

On The Page
Pilar Alessandra
ON THE PAGE: Join professional script consultant Pilar Alessandra as she demystifies screenwriting and answers your questions about script craft and story.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 21, 2025 • 39min
963. The Ultimate Production Planner
Filmmaker Landi Maduro walks us through the elements of her Ultimate Feature Film Production Planner which give creatives a timeline to help stay on track and concrete strategies to make their work profitable.

Nov 14, 2025 • 46min
962. Supporting the Writers Room
Writer Brett Melnick (King of the Hill, Dave) walks us through the different jobs and duties of the "support staff" in a writers' room: writers' assistant, showrunner's assistant and script coordinator.

Nov 7, 2025 • 41min
961. A Clear Message
Writer/director Rhona Rees knows what she wants to say before she writes. Here she talks about her award-winning dystopian thriller and her newly completed high-concept comedy, both driven by big issues and a strong message.

Oct 31, 2025 • 42min
960. The Autism Scene
Entertainment attorney Britton Payne talks about his work with The Autism Scene, a nonprofit advocating for the inclusion of explicitly autistic characters in kids pop culture. Check out his new competition the AuSPEC AWARDS, a kids animated series spec script competition which requires a series regular meaningfully interacting with an explicitly autistic character.

Oct 24, 2025 • 34min
959. LaToya Morgan: Fifteen Years Later
What happens when you're feeling discouraged in your writing career? You "persevere" and eventually carve out a career like writer-producer LaToya Morgan (Shameless, Parenthood, The Walking Dead, Duster). We read her fifteen-year-old letter to the podcast and talk about what happened next!

Oct 17, 2025 • 40min
958. A Social Commentary
Writer Lori Rosene-Gambino does not back down from adding social commentary into her fictional narratives. Hear what she has to say about her movie Anniversary, directed by Jan Komasa and starring Diane Lane.

Oct 12, 2025 • 51min
957. The "Strange Alchemy" of Playwriting
Krista Knight discussed her work as a playwright, screenwriter, and new media artist, including scripting a ride for Tokyo Disneyland, adapting Trolls for DreamWorks/Music Theatre International, writing a stage musical with the late Jill Sobule and creating a VR puppet play during the Covid lockdown.

Oct 3, 2025 • 53min
956. Epic Intimacy
Writers Jake Emanuel and Willie Block talk about the "epic intimacy" they created for their fictional podcast Edge of Sleep which went on to become a book and television show.

Sep 26, 2025 • 38min
955. Writing a Movie While Staffed in the Room
Rae Benjamin (The Witcher, Sirens of the Deep) says she's "inspired by stories and characters" and isn't afraid to explore any medium to get there.

Sep 19, 2025 • 54min
954. Trial by Fire
What happens when fire breaks out on the first day of your film shoot? Writer/director John W. Kim talks about that and other challenges that went into the writing, directing and producing of his independent film Reunion (currently in post-production).


