Michael Arndt

In this engaging conversation, Michael Arndt, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter behind Little Miss Sunshine and Toy Story 3, discusses the resilience needed in screenwriting, having penned ten scripts over a decade before his breakthrough. He shares insights on crafting great stories by balancing audience feedback with creative vision, and the importance of unconventional endings that surprise viewers. Arndt emphasizes that storytelling is a learned craft that benefits from systematic analysis and revising, making it accessible to anyone eager to improve.

Michael Arndt, Oscar-winner and friend-of-the-show, discusses the shift from rebellion to connection in movies, delves into the flawed nature of Barbie land, and explores the balancing act of plot and emotional storytelling in screenwriting. He also emphasizes the process of uncovering themes and stakes in a story and highlights the importance of having a supportive community of fellow writers in writing an original screenplay.

Little Miss Sunshine's script, penned by our guest Michael Arndt, won almost every major industry award, and for good reason. Its warmth, humor, and surefooted commitment to its themes makes it one of the finest scripts written this century. And SO many of those themes show up in Act 1. Michael has become a bit "obsessed" with act 1's lately, because it's our chance to maximize the "rooting interest" around our hero so that our audience has no choice but to keep watching. FOR MICHAEL'S (AMAZING) WEBSITE: https://www.pandemoniuminc.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Arndt, an Academy Award-winning screenwriter known for Little Miss Sunshine and Toy Story 3, dives into the emotional depth and storytelling risks of his acclaimed sequel. He explores the pressures of joining Pixar, the evolution of beloved characters like Woody, and the bold decisions behind themes of growing up and existential crises. Arndt shares insights on the collaborative creative process, the emotional realism needed to treat animated characters as real people, and the lessons learned that he carried into his work on Star Wars.

Screenwriter Michael Arndt, known for Little Miss Sunshine, discusses the key elements of a compelling act one. They explore crafting a powerful first act, infecting the audience with the same thirst as the hero, and the importance of the first act in storytelling. They also touch on the challenges of being a showrunner, hands-on fun with Kiwi Co, and finding solutions and ideas in screenwriting.