Scriptnotes Podcast 716 - Personality Typologies
In this discussion, screenwriter Mike Makowsky shares insights about his historical series, Death by Lightning, exploring the bizarre tale of President Garfield's assassination. He delves into the challenges of dramatizing lesser-known history and finding compelling narratives. The conversation also touches on writing habits and personality typologies, debating their utility in character development. Mike's unique creative process and obsessive traits spark a lively exchange, alongside reflections on breaking into Hollywood later in life and adapting complex stories for the screen.
01:07:27
Long, Tenuous Development Journey
- The show's development took years: bibles, episode drafts, director changes, casting and scouting before greenlight.
- Netflix ultimately enabled the project but still required passing many internal tests.
Why Budapest For Period Scale
- Shooting abroad (Budapest) can recreate period America at scale and lower costs for crowd scenes.
- Location choices allowed the show to achieve visual authenticity and large extras sequences.
Guiteau's Descent Into Obsession
- Charles Guiteau's life was repeatedly failure after failure, including being exiled from a Oneida commune.
- His toxic parasocial obsession with Garfield propelled him toward assassination as a way to matter.
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Intro
00:00 • 1min
Netflix-Warner Bros. Sale Speculation
01:28 • 5min
Why Theatrical Releases Matter
06:00 • 2min
Scriptnotes Book Launch Reaction
07:33 • 4min
Orange Book Follow-up
11:48 • 2min
Breaking into Hollywood in Your 30s
13:57 • 2min
Introducing Mike Makowsky and Death by Lightning
15:48 • 28sec
How Mike Discovered Garfield's Story
16:16 • 3min
Choosing a Limited Series Format
19:40 • 2min
From Spec Pilot to Netflix Greenlight
21:12 • 4min
Development Challenges and Budapest Shoot
25:32 • 1min
Why James Garfield Resonated
26:40 • 2min
Charles Guiteau: The Antagonist's Obsession
28:40 • 3min
Personal Obsession and Research Trips
31:35 • 1min
Casting Chester Arthur and Tone Choices
33:01 • 39sec
Writing Habits and Obsessive Page Aesthetics
33:39 • 5min
Accepting Idiosyncratic Creative Processes
38:47 • 6min
Personality Typologies and Character Tools
45:04 • 6min
Adapting Novels: Author Expectations
50:58 • 3min
Writing With a Bad Back: Listener Question
53:42 • 4min
One Cool Thing: Fentanyl Vaccine Research
58:10 • 3min
One Cool Thing: The Good Lord Bird
01:01:25 • 2min
One Cool Thing: Heated Rivalry
01:03:40 • 2min
Outro
01:05:46 • 1min
#86089
Children of Blood and Bone
Tomi Adeyemi
#58102
The writer's guide to character traits
Linda Edelstein
#1049
• Mentioned in 36 episodes
The four tendencies
Gretchen Rubin
Gretchen Rubin's "The Four Tendencies" introduces a personality framework categorizing individuals into four tendencies: Upholders, Questioners, Obligers, and Rebels.
Understanding these tendencies helps explain how people respond to inner and outer expectations, impacting their decision-making, habit formation, and relationships.
The book provides self-assessment tools and practical advice for leveraging each tendency's strengths and navigating its challenges.
It offers insights into personal productivity, communication, and conflict resolution.
Ultimately, it promotes self-awareness and improved relationships.
#31732
• Mentioned in 2 episodes
Arlo Finch
John August
#2
• Mentioned in 1,343 episodes
Atomic Habits
James Clear
Atomic Habits by James Clear provides a practical and scientifically-backed guide to forming good habits and breaking bad ones.
The book introduces the Four Laws of Behavior Change: make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, and make it satisfying.
It also emphasizes the importance of small, incremental changes (atomic habits) that compound over time to produce significant results.
Clear discusses techniques such as habit stacking, optimizing the environment to support desired habits, and focusing on continuous improvement rather than goal fixation.
The book is filled with actionable strategies, real-life examples, and stories from various fields, making it a valuable resource for anyone seeking to improve their habits and achieve personal growth.
#4315
• Mentioned in 11 episodes
The Poisonwood Bible
Dean Robertson
Barbara Kingsolver
The novel follows the Price family, led by the fervent Baptist minister Nathan Price, as they move from suburban Georgia to a remote village in the Belgian Congo in 1959.
The story is narrated by Nathan's wife, Orleanna, and their four daughters: Rachel, Leah, Adah, and Ruth May. As they navigate the challenges of their new environment, the family faces cultural dislocation, personal struggles, and the dramatic political changes in the Congo during its fight for independence.
The novel delves into themes of moral risk, personal responsibility, and the complexities of colonialism, highlighting the different perspectives and transformations of each family member over three decades.
#27350
• Mentioned in 2 episodes
Scriptnotes: A Book About Screenwriting and Things That Are Interesting to Screenwriters
A Book About Screenwriting and Things That Are Interesting to Screenwriters.
John August
Craig Mazin
#1310
• Mentioned in 31 episodes
Demon Copperhead
Barbara Kingsolver
Demon Copperhead is a powerful and emotionally engaging novel that tells the story of Damon Fields, a boy born to a teenage single mother in a trailer home in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia.
The novel, inspired by Charles Dickens' 'David Copperfield', follows Demon's journey through the challenges of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, and disastrous loves.
Kingsolver vividly portrays the opioid epidemic's impact on rural communities and explores themes of love, survival, and the transformative power of storytelling.
The narrative is delivered through Demon's unsparing and authentic voice, which brings to life the harsh realities and the resilience of the people in Appalachia.
#1432
• Mentioned in 29 episodes
Destiny of the republic
A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President
Candice Millard
This book by Candice Millard delves into the life and assassination of James A. Garfield, the 20th President of the United States.
It highlights the dramatic events surrounding his death, including the archaic medical treatments that ultimately led to his demise.
The narrative also explores the broader context of the time, including the national mood post-Civil War, the political struggles within Garfield's administration, and the roles of key figures such as Alexander Graham Bell and Vice President Chester Arthur.
The book is praised for its engaging storytelling and meticulous research.
#19586
• Mentioned in 3 episodes
The Good Lord Bird
James McBride
The Good Lord Bird is an absorbing mixture of history and imagination, told through the meticulous eye for detail and character of James McBride.
The novel follows Henry Shackleford, a young slave living in the Kansas Territory in 1857, who is forced to leave town with the legendary abolitionist John Brown after a violent encounter.
Believing Henry to be a girl, Brown nicknames him 'Little Onion.
' Over the ensuing months, Henry conceals his true identity as he struggles to stay alive and eventually finds himself involved in the historic raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859, a pivotal event leading to the American Civil War. The book is a rousing adventure and a moving exploration of identity, survival, and the complexities of John Brown's character, portrayed with both sympathy and realism.
John and Craig welcome back screenwriter Mike Makowsky (Death by Lightning, Bad Education) to ask, how do you dramatize a historical event that no one's heard of? They look at the dramatic engine behind the Garfield assassination, the long journey Death by Lightning had to getting made, and the importance of finding great stories in obscure history.
We investigate the peculiar habits and compulsions of our own writing practices, and see how personality typologies can help figure out what makes our characters tick. We also follow up on a certain orange book, breaking into Hollywood in your 30's, and offer our thoughts on the impending sale of Warner Bros.
In our bonus segment for premium members, which TV shows had the best "coaching trees"? We marvel at the writers' rooms that launched the most successful writers today.
Links:
- Death by Lightning on Netflix
- Mike Makowsky on IMDb and Instagram
- Episode 448 (The last time Mike was on the podcast)
- Which TV Show Has the Best Coaching Tree? Alan Sepinwall for The Ringer
- Size matters: a single representation underlies our perceptions of heaviness in the size-weight illusion
- New evidence for the sensorimotor mismatch theory of weight perception and the size-weight illusion
- Friedman Personnel Agency
- Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard
- The Ballad of Guiteau from Assassins
- The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin
- Writer's Guide to Character Traits by Linda Edelstein
- A Fentanyl Vaccine Is About to Get Its First Major Test by Emily Mullin for WIRED
- Heated Rivalry on HBO Max
- The Good Lord Bird
- Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book!
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- Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
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- John August on Bluesky and Instagram
- Outro by Luke Foster (send us yours!)
- Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.
Email us at ask@johnaugust.com
You can download the episode here.