John and Craig gather our listeners' favorite news articles and ask, How Would This Be a Movie? Stories include an underground network delivering menstrual supplies in Minneapolis, a millennial travel group, how the US hacked ISIS, and a fake college squash team.

But first we follow up on modern comps, email issues, teaching screenwriting, and what it means to be undeniable. We also answer listener questions on querying reps with a published book and whether writers really need to repeat the plot for a second-screen audience.

In our bonus segment for premium members, what do we do with all our old CDs and DVDs? We weigh the pros and cons of physical media.

Links:

• How an errand for a 12-year-old immigrant in Minneapolis became an underground operation by Jasmine Garsd and Sarah Ventre for NPR
• I Went on a Package Trip for Millennials Who Travel Alone. Help Me. by Caity Weaver for The New York Times
• How the US hacked ISIS by Dina Temple-Raston for NPR
• Whitman College: The Best College Squash Team in History by James Zug for Squash Magazine
• Shipping Out by David Foster Wallace
• Email deliverability tester
• Disempowerment patterns in real-world AI usage by Cornell University and Anthropic
• The world's greatest song that simply shouldn't exist
• Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book!
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• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
• Become a Scriptnotes Premium member, or gift a subscription
• Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube
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• John August on Bluesky and Instagram
• Outro by Gloom Canyon (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

John welcomes writer and director Joachim Trier (Sentimental Value, The Worst Person in the World) to ask, how do you introduce your characters and their world to the audience? Using the screenplay for Sentimental Value, Joachim lays out how he sets up his themes, characters, conflicts and narrative authority in the first few pages.

We also look at Joachim's process of developing stories with his co-writer Eskil Vogt, and answer listener questions on endings, casting, and work-life balance.

In our bonus segment for premium members, Joachim and John flip through how we present screenplays on screen, why Joachim translates his scripts in pre-production, and the one little detail you might not have noticed in Sentimental Value.

Links:

• Sentimental Value | Screenplay
• Joachim Trier
• Notorious (1946)
• The Lindy Effect
• Chris Ware
• Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware
• Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book!
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
• Become a Scriptnotes Premium member, or gift a subscription
• Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube
• Scriptnotes on Instagram
• John August on Bluesky and Instagram
• Outro by Jeff Hoeppner & Richard Kraft (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

John and Craig ask, what makes a useful comp? Writers often use comparisons when pitching or discussing projects, but what separates good comps from bad comps, why do we use them, and when do comps hurt more than they help? Basically, it's The Studio meets My Dinner with Andre.

We also follow up on orality and "film by" credits, answer listener questions on getting AI feedback and attaching an actor to a microbudget feature, plus bring you another installment of John Recently Learned.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Craig are having weird issues with their email servers and need your help!

Links:

• The Sheep Detectives trailer
• The Great Gazoo
• Ben Turpin
• The Party (1968)
• Fulla Regrets on Instagram
• Kitty Carlisle
• Bobbie Wygant interviews Jodie Foster by Jack Plotnick on Instagram
• Catherine O'Hara dies via Variety
• Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book!
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
• Become a Scriptnotes Premium member, or gift a subscription
• Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube
• Scriptnotes on Instagram
• John August on Bluesky and Instagram
• Outro by Pete White (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.