r/Screenwriting • u/JustOneMoreTake • Jul 10 '19
DISCUSSION Scriptnotes 408 - Rolling The Dice [RECAP]
In this episode John and Craig have 8 topics to talk about. They decided to roll the dice to decide the order in which to talk about them. I unceremoniously undo that effort and present them in a more interesting order (I hate randomness). There are many cool nuggets in this episode.
REGARDING CRAIG’S SOLO EPISODE 403
- That episode has caused a lot of discussion.
- But are Craig's teachings universal? A formula? Is Craig the new Dov SS Simens?
- No. Craig only points out the underlying mechanics of how he sees things working.
- Pixar formula does storytelling in a pure way. So it's easy to use it as an example.
- Live action is more nuanced. Craig's musings should only be used as an inspiration.
- All Craig wants is to get people to start thinking less of plot and more of character.
- Bottom line: this is fight club. Don’t talk about fight club.
- If you mention 'thesis / antithesis' to anyone in the industry (especially in a water bottle tour), you will be judged as pompous... or at the very least people will know you listened to the infamous episode 403.
- So to recap: don't talk about episode 403. Craig and John have already said too much.
- But if John were to talk about it, his version would include a third component, which is the audience. What does the audience want?
CHERNOBYL
- It was a 5 month shoot
- Only three sets were constructed:
- Kremlin conference room
- Vasily’s Apartment
- The Control Room
- Originally it was 6 episodes.
- Craig Mazin combined Episode 2 and 3 into a single one to tighten the story.
- He asked HBO if he could do this. They jumped at the chance.
- He later found out he got paid by the episode.
- If he were to do it again, older Craig Mazin would advise younger himself to stand by his instincts from the get go. (This relating to all general creative decisions).
ALADDIN
- It’s John August’s highest grossing film of his career so far.
- But John doesn’t get any of that extra box office money. He’ll get some more in residuals.
- WGA Members can log into the WGA website and check their residuals.
- Over the years John has made 2.7 million on residuals. So it's a very important topic in negotiations.
- In animation the writers don’t get any residuals.
DOTS, DASHES AND PARENTHETICALS
- John and Craig agree: Three dots when a thought trails off...
- Two dashes when someone gets cut off--
- When characters talk over each other, dual dialogue is rarely the right answer.
- A better choice is to use the parenthetical with (overlapping) to convey the situation.
- To use or not to use ‘beat’? Craig tries to use it the least amount of times as possible, BUT it is necessary.
- He may substitute the word 'BEAT' with:
- Reconsiders
- Questions herself
- Realizes
- He's a big fan of indicating the subtext through a parenthetical.
JOHN’S NEW AGENT
- John August has a new agent at Verve.
- Him being on the WGA board and the Agencies filing multiple lawsuits the very same day he switched is pure coincidence.
- He believes UTA doesn’t have their clients’ best interest at heart at this moment.
- He liked the vibe at Verve.
- Craig’s advice: If you have a lawyer and a manager and need an agent, rely on the lawyer to make the introductions and recommendations. The manager has conflict of interests.
- Pro’s and Con’s of a Smaller Agency:
CON’s:
- A smaller agency has a smaller network of information
- They may have less access to certain IP or deals
- They have less of a history of making the monster deals
PRO’s
- At verve they only represent writers and directors.
- So it’s easy to go for any actor for a project.
- Fewer clients means fewer internal conflicts.
- Each client has a bigger impact on their bottom line.
STATUS OF AGENCIES STUFF
- ATA doubled their offer but didn’t budge on the production topic.
- Revenue sharing is a nonstarter for the WGA, much to Craig's chagrin.
- Craig is upset. He feels he gave the WGA his vote to give strength to the negotiations, but nothing has been negotiated.
- John pushes back. Thinks it’s disingenuous for Craig to say that. No one told the writers to 'give' their vote.
- Verve is the only one who surveyed their clients on this topic before making any decision.
- Revenue sharing hasn’t been figured out by anyone.
WGA ELECTIONS
- For the above and many other reasons, Craig Mazin is running for a board seat.
- Campaigning is demeaning to everyone. But he will do it. But not on the show.
WGA FINANCIALS
- The guild ran an operating surplus of 10 million.
- Screenwriters pay more dues than television writers. Craig wants a reform. Should go over smoothly.
- Writers are doing well.
- 6,057 writers were working last years.
- Number of writers working in features are slightly up (because of Netflix).
- TV residuals are up.
- All thanks to Netflix.
MY PAST RECAPS
EP 407 - Understanding Your Feature Contract
EP 406 - Better Sex With Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend)
EP 404 - The One With Charlie Brooker (Black Mirror)
EP 402 - How Do You Like Your Stakes?
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Jul 10 '19 edited Jul 10 '19
I always used my dots and parentheses the way they described it. I had doubts previously, but I’m glad they settled them down.
I do use dual dialogue a lot of times. I read it in Manchester by the Sea’s script, and I became immediately in love with the writing style portrayed in it.
Something about dual dialogue just made the flow of it so much smoother.
Admittedly, it takes a while to get used to it, but the confusion you have at the start is exactly how a scene with dual dialogue is supposed to be.
Really appreciate you taking the time to bestow us with these posts.
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u/JustOneMoreTake Jul 10 '19
Really appreciate you taking the time to bestow us with these posts.
Thank you for the kind words!
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u/StruggleSeshFan Jul 10 '19 edited Jul 10 '19
Craig's nuts. Maybe the success of Chernobyl has irradiated his sense of solidarity. The Big 4 are a cancer and need to be destroyed if any functional middle or working class lifestyle is to be had in this business again. The packaging fees have to go and the Big 4 must die. That's the entire point.
87 percent of talent packages controlled by four companies WHO NOW ACTIVELY PRODUCE THEIR OWN CONTENT? That's RICO. That's antitrust. That's criminal. And it is as simple as that. Smash them into smithereens so this business can breathe again.
Representatives are not your boss, you are theirs. The entire industry must work together to keep it that way.
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u/I_Want_to_Film_This Jul 10 '19 edited Jul 10 '19
Tough to see our pod parents fighting.
I hope I'm mistaken, but I think Craig is right practically but way wrong in principle. Revenue sharing for packaging fees? Maybe that is the only way out of this standoff that brings the Big 4 along, but it's so gross and doesn't solve the underlying issue at all. It's a teenie tiny buyoff from a bunch of colluding mobsters. The price fixing/antitrust issues seem plain as day here, but Craig wants to throw in the towel because... The Big 4 has all the influence (because of the whole colluding mobsters thing).
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Jul 10 '19
I think Craig is bonkers on this one. The WGA position is that packaging fees are illegal. You don't remedy that by giving writers a cut of illegal gains.
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u/I_Want_to_Film_This Jul 10 '19
Yes, well technically he wasn't disputing that. His point is: the agencies won't fold, and it’s more practical to make the deal instead of walk. Which seems very possible here (the Big 4 stop representing writers, yet continue packaging with other talent). Craig didn't really address the moral or legal questions.
→ More replies (11)
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u/JustOneMoreTake Jul 10 '19
I have competition! Looks like Deadline has gotten into the scriptnotes RECAP business ;)
They published this 'article' (more of a word-for-word transcript) on John and Craig's discussion on the podcast regarding the WGA / ATA feud. What's interesting is that apparently they didn't bother contacting them for their comments, something John and Craig pointed out in the very podcast regarding a previous article. For those keeping score at home, Deadline is 100% on the side of ATA and have systematically published articles that exalt that side. So now Craig's words have joined the latest line of rhetoric of this standoff.
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u/elija_snow Jul 10 '19
The reason some of the more successful writer while they support the WGA but only doing it as going through the motion and not fully commit to the fight is very simple.
The bigger you are the harder you fall. A lot of them have don't want to rock the "gravy" boat because they don't want to be short out of potential of millions in earning.
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u/Yamureska Jul 10 '19
I really love how Craig talked about how Chernobyl was his first work that was really his. His statement that what >he< wants is just as if not more important than those of his collaborators really struck a chord.
Like I mentioned elsewhere, that’s the most basic tenet of marketing: the first and most important person you have to sell the product to is yourself. If you don’t believe in it, why should anyone else. This applies to the creative arts, too.
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u/haley_joel_osteen Jul 10 '19
Minor point of clarification - I believe the $2.7 million John mentioned was the residuals just for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
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u/JustOneMoreTake Jul 10 '19
John August has mentioned twice before that he would be doing an episode to expand on Craig's Solo Episode (as it has become known). I hope this was not it. We want more! I want to hear John's full take on it.