The Screenwriting Life with Meg LeFauve and Lorien McKenna

Director Kelsey Mann and Writer Meg LeFauve discuss the challenges of creating a sequel to a beloved animated movie like Inside Out. They explore the emotional journey of nurturing long-term projects, finalizing movies, and portraying complex emotions in a relatable manner. The guests also delve into balancing multiple storylines, collaborating with teen girls for authenticity, and overcoming challenges with negativity and emotional absorption in the creative process.

Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein discuss their experience co-writing Inside Out 2, touching on the challenges of writing for animation at Pixar and the personal journey writers undertake. They explore character development, dramedy in TV shows, and the concept of a show's engine in television writing. The episode also announces the launch of TSL workshops to support and inspire writers.

Guest Dustin Lance Black discusses the nuances of crafting compelling protagonists in storytelling, emphasizing imperfections and shadows to make characters engaging. The conversation delves into the challenges of maintaining audience engagement while portraying complex characters with depth and relatability.

Billy Mernit, a Romcom guru, discusses the art of crafting romantic comedies. Topics include navigating new writing projects, imposter syndrome, evolution of romcoms, contrasting characters, and crafting authentic relationships. The podcast offers insights into sustaining relationships in TV shows and script consulting challenges. TSL workshops are also introduced for writer support and inspiration.

The hosts discuss navigating emotional depth, uncovering subtext, mastering scene design, crafting emotional continuity, subverting genre tropes, and exploring the emotional core of scripts. They provide insights on conveying emotions effectively, using subtext in dialogue, designing scenes strategically, maintaining emotional consistency, and delving into the human significance of narratives.

Exploring common pitfalls in screenwriting, maintaining artistic integrity in collaborative dynamics, navigating doubts and exhaustion in the writing process, mastering exposition to engage the audience, crafting intrigue and narrative depth in films, balancing plot wants and emotional needs in character development, creating characters with a balance of assertiveness and vulnerability, and evolving plot to avoid repetition in scripts.

Renowned script consultant Linda Seger, known for making good scripts great, discusses the importance of visual writing and connecting themes through images rather than dialogue. The podcast explores crafting dynamic characters, mastering dialogue, and the challenges and ethics of script consulting.

Navid McIlhargey, a studio executive and producer with over 20 years of experience, shares insights on navigating emotional struggles and creative challenges in feature rewrites, crafting action movie scripts with a festive twist, selecting scripts in Hollywood based on big ideas, and the complexities of casting and financing in the film industry.

Carole Kirschner, director of the CBS Diversity Writers Program & WGA Showrunner Training Program, shares practical advice on navigating the ever-changing Hollywood industry. Topics include overcoming self-doubt, mentoring diverse voices, breaking into the industry, crafting authentic personal stories, and balancing cynicism, realism, and optimism in career advice.

Celebrated playwright Octavio Solis shares insights on playwriting, character development, and his cultural consultation on Pixar's Coco. Topics include embracing feedback for growth, finding voice through character dialogue, navigating struggles in writing, and the balance between artistic integrity and commercial success.