#scriptnotes

[natemacsworld]

in which @neil-gaiman confirms that there is stuff in Good Omens that's meant to be caught after a fourth or fifth viewing

so if you haven't watched four or five times, you've probably missed something

[easternpine]

The beginning is the end is the beginning: writing endings

The Scriptnotes podcast recently put out a compilation episode about writing effective endings that I found really enlightening. They're coming at it from the perspective of screenwriters, but I think most of the advice applies just as well to fiction writers.

Give it a listen!

[chrisullrich]

Weekly Roundup 11.3.23

New On the Blog - Weekly Roundup 11.3.23

I’m starting/restarting a thing here on the blog. What is this thing, you may wonder? Well, glad you asked. I’m calling it the ‘Weekly Roundup’ and will be items of interest and/or links I found interesting during the week or continue to find interesting or useful on a regular or semi-regular basis. I won’t be talking much about or linking to anything to do with the current situation in the…

[dirtyriver]

John and Craig welcome Neil Gaiman (The Sandman, Good Omens) to discuss the serialized storytelling of comics and screenwriting. Using Neil’s script for issue 24 of The Sandman, they look at how comics are written, communicating with other artists, using the medium to your advantage, and finding unique ways to deliver your story.

Neil also shares how he developed his voice as a writer, from the origin of his religious and mythological curiosities to the importance of doing it wrong, defining style, and his advice to young writers.

[leighlew3]

Hello. I just started screenwriting. It was a bit difficult since all I've been writing was prose all my life but I got used to it in a bit once I finished watching all the Youtube tutorials and kept studying scripts, especially superhero ones since that's what I write. I started screenwriting because I realized I think more visually (especially with my ADHD) and I wasn't writing as much as I used to. Plus my writing style sucks. Peroid.

Can you share tips for beginner screenwriters? Like writing tv show and episodic stories if you can? It will be highly appreciated.

Also, how did you get into screenwriting?

Hi!

Welcome to the circus! We're all clowns here.

Nah, but real talk -- I'd be sure to check in on some free resources online that offer invaluable information and tips. Whether it's just random sites found via Google, or podcasts. Two of the only ones I personally really pay much attn to:

John August's Blog Scriptnotes Podcast (eps are free but there's Premium extras)

First things first, MY tip to you is to learn to love and embrace research. A huge part of the craft and job itself is researching. So if you learn to be good at it, even right off the bat in looking up tips on structure, formatting (Screenwriter's Bible is a great book for the technical basics), etc -- you'll be able to slowly learn the basics, and then how to evolve as a writer, and so on. Everything I ever knew of screenwriting before becoming a professional was self-taught, so don't think that one has to spend a fortune, take classes, etc to do this. If you have the determination, the drive, the work ethic, a smidgen of talent, and the delusion to not give up -- you never know how far you could actually go.

When it comes to the TV space, I will say it's... evolving. Drastically and quickly. 'Rules' and standards in the industry that were rules 20 years ago changed 10 years ago. And they're changing again now as we speak. That being said there's always going to be the core basics.

I think a good resource some for the basics at this point in time can be found here.

Beyond all that, a very helpful thing to do is to download and read as many scripts in the vein of what you hope to write as possible. Make a list of your favorite shows or ones in the genre and style and format you hope to work in -- and check around online. You're sure to find some pilots, maybe even some early pitches or show bibles for those series. Seeing how it's actually done on the page will always be the most valuable way of learning, above all else.

If you have more specific questions, I'm around and can try to help further. As for how I got into screenwriting? I realized very young I wanted to be involved in the industry in a creative capacity. I loved writing short stories and poetry as a kid and won some stuff in school but I never really thought about writing professionally. That being said, I was studying box office results like it was math homework and reading the trades while my friends were reading teen magazines on fashion and celeb couples, lol. At first I thought perhaps I would be a director since I'm a visual person, but then I wrote some fanfiction as a teen, and so many people would say "I wish you wrote for the show!" so I started to think maybe I could be a writer, but I didn't think I had my own stories to tell. And then... one day I did. I dove into some original ideas by thinking on what I wasn't seeing enough of from Hollywood (female lead action and thrillers, etc at the time) and off I went...

I've worked in the industry in other capacities (social media, PR, marketing, etc) from afar (in TX) for many years but eventually really started to do everything I could to pursue the true dream and be a writer. Alas, I wanted to make it on my own without asking for favors nor hookups. I would avoid what I did, if I were you -- GO AHEAD AND ASK FOR HELP. Don't be afraid to. I stupidly took longer than needed b/c I didn't want to be that person that asked for help or yet another friend of a celebrity who needed / wanted something from them. That was dumb. I could've saved myself years of struggling and hustling alone -- alas, lesson learned. 😂

Anyway, I eventually landed a rep via cold email queries. The guy was awful. I've since upgraded to much better reps and have a lot of exciting things happening. Slowly. The pandemic and strikes sidelined a lot and made projects that would've happened 5+ years ago only now start to really happen, but hey -- better late than never.

So yeah, just know that it's a really really REALLY hard time in the industry right now, and the TV space is being hit the hardest. That being said -- somebody still has to write for television. And there's no saying it can't be you, or anyone else reading this. If you can learn the basics of formatting and structure, hone your craft, find your VOICE as a writer, and work really really hard and be patient as hell... you never know what you can accomplish.

[lies]

Hi! I saw your recent post of the Chernobyl abandoned radar system and wanted to ask you about it, if you feel like answering.

What do you remember of the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster in 1986? I'm a bit younger than you so my memories of it are rather vague. I certainly remember when it happened but I wasn't old enough to have any real understanding of the event.

Did you watch HBO's 2019 miniseries Chernobyl? I was riveted by it. I also read Adam Higginbotham's "Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster" which came out that same year.

I don't remember much about it. I was 24, which means I was in the midst of struggling with early post-college employment. The partner in crime and I had been married for a few years. I remember it as difficult jobs, unreliable cars, and tight budgets on our respective tiny salaries. We were living in L.A. She was working at Tower Records, I was a substitute teacher for LA Unified. I was aware that Chernobyl happened because it was front-page news for weeks, but I didn't pay a lot of attention to it at the time.

Watching the HBO series was really interesting. I was already a fan of Craig Mazin from listening to Scriptnotes, and I listed to the bonus podcast for the series while it was airing. Yeah, riveting is a good word for it.

I didn't read the Higginbotham book. What did you think of it?

[greatqueenanna]

Delving into Hans' Sociopathy

Prince Hans is canonically a sociopath. Jennifer Lee intentionally wrote the character with specific behaviors and traits that align with this label. Within this analysis, I wanted to do an observation of Hans’ overall character and talk about his sociopathic behaviors.

The purpose of this essay is to only talk about his first film appearance. I do not mean it to be an analysis of whether he will return, if this will remain a canon aspect of his character for future appearances, or if he is capable of redemption. This is also not a post that is trying to get you to hate the character or use it as leverage for whatever opinions you may have. It is simply an analysis.

I am also writing about a fictional character, so a lot of his personality is over-exaggerated. Please refrain from using this as a tool for diagnosing yourself or others or as a general representation of these labels and disorders.

I want to emphasize that I am talking about a character who is both a villain and a sociopath. However, please avoid confusing these two things as one. Not all individuals with ASPD (sociopathy) are bad or engage in criminal behavior. For more information, you can read about it here. If you want to know the thoughts of someone with ASPD (sociopathy) on this topic, I asked a friend and you can read their response here on various related subjects.

Now that all that is out of the way, let's dive in.

Part 1: When Was This Confirmed?

Jennifer Lee first confirmed that Hans was a sociopath during an interview with John August and Aline Brosh McKenna of Scriptnotes, in Episode 128: Frozen with Jennifer Lee.

---

Jennifer: Hans is a villain from the minute he hits her with the horse, in my mind. Aline: Really? Jennifer: But I am slightly a sociopath, I think. He’s just calculating from that moment.

---

John: But clearly he’s a very talented sociopath. Jennifer: He’s very talented. He’s charming. He mirrors everyone. And actually, the original story had a lot to do with mirrors. In many iterations of the story we talk about mirrors and we bring them up. And so I held on a little to that, what Hans is is a mirror as a lot of charming, but hallow or sociopathic. Aline: And she’s (Anna) also so lonely that it’s like she’s falling in love with her reflection in the pond. Jennifer: Yeah, exactly. And he mirrors her and he’s goofy with her. He’s a little bit more bold and aggressive with the Duke, because the Duke is a jerk, so he’s a jerk back. And with Elsa he’s a hero.

---

She later further confirmed this during a Q&A event with fans on Twitter (X), in response to a fan asking if Hans was ever a good guy during the early productions of Frozen.

---

Santino Fontana, Hans' voice actor, also confirmed this in an interview. You can see this interview here, the Frozen segment lasts from approx. 15:35 - 19:35.

Santino Fontana: Yea, He's a good-looking guy. Also, a sociopath, but yea. - Broadwaycom, Show People With Paul Wontorek Interview

---

Part 2: The Traits of ASPD (Sociopathy)

According to the DSM-5, those with ASPD are described with some of the following traits.

Ego-centrism; self-esteem derived from personal gain, power, or pleasure. Failure to conform to lawful or culturally normative ethical behavior. Lack of concern for feelings, needs, or suffering of others. Frequent use of seduction, charm, glibness, or ingratiation to achieve one’s ends.

To summarize, sociopaths are those who - lack empathy for others, have self-esteem that is based on personal gain and power, disregards social norms and manipulate and charm others to get what they want.

---

There are also some anecdotal traits that are not directly referred to in the DSM-5, but talked about within ASPD communities and from those who know those with it. One trait is the concept of mimicry or mirroring. The idea here is that a sociopath will mirror the behaviors of another person in order to either charm or intimidate them - or in some cases, try to fit into social norms.

M.E, a person with sociopathy, describes this behavior as “métier, or bread and butter” for those who have sociopathy.

I think mimicry is interesting, and I think a lot of empaths think it's freaky. What I find more freaky is what constant mimicry suggests – that you have no baseline "you," that you are always just reactions to outside stimuli. I have a good friend who was initially very frustrated that I didn't seem to have defaults: no default understanding of right and wrong, no default beliefs, no default personality even. Everything had to be reasoned, everything had to be constructed anew. It can be frustrating for me too. It's time consuming. And sometimes it disturbs me how impressionable I am. Being a blank slate, sometimes I can surprise even myself with non sequiturs or unpredictable behavior. It's sort of scary. – M.E. Thomas - Sociopaths, Mimicry, and Blank Slates – Sociopath World

Part 3: Hans' Behaviors Throughout the Film

Lacking Empathy

Hans shows this behavior directly during and after his reveal, and more subtly before the reveal. The reason for this is because, obviously, they wanted to keep Hans' true intentions secret as much as possible, mostly due to John Lasseter's insistence to make the reveal more shocking. However, Hans' true nature does shine through in subtle ways throughout the narrative.

Let's focus on the more direct portrayals first.

---

Direct instances of Lacking Empathy

During the reveal, Hans realizes that his 'True Love's Kiss' will not work because he doesn't love Anna. What makes a lot of this scene especially unemphatic and cruel, is how Hans actually looks like he is enjoying Anna's pain. Hans looks straight into Anna's eyes, smiling and slightly laughing, as he verbally insults her and tries to quicken her death. In this scene, he is simply enjoying telling Anna how he actually feels, and seems relieved to be rid of her.

Later on, Hans reveals to Elsa that Anna is 'dead'. When Elsa falls to the ground in anguish, he walks behind her with a smile on his face, ready to decapitate her until Anna intervenes.

Later on, something that my sociopath friend also mentioned, was how uncaring and completely nonchalant Hans was when he realizes that Anna is still alive and that he has lost. He just seems confused that Anna is alive. He seems very unemphatic even towards his own situation - that he's in trouble now.

The director says that her stand-out moment for him was when he questions Anna’s comment of being ‘just her’. For me, it’s when he stands up after being knocked out by the blast, without even acknowledging that he’s in deep shit, and just says ‘but, she froze your heart!” I laughed so hard. Only sociopaths would do this shit. “Anna, how dare you. You should be dead.” - "B.G."

---

Subtle Instances of Lacking Empathy

The subtle instance of Hans showing a lack of empathy is how he lacks genuine awareness for people he supposedly loves. Hans says a lot of things, but doesn't really show it.

For example, during the scene after Elsa runs away. While Hans and Anna are walking towards the Duke, Anna is visibly cold. Hans notices that she is, but instead brings his jacket closer to himself. He asks after the fact if she is ok. Anna replies "No". Hans responds by immediately asking her if she knew about Elsa's magic.

In other words, after hearing directly from Anna that she is not ok, Hans disregards her feelings to ask about the situation. He doesn't offer his coat, a hug to warm her, or even asks her if there isn't anything he could do to help her. While yes, there is a crises going on - Hans supposedly loves and cares for Anna. Yet, he is not really showing that care, only asking an empty question.

---

Another instance that shows this idea of Hans saying things but not showing, it is during the Castle Siege scene. Hans tells Elsa "Don't be the monster they fear you are!" But then immediately plans to kill/incapacitate her with the chandelier. He is trying to give off this impression of trying to help her, but does something completely contradictory to his words.

As a small side point before moving on, I recognize that some disagree that this was his intention. I feel that the scene pretty much speaks for itself, with little room for interpretation.

Here we have Hans looking directly at the Weselton's Henchman, and then looking towards his crossbow.

Then, you see Hans change his gaze towards the ceiling, way above the henchman, straight at the chandelier, and keeps staring at it as he moves towards the henchman.

As we see here, in a different angle, he is directly aiming that crossbow towards the chandelier.

I would also like to point out, that although I do not feel A Frozen Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick is entirely Lore Friendly (but apparently is part of the Book Canon Universe now as of All is Found: A Frozen Anthology), it is good to note that this scene was also acknowledged in this book.

Hans looked around the room desperate for a plan, and noticed the giant chandelier directly above Elsa. (...) True, it might kill her, but would that be so bad? One less obstacle to the throne.” - A Frozen Heart, Rudnick, Pg. 226

Thus, if this novel recognizes the intention behind this scene, then it was something present in the script and/or character notes at the time the author was writing the novel. Keep in mind, this scene is never actually mentioned by any of the creative team. Thus, the author had to be made aware of this to include it in her book.

If you are a fan of A Frozen Heart, and include it with your personal canon, I have an fairly old analysis where I go into a lot of these concepts with the novel as well.

---

Another big thing that shows Hans' lack of empathy is something that is foreshadowed in Love is an Open Door. I'm going to quote some lines from my Meant to Be analysis on this song, that show how Hans actually doesn't really show any empathy towards Anna and does not focus on her at all - he instead is more concerned with himself and his goals.

Both Anna and Hans mirror each other - both felt neglected and underestimated by their families and thus want something more from life. However, the focus on how they go about mending their pain is very evident in the first few lines of this song. Notice how Anna focuses on people - she references Elsa closing doors and losing connections with her. Hans comes and gives her the attention she craves, and in turn, she focuses on him. She says - I bump into you. I see your face. Hans, on the other hand, focuses on Arendelle. I've been searching my whole life to find my own place. But with you, I've found my place.

Many fans have also pointed out this specific lyric here - Hans: You - Anna: And I - Hans & Anna - Are just meant to be. Pointing out how Hans never actually referred to himself directly. He and Anna only really refer to Anna herself. Hans says you (Anna) and Anna refers to herself (and I).

Desire for Power

This one is fairly obvious - as Hans himself explains quite clearly his intentions for being kind to Anna and the people of Arendelle.

As thirteenth in line in my own kingdom, I didn't stand a chance. I knew I'd have to marry into the throne somewhere - As heir, Elsa was preferable, of course. But no one was getting anywhere with her. But you - You were so desperate for love you were willing to marry me, just like that. I figured, after we married, I'd have to stage a little accident for Elsa. But then she doomed herself, and you were dumb enough to go after her. All that's left now is to kill Elsa and bring back summer. (...) No, you're no match for Elsa. I, on the other hand, am the hero who is going to save Arendelle from destruction. - Prince Hans, Frozen (2013)

Hans makes it quite clear in his tropey villain monologue here (haha) that he wants to be a King. It didn't matter to him where he went or who he married, but he was determined to make it happen - even if it meant having to murder someone to get them out of his way.

Hans also shows a complete disregard for social norms in this way of thinking. He believes that murder and manipulation is an appropriate way to achieve his goals, and feels no remorse for his actions, but instead (as stated by B.G) confusion when he fails.

There are many theories as to why Hans feels he needs this power, to the point of hurting someone - A Frozen Heart tried to give a background for this, giving the blame to his father and brothers for abusing him. The novel is not entirely far off, as Jennifer Lee herself has stated that Hans is a product of being raised without love.

However, while the details for Hans' background is still fairly mysterious, we can conclude that Hans canonically had a rough childhood whether you choose to only use the film's clues and Jennifer Lee's words, or go by A Frozen Heart.

I think Hans is a tragic figure because he's a consequence of being raised without love. - Jennifer Lee, Reddit (2014)

When it comes to ASPD, while the direct cause is still currently unknown - environmental factors, such as child abuse, are believed to contribute to the development of this condition. Thus, Hans was raised in a home without love, and it led to him developing ASPD and valuing power over anything else.

Manipulation

This is the biggest aspect of Hans' portrayal, and also the biggest hint through out the film, is how he manipulates and mirrors people. We begin with Hans' introduction - before and after the infamous "just you?" line.

When we first meet him, he is much more panicked. He just caused a scene and hurt the Princess after all, and then they started awkwardly tumbling around on a boat. He's not interested in Anna at this point, and doesn't want to get in trouble. When Anna falls on him in the boat, he just says "um..." and ignores most of her comments, including calling him "gorgeous". He goes straight into trying to apologize and smooth things over.

However, right after the "just you?" line, suddenly things change.

He smiles after her when she leaves, he stares at her during the Chapel scene, and seems to be following her around to the point where he is confidently able to catch her when she trips, and knows exactly what to say to get Anna to like him.

"I would never shut you out." - Seriously, how does the awkward guy in the beginning of his intro that didn't respond to Anna's silly advances, suddenly feel confident enough to just proclaim to the same girl he just met that he would be an emotional support for her? The sudden shift in his demeanor is actually a bit jarring when you think about it. Someone cannot go from awkward guy to confident prince charming so suddenly.

It goes even further than this when he starts to mirror Anna. Here, I am exploring Love is an Open Door again from my analysis, with how Hans mirrors Anna.

The rest of the song is them directly mirroring each other, representing an almost robotic relationship between them - the cover image for this analysis directly shows this robotic aspect on the clock tower, when they mimic the gears.

A funny thing actually happens during Anna's announcement of their marriage. Hans is actually switching between trying to appeal to Elsa while also keeping up with Anna. Let me show you what I mean.

Hans is trying to act stoic and reserved in front of Elsa, to match her tone. However, Anna keeps interrupting him and making him trip over his words. Hans eventually gives into Anna's goofiness and just loses his composure completely and just copies Anna, basically becoming her clone in her behavior. You can see here how he struggles to keep up with both women at the same time.

You can also notice how Hans keeps trying to look at Elsa to see her expression and reaction to their relationship. Anna, on the other hand, while she does look at Elsa occasionally, she is shown to be more infatuated with Hans and looks at him most of the time. Hans is trying to appeal to Elsa, while Anna just wants Hans’ support.

Later on during this scene, he completely sheds this goofier persona and goes back to trying to be stoic, like Elsa. He is even adopting her more serious and disinterested expressions, opposite to Anna's expressions that he was just mirroring moment ago.

He completely stops mirroring Anna here, and goes straight into trying to appeal to Elsa and match her tone. Right after this, he goes back to expressing Anna’s sadness again.

Since the beginning of his introduction, Hans has shown three different personalities that contradict each other. His awkward self that forgets to introduce himself and rams into people with horses, his charming self that is charming, fun and sensitive, and his stoic and reserved self that appeals to royalty.

This mirroring behavior and personality shift continues later on the film.Hans is shown to be kind and generous to the people of Arendelle, not having a mean bone in his body. This persona matches how he acts for Anna after their first encounter. However, Hans adopts the Duke's personality to threaten him, that is confrontational and even a bit childish.

"Do not question the Princess. She left me in charge, and I will not hesitate to protect Arendelle from treason!"

Hans literally starts yelling at the Duke, and accusing him of treason, which is an extreme accusation - just as the Duke is yelling and making accusations against Anna. He is pretty much copying the Duke to get him to back off in a way that he will understand.

Remember what Jennifer Lee said in the Script Notes interview?

Jennifer: Yeah, exactly. And he mirrors her and he’s goofy with her. He’s a little bit more bold and aggressive with the Duke, because the Duke is a jerk, so he’s a jerk back. And with Elsa he’s a hero.

Hans pretty much switches between these three personalities throughout the film. Goofy and charming with Anna, stoic and heroic with Elsa and Arendelle, and confrontational with the Duke.

---

Other Hans Analyses

New - These I have written recently and have updated info.

Irredeemable Monster - Should Hans Make a Return?

Meant to Be - Frozen's Secret Villain Song

Frozen in Fear - Comparing the antagonist's reactions towards magic.

Old - May have some ideas that have missing info and overall needs updating

Different Perspectives - Why a Frozen Heart does not Support a Redemption for Hans.

Wolf in Sheep's Clothing - Hints that lead to Hans' Betrayal

[marisatomay]

Do you listen to the scriptnotes podcast? Mcq was just on their latest episode (#600) and referred to (presumably) tom as "my partner" 👀 he probably means filmmaking partner, but y'know...

"So when you're making a movie for a streamer and you're releasing it in theatres for the requisite number of weeks so that it is eligible for an award, you're not really paying back into the system. You're not really here in the name of cinema, you're there for how the cinema benefits you and not how you benefit the cinema. I don't look at it that way, my partner doesn't look at it that way. We look at it like that's a whole hungry mechanism that desperately needs to be fed and we make movies for that machine so that machine is.. there."

this is exceptionally important

[talldecafcappuccino]

I want to shout out this delightful podcast episode because I adore Pamie (aka Pamela Ribon) and this was a good discussion/interview:

[painted-bees]

6 and 11 for the artist ask game!

6) Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it) Vision of Escaflowne always finds its way into my work one way or another, whether I want it to or not lmao. Same with Bedlam's Bard.

11) Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what Yes! Podcasts. If I don't have someone else's voice chattering in my ear, then my brain chatters to itself imaginary, circular arguments about the most infuriating garbage, and I can't turn it off and it's very disruptive. So I listen to Scriptnotes Podcast, Well There's Your Problem, Kill James Bond, and then on youtube, I regularly listen to Savage Books, Like Stories of Old, and 8 Bit Music Theory.

[trainsinanime]

If you have a bit of time, I recommend the latest episode of the Scriptnotes podcast (sidecast SC34), where John August and two other screenwriters go through the summary and explain what it means. John August is one of the people on the negotiating committee, so he knows precisely what is going on there. It’s very technical, but very informative.

The. Deal. Is. So. Good.

Couldn't get the link to the side-by-side of the WGA offer, the AMPTP counter offer from May, and the final deal, because it's a document to download and too many pictures to take for this post that probably wouldn't be legible, but it's in this tweet (click the link below the tweet to go to said tweet):

Don't forget,the fight isn't over for SAG-AFTRA and next year, contracts are up again for IATSE, including The Animation Guild.

If you're a fan of movies, film, and animation, keep helping the guilds fight the good fight!

And of course, big thanks to strike hero Drew Carey for paying for probably THOUSANDS of meals for striking writers in LA these past five months.

Congratulations WGA and Pre-WGA for your amazing wins with this contract!

[garvescope]

In film, polite rejection is the norm. But unlike startups, Hollywood's culture of silence keeps filmmakers from leveling up. . #IndieFilm #ScreenwritingTips #filmsky #HollywoodTruth #FilmIndustryTalk #FilmmakerLife #RealTalkHollywood #ScriptNotes #HonestFeedback #StartupVsHollywood #Garvescope

[nationallawreports]

Roger Wolfson: Scammers Deserve to be Shamed

Roger Wolfson has risen to positions of prominence in the fields of entertainment, politics, news, and law. He is a professional television and film writer who has written for five network TV series. He has sold twelve original television series pilots of his own, to studios including Sony, ABC, CBS, Universal Cable Productions, and A&E, and to networks including Netflix, CBS, Bravo, and Lifetime.

That scam artist that scriptnotes was talking about? Roger Wolfson.

That's his name. This is not conjecture. I have first-hand experience. went to a few of his "brain trusts". The guy is a clown. I'm tired of people pussyfooting around these assholes. This guy takes advantage of people and should be named. So there it is: Roger Wolfson.

In 2023, he sold his first feature film and his first stageplay, and now has three feature films in various stages of production. He has been staff for four U.S. Senators, written speeches for fifteen presidential candidates (including writing for Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign), run debate prep for Presidential debates, written speeches for Governors, Cabinet Secretaries, and foreign heads of state, served as Vice President of Channel One News, founded his own strategic consulting firm, and worked as a civil rights attorney.

As a writer, Wolfson arrived in LA in January of 2003. By July he was a staff writer on Ed Zuckerman and Paul Attanasio's CBS series, "Century City," starring Viola Davis.  His episode, "To Know Her," became the first episode aired after the pilot. 

Wolfson then wrote for "Law and Order: SVU." During that time, he traveled across Ohio as a surrogate speaker for John Kerry's Presidential campaign. Wolfson went on to write for "The Closer,” where his episode "Fantasy Date" garnered Kyra Sedgewick her first Emmy Nomination. He went on to write for TNT'’s "Saving Grace,” starring Holly Hunter, and USA's “Fairly Legal.”

[gunsandbutterproductions]

08.30, 08.31, 09.01, 09.02, 09.03 & 09.04.24

Kinda screwed the pooch on keeping current with the blogging over the past several days. The important stuff to know on the creative front: I settled on a version of theme which combines the advice from Craig Mazin's aforementioned Scriptnotes essay with guidance from his co-podcaster, famed screenwriter John August, who thinks of theme more in terms of a core idea or "DNA" that infuses every scene and character -- the essence which gives a film its distinctiveness. I made a change to the Set-Up Want section of the Nutshell worksheet to align with my theme (all the other sections stayed the same), so now I'm on to attempting that rudimentary version of the Beat Board. My goal is to have it filled in by this time next week and then finally grind out my first draft.

I now have a meme pinned to my corkboard, a photo of Jordan Peele along with his sage quote, "When I'm writing the first draft I'm constantly reminding myself that I'm simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles." I hope to muster the discipline to abide by this credo.

Monday's screening of Spaghetti Western at the Studio City Film Festival went well. Frustratingly, Leti missed it due to a camera crew blocking the entrance of the theater when the program started (our short was first in the lineup), but hopefully she'll have another opportunity to see it projected. She would've been happy with the audience's response to the Wilhelm scream gag. Afterward, we gathered at Brews Brothers down the street and hung out with our crew and friends for about three hours. I had made a reservation at the wrong location (BB has another one in Burbank); luckily, there was plenty of room for us anyway. Abby brought Erica, which made me very happy; and though Manny made it to the screening, she was unfortunately unable to stay and socialize.

This week may be the hottest of the year thus far. It's hard to keep the office temperature comfortable, and the heat may be activating the constant itchiness on my back -- not ideal conditions for writing, but I can't let that stop me.

[stellasfilmblog]

Podcast Episode of the Week

I have been trying to listen to more filmmaking podcasts as they really help me develop a greater understanding of the filmmaking process and open my mind to totally different viewpoints.

So I'm challenging myself to write a Podcast episode of the week blog post every week, so that I can hold myself accountable to this goal.

This Weeks Episode is Script Notes Episode 609 - Dialogue and Character Voice.

A filmaking podcast that I've started listening to recently is Scriptnotes. I started initially listening to it because I wanted to improve my screenwriting skills but it's also quite enjoyable to listen to.

I listened to a couple of episodes of this podcast this week and the most interesting one was this episode, I learned a lot about making screenplays. They discussed how to make dialogue interesting, what can make dialogue easier for actors to remember and how much of a priority that should be, how to make dialogue more natural and gave some really helpful tips like avoid one character doing all the talking and read your script aloud.

[bardo1129]

#connection #emotionallyattached #detachment by #thefemalewarhol #writing #screenwriting #amwriting #scriptnotes (at Manhattan, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/CTxxkXHPvEe/?utm_medium=tumblr