intelligence and how we can reflect humanity in the machines we make. Our collection includes: * Blade Runner by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples
Featured Friday
Weekend Read, our app for reading scripts on your phone, features a new curated collection of screenplays each week. This week, grab your sunscreen and your culottes – we’re going on spring break! Our collection includes: * @Zola by Janicza Bravo & Jeremy O. Harris * 22 Jump Street by Oren Uziel
Highland
Highland Pro’s /lookup provides short, inline answers. Building it required early design decisions.
Highland
Meet your new favorite writing app. Today we're launching Highland Pro, a groundbreaking writing tool designed to empower screenwriters, novelists, and creators of all kinds. Highland Pro offers a clean, distraction-free platform tailored to unlock creativity and enhance productivity. John talks you through many of the new features
Scriptnotes Recap
Robert Eggers shouldn’t do interviews. Don’t get me wrong, he was a delightful and generous guest. But after a decade of putting out exquisitely-crafted and painstakingly-researched films, I started to create this image in my mind of a tortured intellectual who speaks with a deep brogue, writes with
Scriptnotes Recap
Last week on Scriptnotes, John welcomed writer, director and actor Jesse Eisenberg for an in-depth discussion on loss, finding your voice as a writer and how to get your movie made. Jesse Eisenberg was a dream guest. Not just because I’ve been a fan of his work for a
Inneresting
In 2009, John answered a question about how to choose between the different stories competing for your attention, and gave an example of one time he didn’t need to choose just one. I know you have addressed this type of question to a certain extent, but I was left
Inneresting
This week’s rebroadcast comes from 2007 with 3 tips on how to quickly define a character’s personality in your screenplay. Just how early can you tell a script isn’t going to work? To me, it’s as the first few characters are introduced. If character introductions are
Inneresting
This week’s rebroadcast collects posts from 2006 and 2012 to consider how selling a script isn’t a guarantee, and why writing a film that never gets made is still work worthy of compensation. You’ve said that “most scripts don’t become movies, and a hundred things could
Inneresting
This week’s rebroadcast includes a post from 2007 and a downloadable PDF version of the key points (suitable for hanging up where you write). Spend a few years as a screenwriter, and writing a scene becomes an almost unconscious process. It’s like driving a car. Most of us
Inneresting
This week’s rebroadcast brings together a few posts about structure, and reasons to consider that there’s not only one way to plan out a story. How do you know when the story has good bones? I’m a 28-year old writer with a very old problem. I do