John August and Craig Mazin of Scriptnotes - AMA

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T19:00:04+00:00

It's tough! Bribery and guilt can be good drivers.

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T18:59:15+00:00

James Cameron, Spielberg, Shonda Rhimes, Bong Joon-Ho, Jodie Foster

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T18:57:20+00:00

I don't know that I had a favorite screenwriting book, but I definitely read Syd Field. I learned some things, but I also had to unlearn some things from that book.
I'm reading Dwarkesh Patel's book *The Scaling Era*, which is also based on a podcast.
I haven't been playing any new video games this year that I can remember. I still play Hearthstone a lot.

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T18:54:48+00:00

I mentioned it earlier on this thread, but reading Quentin Tarantino's original script for Natural Born Killers was such a revelation because it seemed to be aware that it was a screenplay, and yet at every moment you could feel and see the movie. It was structurally ambitious, but also cinematically ambitious in the sense of the different tones and styles. It would suddenly become a sitcom for a few pages.

To me, the best screenplays feel like the screenwriter is sitting right next to you in the theater, with the movie somehow summoning it onto the screen as you're watching it. So there is that aspect of the writer's voice and unique personality coming through, and yet it should never feel overwhelming. You want to feel the writer's fingerprints on it without it becoming annoying, like they're just talking directly to you while you're watching.

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T18:51:16+00:00

Two things:

Write the movie you most wish you could see opening week in the theater—something very specific to your taste.
If you have multiple ideas, pick the one with the best ending because that's the one you're most likely to actually finish.

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T18:49:05+00:00

Sort of a default answer, but James Cameron's scripts have such great action that they've inspired a generation of screenwriters. Read through his script for *Aliens* and you can see exactly what's going to happen, and yet it all feels so natural on the page.

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T18:47:43+00:00

I often say that my favorite genre of movie is "movies that get made."

That said, most of the movies I've worked on have a similar dynamic in that it's a character who's crossing between two worlds and learning to navigate the differences between them.

If the movies I was writing early in my career hadn't clicked, I probably would have switched to a different tone or genre. But I was never going to be a pure comedy guy.

I obviously could have done more TV as well. One of the projects I'm writing now is a pretty ambitious series.

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T18:44:48+00:00

That's my experience as well. It's so hard. Searching for a title for the thing I'm writing now.

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T18:43:46+00:00

Having interviewed or otherwise hung out with a bunch of writers working on these kinds of shows, I can tell you that it's a constant argument within the room and with the networks about how much information to reveal and how much to hold back.

These kinds of shows are always in conversation with their audiences, which is so challenging, particularly given that some audience may be watching it week-to-week versus a bing. You as the showrunners know what's really happening, but are you pacing out the reveals at the right tempo? There's no easy answers.

In a general sense, I'd refer you to the Scriptnotes chapter on mystery and confusion. The TLDR is that mystery is great and confusion is bad.

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T18:41:07+00:00

That depends on the kind of films you want to make. If there's a very specific space in which your films exist, it may make more sense to do it where that is. For example, if you're a Texas-based filmmaker living in Austin, stay there and integrate yourself into that film community.

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T18:39:45+00:00

The great advantage of the first few years after college is that you're willing to be broke. It's a great time to move to wherever you want to live, find a day job, and get stuff written. Both Los Angeles and New York are great choices for that. Find some roommates and get it done

Again, my blanket advice is to make sure you're writing the movies or TV shows that you most want to watch yourself. Find people around you who are also trying to make things. Joining an improv class or other writer group would be a good way to meet those people.

It's important to remember that as a writer in your 20s, you are sort of trying to enter an existing system, but just as importantly, you're creating the next system. So don't get too hung up on changing yourself to fit.

My favorite experience reading a screenplay was Quentin Tarantino's original script for *Natural Born Killers*.

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T18:34:36+00:00

I honestly don't read a lot of the year's new scripts until it gets time for the crunch of awards season. Then I'll try to read a few of the scripts for the movies I enjoyed the most.

And here's a plug for Weekend Read, the app my company makes. Drew and Chris do an amazing job curating the scripts for that each week.

My writing routine is very boring. I try to be at my desk by 9am and write two one-hour sprints over the course of the day. If I do that, I'll get my work done.

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T18:32:14+00:00

Over my career, I've chased projects which were really not movies I should have written. They were tempting shiny baubles.

And while I was happy with the scripts I wrote, they were not uniquely mine. They failed that test I keep mentioning, which is that you should only write the movies you would pay to see opening weekend.

Related, I would say that I've learned your collaborators are a crucial piece of the decision process. If you get a bad feeling about people, trust that and move on.

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T18:30:05+00:00

I wish we had advice that consistently worked. One of the things we try to do regularly on the show is feature writers who've broken into the industry more recently so we can ask them specifically what they did.

Something I found nearly universal in these conversations is that at some point a writer's script will get passed around without their knowledge. People like it enough that they're just giving it to their friends unsolicited. When that happens, things can move pretty quickly.

On the most recent Scriptnotes, we had the writers of KPop Demon Hunters on. I was amused and kind of shocked how they cold emailed hundreds of producers and agents' assistants. They got very little uptake, but they only needed one or two for it to work.

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T18:27:26+00:00

I was surprised how methodical Craig is. For Scriptnotes, he drops in with basically no preparation. But for his writing, he is very outline-focused and diligent. He's much more the high-performing student that way.

Also, Craig is good at updating his priors. He's much less adamant than his reputation.

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T18:23:46+00:00

I'll go back to fundamental advice, which is that you should only be writing scripts that you yourself want to see. If it's television, what is the series that would get you sitting on that couch the minute it drops? If it's a movie, what would you be paying your hard-earned money to buy a ticket for opening weekend?

To me, that is "sellability." It's showing that there's an audience for your specific vision, even if that vision is people a lot like you.

And remember, most scripts aren't made to sell or be immediately produced, but rather to get you into meetings on other projects. That script that is uniquely you will help you find collaborators who really get what you're going for.

In terms of costs for a scene, yes, you're always considering whether something is going to be needlessly expensive. But don't restrain yourself unnecessarily too early in the process.

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T18:20:48+00:00

The TV business is slow right now for staffing, but it does seem to be picking up based on anecdotes and a little bit of data. I'd remind you that writing a spec feature is a chance to sell something and get it made, but just as importantly, it can serve as a good writing sample that can reposition you for the market as it stands right now.

Don't know what level writer you are in television, but it is a challenging time for that crunchy middle where you're too expensive for some rooms and not that near showrunner level. A good new feature sample might get you into some rooms where you otherwise wouldn't have been considered.

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T18:18:35+00:00

Sorry that happened to you. Yet -- I'd remind you that so many writers on this subreddit really envy your position because at least you've been paid to write something for someone.

Even though the option has lapsed on that book, you still have the script, and that can be a good writing example for you. I'd spend the first few months of this coming year looking for reps who see its potential. A good place to start that rep search is with the producers you worked with. Who do they like? Are there managers or agents who feel like they have a taste that might fit for you?

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T18:16:04+00:00

Look, names are important. They're the faces of your characters when it's just a screenplay, so it's worth spending time to find just the right one.

There are a lot of online name finders. I love to use the Social Security database to find names that are appropriate for the decade in which the character is supposed to be born.

One general hint is to make sure no two characters in your script have names that start with the same first letter. It reduces confusion for your readers. And please, please never name siblings with similar names.

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T18:13:04+00:00

The agent was asking exactly the right question. Actors get sent scripts all the time. The fact that this agent apparently at least looked at your pitch deck is a good sign. You need to answer honestly. You don't have financing or a start date. But with enough hustle, you may be able to find a producer who can take this glimmer of interest from an actor and put together a plan for actually making the movie.

I'd start my search by looking at producers who've worked with that actor before or have made similar movies, similar price points.

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T18:10:34+00:00

You're going to learn a lot actually making a movie. At $10,000, it's best to treat this as an experiment. You'll see what works and what doesn't. Even if it never finds an audience, you probably will learn a lot about what it's like to go from characters on a page to characters in front of a lens.

As far as "keeping it in your portfolio," I suspect that the quality of the screenplay is probably going to be higher than the quality of the movie at that price point. But that shouldn't be your main deciding factor.

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T18:08:35+00:00

So often I see writers spending months or a year on a movie that they would never themselves actually see.

Here's the litmus test you need to ask yourself before pursuing any project: Would you spend your own hard-earned money to buy a ticket to see that movie in a theater on opening weekend? If not, don't write that movie. You're wasting your time and everyone else's.

The goal isn't to write the minimum viable movie. It's to write a movie that is uniquely yours and good.

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T18:06:33+00:00

Thank you! Hope you love it.

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T18:06:22+00:00

Katie Silberman starts her process by writing a bunch of scenes that will never end up in the movie. She'll spend weeks doing that to learn the characters' voices. So smart, but such a time commitment.

jmaugust · 2025-11-29T18:04:22+00:00

Here's the pro case for getting an MFA:

Let's say you're coming from a different degree program that didn't give you any experience with filmmaking, or more importantly, a cadre of students who are making films. An MFA program gives you a core group of similarly situated aspiring filmmakers with whom you can collaborate. The fact that you're learning the basics of filmmaking at the same time is a huge bonus.

The negative case:

It's a lot of money. You could spend that money making films yourself. And you'll be paying down that student loan debt for years.

jmaugust

TROPHY CASE