Bulletproof Screenwriting™ Podcast

Today on the show we have writer and showrunner Michael Jamin. Michael has been writing for television since 1996.  His many credits include Just Shoot Me, King of the Hill, Beavis & Butthead, Wilfred, Out of Practice, Rules of Engagement, Lopez and Tacoma FD.He’s also served as Executive Producer/Showrunner on Glenn Martin DDS, Maron, and Rhett & Link’s Buddy System. Michael currently lives in Los Angeles where he's working on a collection of personal essays to be released in 2020.Enjoy my conversation with Michael Jamin.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bulletproof-screenwriting-podcast--2881148/support.

Today on the show we have returning champion the legendary Linda Seger. Linda and I discuss her new book You Talkin' to Me?: How to Write Great Dialogue. We do a deep dive into how to write great dialog. Here's a bit about the book.Unlike the chitchat of everyday life, dialogue in stories must express character, advance the story, suggest a theme, and include a few memorable lines that audiences will be quoting for decades to come. The best stories have dialogue that sparkles, but it’s easy for inexperienced writers to fall into common pitfalls like creating dialogue that’s wooden or too on the nose.Other writers end up with exposition awkwardly inserted into conversations, actors tripping over unnatural phrases or characters who all speak exactly the same way. In You Talkin’ to Me? Linda Seger and John Winston Rainey are here to help with all your dialogue problems. In each chapter, they explore dialogue from a different angle and discuss examples of great dialogue from films and novels. To cap it all off, each chapter ends with examples of poor dialogue, which are annotated by Linda and then rewritten by John, so readers don’t just learn how to recognize when it’s done well―they also learn how to make the dialogue better. Whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, for the screen or for the page, this book will get your characters talking.Ron Howard says he never starts a film without her book. Having authored nine books on scriptwriting, including the best selling Making A Good Script Great, Linda is one of the most prolific writers in her field. Enjoy my conversation with Linda Seger.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bulletproof-screenwriting-podcast--2881148/support.

Today on the show we have Greg Gertmenian, who is the Head of Script Analytics and Film Development at Slated. He is also the co-inventor of the Script Score, the only screenplay evaluation tool proven to accurately predict good films. Helped arrange financing of films like SUPER TROOPERS 2, DEEP MURDER, CRUISE, AT FIRST LIGHT, GOD BLESS THE BROKEN ROAD, BECOMING and WHAT BREAKS THE ICE.Prior to his time at Slated, produced short format content including the fan-beloved short film, BALROG: BEHIND THE GLORY and the award-winning, AFI Fest film THE HAIRCUT.I wanted to bring Greg on the show to discuss Hollywood, screenwriters and the COVID pandemic, and what we all can do to survive and thrive during these crazy and uncertain times. Enjoy my conversation with Greg Gertmenian.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bulletproof-screenwriting-podcast--2881148/support.

The IFH Podcast Network makes it easy for you to discover, connect, and engage with industry-leading filmmaking and screenwriting podcasts, all in one place. We curate the best podcasts that will help you on your filmmaking and screenwriting journey. You can listen to any of our shows on your favorite podcast platform. #IndieFilmUnitewww.ifhpodcastnetwork.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bulletproof-screenwriting-podcast--2881148/support.

Do you feel like you have a screenplay inside of you but don’t know how to bring it to life? Today's guest Lisa Cron might be able to help.Lisa is story coach and the best-selling author of Wired for Story: The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence and Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere).Lisa has worked in publishing at W.W. Norton, as an agent at the Angela Rinaldi Literary Agency, as a producer on shows for Showtime and CourtTV, and as a story consultant for Warner Brothers and the William Morris Agency.Since 2006, she's been an instructor in the UCLA Extension Writers' Program and she's on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts MFA program in visual narrative in New York City.Some of the things we cover in this conversation are:What your audience’s brain is hardwired to crave in every story they read – and it’s not what you think.Why writing a successful screenplay is not about having the innate “talent” that only a lucky few are born with, but something you can learn!How to become a more confident screenwriter, and make whatever you’re writing now deeper, richer, more compelling, and able to do what all stories are meant to do: change how the audience sees the world, themselves, and what they do in the world.Enjoy my conversation with Lisa Cron.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bulletproof-screenwriting-podcast--2881148/support.

Today's guest is a screenwriter, director, professor, and Secretary-Treasurer of the Writers Guild of America West Aaron Mendelsohn.  He is best known for co-creating and co-writing the successful AIR BUD family film franchise, which sired eleven sequels and generated millions of dollars over the years. If you have kids then you probably already have seen an Air Bud spin-off film.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bulletproof-screenwriting-podcast--2881148/support.

On today's show, I'm going to discuss screenwriting scams that ALL screenwriters should be aware of and avoid at all costs. It never surprises me how predatory people can be with screenwriters and filmmakers in this business.I did an episode exposing ways screenwriters can get screwed on writing assignments. I do a deep dive into each of the following scams in the show.The Free Option - Optioning your screenplay for freeAgent Reading FeesScript Consults That Ask for a Backend CutScreenwriting Marketing ServicesScreenwriting Contests - PromisesScreenwriting Contests - Milking TechniqueGhost Writing ScreenplaysAny Deal That Gives Your Rights AwayRepresentation Retainer FeeScreenwriting Contests Warning SignsStay safe out there guys. Sharks are everywhere. Enjoy!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bulletproof-screenwriting-podcast--2881148/support.

With all the unknowns facing screenwriters due to world events I thought I'd bring on someone who had his ear to the grindstone of Hollywood to see what the town is thinking and doing during this crazy time. I reached out to Stage 32's Jason Mirch, to talk about Hollywood and how to survive and thrive as a screenwriter during and post-COVID.Jason Mirch is a feature film and television producer and executive with over 15 years of experience. Jason also serves as the Director of Script Services at Stage 32 where he works directly with screenwriters, filmmakers, and leading industry executives.In addition to his work with Stage 32, Jason runs production and development for a company which produced low-budget genre pictures for an international audience, as well as serves as a business advisor to a successful post-production VFX company which contributed to The Peanut Butter Falcon, Crawl, Martin Scorsese's Silence, Arctic, and Let them Talk for Steven Soderbergh and HBO.Most recently, he produced a 3D animated feature film starring Jacob Tremblay, Emmy-winner Christopher Lloyd, Oscar-winner Mel Brooks, Emmy-winner Kenan Thompson, and Emmy-winner Carol Kane.Mirch was the Head of Feature and Television Development at Image Nation, a finance and production company based in Abu Dhabi, UAE. There, he supervised the Image Nation contributions in the development of Flight, The Help, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Contagion, Careful What You Wish For, Ghost Rider 2, and 100 Foot Journey.​Prior to his work at Image Nation, Mirch was Co-Head of Development at Storyline Entertainment (Oscar-winning Chicago, Footloose, The Bucket List) where he developed a slate of feature film projects for New Line, Paramount, Summit Ent., and CBS/Paramount. He also developed and sold television projects and mini-series to CBS, NBC, Fox, ABC, and Lifetime.If you want to know what is currently going on in Hollyweird and how to better position yourself as a screenwriter now and in a post-COVID-19 world then listen up.Enjoy my conversation with Jason Mirch.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bulletproof-screenwriting-podcast--2881148/support.

I always wondered how someone would get into the video game writing business. Today's guest is screenwriter/game development guru Robert Denton Bryant and he answers that question and so much more.Robert Denton Bryant has worked in Hollywood in marketing and production, and in video games as a publisher and a developer. He has been Executive Producer on dozens of games on platforms ranging from CD-ROMs to the iPad, including the bestselling World Championship Poker and Pinball Hall of Fame console franchises.He is the co-author (with Charles P. Schultz) of Game Testing: All in One and (with Keith Giglio) Slay the Dragon: Writing Great Video Games.Writing for the multibillion-dollar video-game industry is unlike writing for any other medium. Slay the Dragon will help you understand the challenges and offer creative solutions to writing for a medium where the audience not only demands a great story but to be a driving force within it. Aimed at traditional writers who want to learn interactive narrative as well as game creators who want to tell better, more emotionally involving stories, the book is written by two creative veterans of both Hollywood and "Nerdyhood." Through lively discussions and self-paced-exercises, Bryant and Giglio step you such topics as the:"No-act" structure of video gamesWriting great game charactersMaking gameplay emotionally meaningfulBringing your game world aliveI can't tell you what an amazing episode this is. Robert takes me down the rabbit hole of writing for video games, the business, how to break in as a writer, and a ton more. Who says you can't write for both video games and the big screen.Enjoy my conversation with Robert Denton Bryant.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bulletproof-screenwriting-podcast--2881148/support.

After many requests, I decided to finally tackle the dreaded query letter. I bring back to the show screenwriter, author, and IFH Academy instructor Geoffery Calhoun.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bulletproof-screenwriting-podcast--2881148/support.