Why Am I Procrastinating?
Why Am I Procrastinating? I want to start today’s podcast with a personal story, something that happened to me early in my writing career. I had just sold my first screenplay, which meant I got to do the thing that everybody dreams of doing, the thing that I had always dreamed of doing. I got […]
Parasite vs Little Miss Sunshine
In his second podcast about the film Parasite, Jacob Krueger discusses how thematic exploration not only informs the tone and structure of your screenwriting, but allows your story to unfold more naturally and take your audience on a powerful journey that can help them see others through more understanding eyes.
The Irishman: What’s Your Character’s “Thing”?
What’s the “thing” that makes your character tick? In this podcast, Jacob Krueger discusses The Irishman and demonstrates how understanding one simple element of character can help you build your structure, sharpen the focus of your rewrites, and create the kinds of characters that attract A-list stars..
Succession Season 2: Generating an Advanced Series Engine
In this podcast, Jacob Krueger analyzes the Season 2 pilot episode of Succession and shares how building a series engine from a personal place of truth will help you create the roadmap for a show that can continue to grow for several seasons.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: How To Pitch A Work For Hire Project
This week, Jacob Krueger discusses Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and one of the most important skills a screenwriter needs: the ability to develop a distinctive take on historical material or a pitch for a work-for-hire project that makes your approach to a story unique from any other writer.
Chernobyl: How To Write A Miniseries
This week, Jacob Krueger discusses Chernobyl as an example of how to write an essential and effective miniseries, what makes the miniseries format so unique, and how to determine whether your project has the epic scope, relevant theme, visual beauty, and character journey needed to become a miniseries.
ROMA: Turning Your Life Story Into A Screenplay
ROMA: Turning Your Life Story Into A Screenplay This week, we’re going to be talking about Roma by Alfonso Cuarón. Roma is an extraordinary film that harkens back to a different era of storytelling. It’s shot in black and white, despite having a substantial budget. It’s entirely in Spanish. And, in a way, the whole […]
Beautiful Boy – Where Does Screenplay Structure Come From?
Beautiful Boy – Where Does Screenplay Structure Come From? This week we’re going to be talking about Beautiful Boy by Luke Davis and Felix van Groeningen. This is a particularly interesting film to discuss in light of our last podcast where we talked about Destroyer and the use of flashbacks in a movie, because Beautiful […]
Destroyer: How to Use Flashbacks in Your Script
Learn from Destroyer how to use flashbacks in your script. We’ll discuss the common pitfalls that can make flashbacks dangerous, and the questions you can ask yourself when using flashbacks to determine if your flashbacks are likely to make the structure of your script stronger, or to get in the way.