Write Your Screenplay Podcast

As we watch INSIDE OUT, we're not just watching the story of the little girl, Riley, at the center of the movie. We’re also watching the story of the archetypes inside Riley’s head as they shape both Riley’s and their own realities. READ PODCAST TRANSCRIPT: http://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/2015/07/11/podcast-inside-out/ Find out more about Jacob Krueger Studio: WRITER RESOURCES: www.writeyourscreenplay.com/blog WORKSHOPS & SEMINARS: writeyourscreenplay.com/classes

How do you write a script? You don't write a script by applying a bunch of principles. You write a script by looking inside and finding the piece of you that you're not inviting to the table. Find out more about Jacob Krueger Studio: WRITER RESOURCES: www.writeyourscreenplay.com/blog WORKSHOPS & SEMINARS: writeyourscreenplay.com/classes

Forget whether ultra-violent action movies make you happy or make you want to run for the hills because we're going to talk about Mad Max: Fury Road in terms of the things that we can all learn from it, as screenwriters, regardless of the genre that we are writing in and regardless of the challenges that we're having in our writing. Find out more about Jacob Krueger Studio: WRITER RESOURCES: www.writeyourscreenplay.com/blog WORKSHOPS & SEMINARS: writeyourscreenplay.com/classes

There are two right ways to build with Legos and there are also two right ways to build a film. There's the purely organic way, where you just follow all of your instincts. And then there's also the other way, where you sit down with a producer, manager, agent, writing partner, or director and you ask them, "what do you need?" And you find a way to deliver what they need. In this podcast, Jacob Krueger talks about The LEGO Movie as a metaphor for what it really means to be a writer.

Today we are going to be talking about the genre of movies that I affectionately like to call “The Big Dumb Action Movie,” with the latest installment of THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS franchise, FURIOUS 7. Find out more about Jacob Krueger Studio: WRITER RESOURCES: www.writeyourscreenplay.com/blog WORKSHOPS & SEMINARS: writeyourscreenplay.com/classes

BIRDMAN did not begin with a high-profile director saying, “let’s figure out a cool gimmick that nobody has ever done before.” BIRDMAN began with an observation by writer-director Alejandro González Iñárritu. His observation was that life doesn’t happen in cuts. Life doesn’t feel like cuts. Instead, he wanted to make a movie that felt more like life. He wanted to make a movie that felt cyclical, that felt like it didn’t have clear borders because our lives and our memories don’t have clear borders. In this podcast, Jacob Krueger will discuss how Iñárritu's choice to simultaneously break and follow cinematic "rules" epitomized the poetic potential of filmmaking. Find out more about Jacob Krueger Studio: WRITER RESOURCES: www.writeyourscreenplay.com/blog WORKSHOPS & SEMINARS: writeyourscreenplay.com/classes

Sometimes, even a flawed script can give you tremendous insights as a writer, not only as to what makes a screenplay succeed or fail, but also about the strengths and weaknesses of your own writing. So, as we talk about 50 Shades of Grey, we're going to be setting aside the question of whether or not it is a good movie, whether or not you enjoyed 50 Shades of Grey or found it sexy, or even if you thought it was a reliable adaptation. Instead, let's look at 50 Shades of Grey and think about what could have made it a great script. And how those lessons can apply to your own writing. Find out more about Jacob Krueger Studio: WRITER RESOURCES: www.writeyourscreenplay.com/blog WORKSHOPS & SEMINARS: writeyourscreenplay.com/classes

Jacob Krueger discussed one of the more controversial movies of this year: American Sniper by Jason Dean Hall. "Let me just start off by saying that my politics are certainly not Clint Eastwood’s politics and that made American Sniper a hard movie for me. I think it made American Sniper a hard movie for a lot of people." Listen to Jacob breakdown the elements in the movie that succeed as well as the areas that could have been pushed much further in both the script and in the movie. Find out more about Jacob Krueger Studio: ADAPTATION SEMINAR: http://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/product/adapt-seminar/ WRITER RESOURCES: www.writeyourscreenplay.com/blog WORKSHOPS & SEMINARS: writeyourscreenplay.com/classes

Adapting a stage musical to the screen is never easy. On stage, musicals work because of their theatricality—the feeling of pretend, play, magic, and performance. Whereas in the relatively naturalistic world of film, those elements are very hard to pull off. Which makes the surprisingly successful film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s and James Lapine’s stage musical INTO THE WOODS even more worthy of study. In this podcast, Jacob Krueger discusses how adapting INTO THE WOODS for Disney might just have been one of the most challenging projects ever. Find out more about Jacob Krueger Studio: WRITER RESOURCES: www.writeyourscreenplay.com/blog WORKSHOPS & SEMINARS: writeyourscreenplay.com/classes

Sometimes, when we have a strong socio-political point that we want to make, as writers, the urge is to get up on our soapbox and start preaching. But Nightcrawler succeeds precisely because the screenwriter, Dan Gilroy, was able to step off the soapbox and trust his story. In this podcast, Jacob Krueger discusses Gilroy’s script for Nightcrawler and his spectacular ability to express a strong political message without shoving it down our throats. Find out more about Jacob Krueger Studio: WRITER RESOURCES: www.writeyourscreenplay.com/blog WORKSHOPS & SEMINARS: writeyourscreenplay.com/classes

Everyone agrees that some of the best writing in Hollywood right now is happening in television. And with brand new web networks like Netflix and Amazon hungry for quality new series, now is one of the most exciting times to be a TV Writer. So what do you need to break into this exciting industry? In this podcast, three experts in the industry come together to teach you exactly what you need to succeed in the world of series. Whether you’re writing a half hour comedy, an hour-long drama, or an episode for your own web series, you’ll learn what you need not only to break in, but also to build a career as a series writer. Learn the elements of a successful series, and what every network, studio and series producer is looking for when they read a series spec script or an original pilot. Understand how a TV Writers Room work, and what your role will be within a team of writers. And most importantly, learn what it takes to write a grade script that works within a series structure, without sacrificing your unique

Everyone agrees that some of the best writing in Hollywood right now is happening in television. And with brand new web networks like Netflix and Amazon hungry for quality new series, now is one of the most exciting times to be a TV Writer. So what do you need to break into this exciting industry? In this podcast, three experts in the industry come together to teach you exactly what you need to succeed in the world of series. Whether you’re writing a half hour comedy, an hour-long drama, or an episode for your own web series, you’ll learn what you need not only to break in, but also to build a career as a series writer. Learn the elements of a successful series, and what every network, studio and series producer is looking for when they read a series spec script or an original pilot. Understand how a TV Writers Room work, and what your role will be within a team of writers. And most importantly, learn what it takes to write a grade script that works within a series structure, without sacrificing your unique

This week, Jake discusses James Gunn's script for "Guardians of the Galaxy." Jake calls the script "shockingly successful" and argues that the film "actually redefines our expectations for what a superhero movie can be... "Guardians of the Galaxy" is not a movie about capturing some crazy crystal, defeating some evil lord, or saving the galaxy. "Guardians of the Galaxy" is about coming to grips with the loss of the people you love and somehow holding onto your spirit of adventure, to your ability to connect to people, and to your ability to have family. "Guardians of the Galaxy" is just a giant metaphor for loss. Find out more about Jacob Krueger Studio: WRITER RESOURCES: http://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/category/screenwriting-articles/ WORKSHOPS & SEMINARS: http://writeyourscreenplay.com/classes

Join Jake as he breaks down a new film each podcast, looking at movies from a unique and clever screenwriting perspective to find strengths and weaknesses that you can use in your own writing process. This week, Jake helps drive your story forward by filling necessary conflicts and character motivation with the following piece of advice: When in doubt, make it hard. To look at this, he analyzes the film "Blue Ruin" in the context of "The Bourne Ultimatum" and "Alien." Find out more about Jacob Krueger Studio: WRITER RESOURCES: www.writeyourscreenplay.com/category/sc…g-articles/ WORKSHOPS & SEMINARS: writeyourscreenplay.com/classes

Jacob Krueger sits down with action movie screenwriter, George Strayton to discuss "The Amazing Spiderman 2" and what all writers can learn from these types of action movies. Find out more about Jacob Krueger Studio: ACTION MOVIE WORKSHOP: www.writeyourscreenplay.com/action WRITER RESOURCES: www.writeyourscreenplay.com/category/sc…g-articles/ WORKSHOPS & SEMINARS: writeyourscreenplay.com/classes

How does a screenplay that seems to ditch all the formulas that Disney has relied on for generations turn into the highest grossing animated film of all time? Listen to Jacob Krueger discuss Jennifer Lee's screenplay for Disney's Frozen. FROZEN SEMINAR: www.writeyourscreenplay.com/frozen WRITER RESOURCES: www.writeyourscreenplay.com/category/sc…g-articles/ WORKSHOPS & SEMINARS: writeyourscreenplay.com/classes