In this episode from 2012, John and Craig sit down with producer and former studio executive Lindsay Doran (Sense and Sensibility, Stranger than Fiction) at the Austin Film Festival to explore the producer’s relationship with the screenplay.

The look at how the role of producer has changed, the ideal development process, how she developed Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson, and staying true to your values in a fickle business.

In our bonus segment for premium members, Drew joins John back in 2025 to consider the value of a good alumni program, and how an alma mater that under-delivers can be the pits.

Links:

• Lindsay Doran on IMDb
• The original episode transcript
• Perfectly Happy, Even Without Happy Endings by Carrie Rickey for the New York Times (including a great photo of Lindsay’s hair)
• Lindsay’s TEDx presentation: Saving the World vs Kissing the Girl
• Scriptnotes, Episode 17: What do producers do?
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• Craig Mazin on Instagram
• John August on Bluesky, Threads, and Instagram
• Outro by Matthew Chilelli (send us yours!)
• This episode was originally produced by Stuart Friedel. Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.