Script Magazine

Click below to listen:

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

Screenwriter Kieran Mulroney knows the best way to  handle a fight with his writing partner Michele Mulroney (who is also his wife): Michele wins. All kidding aside, when your wife’s your writing partner, how do you deal with a tie break? Michele gives the answer: "We always say the person with the most conviction wins."

"That's Michele," says Kieran. They laugh and comment on the immensely fun, but extremely emotional, experience of being a husband and wife writing team assigned to the new action comedy Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (the sequel to the successful 2009 Sherlock Holmes, starring Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr.).  The film releases December 16.

Script sat down with this witty husband and wife writing team to get some clues on how they wrote one of the most anticipated sequels of the year.

Podcast highlights:

• "There's a burden of expectations ..."
• "It was a really honest group of filmmakers ..." (Robert Downey Jr., Guy Ritchie)
• "They gave us full permission to say, 'No,' if we didn't see a way to make their notes work ..."
• "Your first draft, no matter how long you spend on it, is never as good as you think it is ..."
• "In a classic Sherlock Holmes story, you have to start at the end and work to the beginning ..."

Click below to listen:

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

Final Draft, Inc.'s Big Break™ judge Michael Kuciak is a literary manager with his own firm, Samurai MK. When he read scripts in 2011 for the prestigious contest, known for hooking writers up with industry folks, he found two screenplays that he just couldn't put down. Cut to: Kuciak with two new clients.

Script sat with Kuciak to hear about how he discovered Paul Gavin and Matthew Gayne, what drew him to their scripts, and what he's going to do next for their careers.

Podcast highlights:

• "[Both writers] created their own luck by being extremely hard working and having talent."
• "[Both writers] have very sharp and distinct voices."
• When looking for clients, Kuciak wants talent, commerciality and hunger.

Click below to listen:

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

He was born on the first day of the Great Depression, did competitive ski racing in Europe, and went to spy school to became a special agent. But a passion for writing led Eric Kaldor to Hollywood, and he has many stories to tell about his journey!

After spending some time as a sports producer, Eric Kaldor landed his first TV writing gig. He then went on to write for some of the most well known hits of the 1970s: Emergency, Kojak, The Rockford Files, and The Incredible Hulk.

You'll love hearing about how TV writing worked in the 1970s, and how much it differs from the group writing of today. Also, Eric is full of amusing anecdotes about his path to and through Hollywood.

After 1980, Eric left TV writing to raise his family and build a successful family business with his wife. He started acting, and has had parts in films, like 2006's Hollywoodland, and many recent shows, including ER and House.

Eric never stopped writing … he is currently working on a novel, and publishing it a chapter at a time on his website at erickaldor.com.

Follow Eric on Twitter: @EricKaldor

Hosted by Gray Jones, the TV Writer Podcast is devoted to interviews with working TV writers. It is brought to you by Script magazine and Scriptmag.com, the leading source for scriptwriting information in print and on the web; and by Final Draft scriptwriting software, the entertainment industry standard for scriptwriting worldwide.

Subscribe: iTunes (Video) • iTunes (Audio) • PodBean (Audio)

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

How do you balance comedy and plot? Several comedic voices and big action sequences? Veteran screenwriters Jeff Nathanson (Catch Me If You Can, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Terminal, Rush Hour 2) and Ted Griffin (Ocean's Eleven, Matchstick Men, Killers, Rumor Has It) sat down with Script to talk about their new action comedy, Tower Heist, releasing November 4.

The film is about an uptight building manager and his team of misfit friends who decide to rob a millionaire in order to win back their stolen pension money. Tower Heist stars Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller, Casey Affleck, Alan Alda, Matthew Broderick, Tea Leoni, and Gabourey Sidibe.

Podcast highlights include:

• "The key to writing is rewriting and revisions ..."
• "That first draft is most likely five to six drafts away from being that final draft ..."
• How to avoid writing to the joke.
• How to track multiple characters in plot and comedy.

Click below to listen:

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

Comedy writer Kristin Newman spent almost 10 years writing on very well-known comedies, and had her own pilot shot and picked up to series (though not aired). She now brings her talents to a one-hour drama, on NBC's Chuck.

Kristin Newman got an early break, with a production staff job on Everybody Loves Raymond. She graduated to writer's assistant on Nikita, Mad About You, and That 70s Show.

She ended up stuck in the 70s (in a good way!) for the next seven years, rising up from staff writer to supervising producer. Moving on to How I Met Your Mother as co-executive producer, she also landed an overall deal at Fox … which was unfortunately cut short when the 2007 writers strike happened.

Because of an injury, Kristin was not able to walk the picket lines. What could she do? She wrote the pilot Single With Parents, which was shot with Alyssa Milano and Beau Bridges, and picked up to series … though it unfortunately never aired.

Then came NBC's Chuck. She entered the staff as co-executive producer in its fourth season, and is currently breaking the series finale. Make sure to watch the final season, when Chuck returns on Friday, October 28th!

Didn't get your questions asked? Make sure you follow Gray on Twitter so you can get the scoop on who is being interviewed and how to get your questions in. Also check out our TV Writer Twitter Database to find Twitter addresses for several hundred TV writers. Find previous episodes and other resources at www.tvwriterpodcast.com.

Hosted by Gray Jones, the TV Writer Podcast is devoted to interviews with working TV writers. It is brought to you by Script magazine and Scriptmag.com, the leading source for scriptwriting information in print and on the web; and by Final Draft scriptwriting software, the entertainment industry standard for scriptwriting worldwide.

Subscribe: iTunes (Video) • iTunes (Audio) • PodBean (Audio)

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

Famed action-thriller screenwriters Michael Brandt and Derek Haas (Wanted, 3:10 to Yuma, 2 Fast 2 Furious) take it up a notch to direct and produce their new thriller The Double. Starring Richard Gere, Topher Grace, and Martin Sheen, the film is about an ex-CIA agent who is suddenly pulled back onto a case he thought was long dead.

Brandt makes his directorial debut with the script co-written Haas, and Haas produces. Script sat down with the writing team to talk about tackling a thriller, staying true to their genre, and producing a passion project from the ground up.

Podcast highlights:

• "You have to infuse every single scene in a thriller with conflict and tension ..."
• "The tension has to come organically from the premise of the movie ..."
• "Too much outlining might mean you're afraid to start writing your script ..."

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

This week we hear from another animation writer / story editor. Christopher Yost has been working on animated TV series, comics, and features for almost 10 years, for well-known Marvel and D.C. franchises.

After a number of years as an advertising producer in Detroit, Michigan, Christopher Yost decided he needed to make the jump to Hollywood. He attended the Peter Stark Producing program at USC, but realized while there that writing was really his passion.

An internship at Marvel Studios led to his first break, writing a script for Marvel’s animated property X-Men: Evolution. Soon he was writing such well-known titles as D.C.’s The Batman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and eventually became head writer and story editor on Fantastic Four, Iron Man: Armored Adventures, and The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

During this time he also wrote two animated DVD features, Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow, and Hulk vs. Wolverine.

Yost also works in comic books, writing for Marvel’s X-Men and Spider-Man franchises, DC’s Batman franchise, and the adaptation of the sci-fi classic Ender’s Game. His first creator-owned original graphic novel Killer of Demons debuted in March of 2009 to critical acclaim.

Yost is currently working in the Marvel Writers Program, helping develop potential live-action feature properties for Marvel Studios as well as handling additional writing and reshoot scenes for the Marvel Studios film Thor.

Follow Christopher on Twitter: @Yost

Didn’t get your questions asked? Make sure you follow Gray on Twitter so you can get the scoop on who is being interviewed and how to get your questions in. Also check out our TV Writer Twitter Database to find Twitter addresses for several hundred TV writers. Find previous episodes and other resources at www.tvwriterpodcast.com.

Hosted by Gray Jones, the TV Writer Podcast is devoted to interviews with working TV writers. It is brought to you by Script magazine and Scriptmag.com, the leading source for scriptwriting information in print and on the web; and by Final Draft scriptwriting software, the entertainment industry standard for scriptwriting worldwide.

Subscribe: iTunes (Video) • iTunes (Audio) • PodBean (Audio)

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

Known for his strong political views, actor George Clooney had been looking for a political thriller to write with screenwriter Grant Heslov since their collaboration on Good Night, and Good Luck. When they stumbled upon a play of presidential ambition, Farragut North, by Beau Willimon, they knew they found their project. The play became the basis for the film, The Ides of March, about an idealistic young political staffer who discovers just how corrupt the system can be.

The all-star cast includes Clooney, who also directs, Ryan Gosling as the idealist, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei, and Paul Giamatti.

Script sat down with Heslov to find out what it's like to churn out pages with one of Hollywood's biggest stars.

Podcast highlights:

• "We wrote one of the final scenes first ..."
• "You need to know if your main character starts here, you need to know where he ends ..."
• "Our formula is to explain the minimal amount that the audience needs ..."

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

Screenwriter John Gatins calls himself a "failed actor." He came to Hollywood, like many young actors, hoping to make it big. He stared in several independent horror movies, including Witchboard 2: The Devil's Doorway and Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings, to name a few. He was doing alright, but not great. That is, until he got a call from Steven Spielberg. The famed writer/director/producer was looking for the perfect guy to write his passion project about robot boxing. Gatins was that guy.

The idea -- which would become the movie Real Steel staring Hugh Jackman -- was based on the short story, "Steel," by Richard Matheson. Spielberg buffs will recognize Matheson as the author who wrote the source material for Spielberg's first film, Duel.

A passion project it was, and Gatins took the reigns. The film is set in a futuristic world where human boxing is illegal. Robot boxing, via remote control, has become the new sport of choice. Script sat down with Gatins to hear about this extraordinary journey from B-movie horror star to A-class screenwriter for Steven Spielberg.

Podcast highlights:

• "Everyone has a good movie in them, you just have to do it ..."
• "Write what you know ..."
• "Go for it! When I started, I didn't even know how to type ..."

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player