Apr 28, 2026
John welcomes five-time Emmy-winning writer Ali Barthwell (Last Week Tonight) to ask, can writers learn to be funny? Drawing from her time as a teacher at The Second City, they look at what writers can learn from sketch and improv, and how to reliably find ways to make an audience laugh.
We also celebrate the WGA...
Apr 21, 2026
John welcomes writer/showrunner Haley Z. Boston for a
post-mortem on her terrifying new series, Something Very Bad is
Going to Happen. They look at how the series evolved from initial
idea through production, her experience as a first-time showrunner,
the special relationship between women and horror, and how...
Apr 14, 2026
John and Craig flip the idea of motivation on its head and ask, what are your characters running from? Using examples across film and TV, they look at the psychological underpinnings of discomfort, and how to use avoidance as a driving force of character and story.
We’ve also been away for a minute, so there’s a lot...
Apr 10, 2026
There’s a brand new agreement between the WGA and the AMPTP! And since John was the co-chair of the negotiating committee, he’s excited to share all the details of the 2026 MBA.
Links:
Apr 7, 2026
John and Craig connect the dots on transitions and how they can be just as important as the scenes themselves. They look at how to get your scenes flowing into one another, the many different types of transitions, when to use “CUT TO,” and how to use your cuts to tell your story.
We also discuss those shots we no...