The Screenwriting Life with Meg LeFauve and Lorien McKenna

Though it can sometimes feel like a prison, screenplay structure is actually a very freeing element of the story process. Jill Chamberlain, a veteran script consultant, is obsessive about structure, to the point where she has created a popular technique to re-consider how we approach our work. On her technique, producer Callum Greene (Star Wars Episode 9) offers “the Nutshell Technique is like the Rosetta Stone: it cracks the code behind why we love the movies that we love. It goes way beyond tired old beat sheet ‘formulas’ and instead guides you to organically write the story you want to tell.”FOR MORE ON JILL (& FREE NUTSHELL WORKSHEETS): https://www.jillchamberlain.comTO JOIN OUR PATREON: www.patreon.com/thescreenwritinglife Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Collaborators and showrunners, Kat Likkel and John Hoberg, discuss the importance of embracing the writing process, collaborative writing, therapy for writers, embracing unconventional ideas, meaningful goals in storytelling, embracing failure, and capturing ideas. They also share heartfelt stories of personal experiences and encouraging others.

**PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS EPISODE WAS PRE-RECORDED & PRECEDED THE 2023 WGA STRIKE.**In today's TSL epsiode, Meg gets personal about her lava, and how a recent production of Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George is helping her to rethink the beauty of moving on from a creative project.JOIN OUR PATREON: www.patreon.com/thescreenwritinglife Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite being a multiple Academy Award winner, celebrated producer, and feature/TV director, Jodie Foster is still aiming for a singular goal: to tell truthful stories. On today's show, we discuss how Jodie processes her work, how she collaborates with others, and what Robert De Niro taught her on the set of Taxi Driver.Join Our Patreon: www.patreon.com/thescreenwritinglife Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Though she got her start in multi-cam sitcoms, it was a bold sci-fi dramedy rom-com that made Pixar interested in hiring Brenda Hsueh to co-write Elemental. On today's show, Brenda discusses how her voice has evolved as a writer over the course of her career, how she brought her own experience into her work as a writer for Elemental, and how she has learned to elegantly argue for what she believes in when collaborating.JOIN OUR PATREON: www.patreon.com/thescreenwritinglife This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/SCREENWRITERS and get on your way to being your best self. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With hits like BRING IT ON and STICK IT, writer/director Jessica Bendinger is known for her subversive and surprising takes on female girlhood, using archetypes in a way that audiences have celebrated. Today what discuss what archetypes are, how we can use them, and what the future of our industry looks like.FOR JESS' BOOK/PODCAST: http://www.jessicabendinger.com/TO JOIN OUR PATREON: www.patreon.com/thescreenwritinglife Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi all! Today, Savana and Jeff revisit their conversation from part one of their conversation about SET! Today we discuss some of the most essential vocabulary and set dynamics that you need to understand before you take the plunge!For internship inquiries, email thescreenwriting@gmail.com with the subject line INTERN, and include a cover letter and resume. Please note that we are only considering credit-eligible students!To join our Patreon: www.pateron.com/thescreenwritinglife Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We bring our "beginning" miniseries to a close with this instant TSL classic, wherein Meg gives many pep talks.JOIN OUR PATREON: www.patreon.com/TheScreenwritingLife Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In our continued conversation about where and how to begin as a screenwriter, we take your (excellent) questions! We talk about outlining, cards, character development, and how to quiet our inner critic.TO JOIN OUR PATREON: www.patreon.com/TheScreenwritingLife Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So you want to be a screenwriter. Now what? Today we discuss some of these important questions to ask before you jump into a draft - questions that are JUST as valuable for emerging writers as they are for professionals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices