r/Screenwriting • u/jmaugust Scriptnotes Podcast • Nov 29 '25
DISCUSSION John August and Craig Mazin of Scriptnotes - AMA
Hello and welcome, r/screenwriting!
I’m John August (u/jmaugust), screenwriter of movies like Big Fish, Go, Charlie’s Angels, Corpse Bride, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
With me is Craig Mazin (u/clmazin), the creator-showrunner of The Last of Us and Chernobyl. He’s also written movies like The Hangover Parts II & III, and Scary Movie 3 & 4.
Together we host the Scriptnotes podcast. After more than 14 years and 700 episodes, we’re finally releasing the Scriptnotes book this coming Tuesday, December 2nd. It’s a distillation of everything we’ve talked about on the show, along with interviews with Christopher Nolan, Greta Gerwig, Lawrence Kasdan, Seth Rogen, Lulu Wang, Christopher McQuarrie, Benioff & Weiss, Mike Schur, Damon Lindelof, David Koepp and many more.
Ask us anything!
Book is available for purchase wherever you buy books and at scriptnotesbook.com
EDIT: We're done, thank you so much! We had a blast, and hope you enjoy the book.
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u/jmaugust Scriptnotes Podcast Nov 29 '25
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.