Meg LeFauve พอดคาสต์

The Austin Film Festival is many things, but one if its most infamous opportunities is the annual 90-second pitch competition, where writers join to do just that: pitch their story in JUST 90 seconds. In the industry, we call this "the elevator pitch" and its more important now than ever. To help us unpack the nature of elevator pitching, we're fea…

There is nothing worse than writer's block when facing a rewrite, but there's hope! Today we discuss 6 Essential Strategies To Tackle a Rewrite. JOIN OUR PATREON: www.patreon.com/thescreenwritinglifeโดย Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna

We're back for part two w/ super producer Ted Hope! This week, we talk about some of Ted's top pieces of advices for living a successful creative life, and spend a long time talking about the importance of balancing multiple projects as a creative.โดย Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna

You finally get the meeting, make the connection, and a bigshot producer is excited to read your script. But you panic. Is it good enough? Is it READY? Today, award-winning independent film producer Ted Hope walks us through those always complicated questions, and answers TONS more along the way. FOR MORE: https://tedhope.substack.com…

Every writer can point to a movie that made them say: "THIS. This is what I want to do." And today, Meg, Lorien, and Jeff share the movies that turned THEM into writers. Yep, we're movie nerds too. JOIN OUR PATREON: www.patreon.com/TheScreenwritingLIfeโดย Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna

Though it can sometimes feel like a prison, screenplay structure is actually a very freeing element of the story process. Jill Chamberlain, a veteran script consultant, is obsessive about structure, to the point where she has created a popular technique to re-consider how we approach our work. On her technique, producer Callum Greene (Star Wars Epi…

As collaborators and showrunners, Kat Likkel and John Hoberg know that shutting down ideas is never helpful. This was only emphasized when they joined Pixar's Elemental team as writers. Today we discuss how to collaborate well with others (and ourselves), how to bring our personal experience into our work, and duckboat. Yes, you read that right: du…

**PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS EPISODE WAS PRE-RECORDED & PRECEDED THE 2023 WGA STRIKE.** In today's TSL epsiode, Meg gets personal about her lava, and how a recent production of Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George is helping her to rethink the beauty of moving on from a creative project. JOIN OUR PATREON: www.patreon.com/thescreenwritinglif…

Despite being a multiple Academy Award winner, celebrated producer, and feature/TV director, Jodie Foster is still aiming for a singular goal: to tell truthful stories. On today's show, we discuss how Jodie processes her work, how she collaborates with others, and what Robert De Niro taught her on the set of Taxi Driver. Join Our Patreon: www.patre…

Though she got her start in multi-cam sitcoms, it was a bold sci-fi dramedy rom-com that made Pixar interested in hiring Brenda Hsueh to co-write Elemental. On today's show, Brenda discusses how her voice has evolved as a writer over the course of her career, how she brought her own experience into her work as a writer for Elemental, and how she ha…

With hits like BRING IT ON and STICK IT, writer/director Jessica Bendinger is known for her subversive and surprising takes on female girlhood, using archetypes in a way that audiences have celebrated. Today what discuss what archetypes are, how we can use them, and what the future of our industry looks like. FOR JESS' BOOK/PODCAST: http://www.jess…

Hi all! Today, Savana and Jeff revisit their conversation from part one of their conversation about SET! Today we discuss some of the most essential vocabulary and set dynamics that you need to understand before you take the plunge! For internship inquiries, email thescreenwriting@gmail.com with the subject line INTERN, and include a cover letter a…

We bring our "beginning" miniseries to a close with this instant TSL classic, wherein Meg gives many pep talks. JOIN OUR PATREON: www.patreon.com/TheScreenwritingLifeโดย Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna

In our continued conversation about where and how to begin as a screenwriter, we take your (excellent) questions! We talk about outlining, cards, character development, and how to quiet our inner critic. TO JOIN OUR PATREON: www.patreon.com/TheScreenwritingLifeโดย Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna

So you want to be a screenwriter. Now what? Today we discuss some of these important questions to ask before you jump into a draft - questions that are JUST as valuable for emerging writers as they are for professionals.โดย Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna

Emmy-winning TV super-producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach is back. This time, he chats about his wonderful essay "WHAT I DO ON THE PAGE." clarifying that ultimately, the basic mechanics or writing are also the advanced mechanics of writing. HERE is the essay we're discussing: http://okbjgm.weebly.com/uploads/3/1/5/0/31506003/script_essay.pdf HERE is Ja…

Podcasts are one of the fastest growing mediums today (see THIS SHOW), and they can take on many forms. Today, writer/director Susan Busa Leshner discusses her podcast series THE AMERICAN IMMORTAL, and how she turned it from an idea into a quickly growing audio drama with multiple episodes, a completed first season, and a second season on the way! …

Karyn Kusama is known for film classics like Girlfight, Jennifer's Body, The Invitation, and a NEW TV classic, Yellowjackets, which she executive produces. Karyn's work is celebrated for its thoughtfully subversive approach with feminist themes across multiple genres, and today she discusses HOW she uses her body as a barometer to seek truth in her…

TSL-ers are going to be meeting at Disney tomorrow. That's Wednesday, May 24th at 1:00 PM Pacific. Again, Wednesday, May 24th at 1:00 PM Pacific at the Disney lot in Burbank. We're hoping for a big turnout. And in that interest, there's a couple things you can do to help when you show up. First of all, if you're able to, it would be amazing if you …

It's a scary and unprecedented time for our industry, but we're immensely proud of our guild's fight for the basic dignities of its members: writers. As negotiating committee members, our guests Michele Mulroney and David A. Goodman have been on the front lines of this historic strike and are here to help us understand exactly what writers are figh…

Curits Gwinn has worked on some of the most acclaimed shows of the 2010s including The Walking Dead, The Leftovers, and Stranger Things, but he's the first to admit that each room has been a valuable learning experience, even for a writer as seasoned as he is. In this candid conversation, Curtis opens up about the lessons he learned across multiple…

When Charlie got to post-production of his feature writer/director debut, he was crushed to discover that the film simply didn't work. At that point, he was faced with two choices: ditch the movie and move on, or dig in, dive into his lava, and head back to set for reshoots. He chose the latter, and his new film FOOL'S PARADISE, drops in theaters n…

How did Kelly Fremon Craig manage to convince Judy Blume to let her adapt Are You There God, It's Me Margaret? Tune in to find out! We're thrilled to be joined by award-winning writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig. She's the award-winning writer and director of two feature films: The Edge Of Seventeen starring Hailey Steinfeld, and Are You There God,…

However you feel about Starz' award-winning show BLINDSPOTTING, one thing is for sure, you've never seen anything like it. Today's guest, showrunner Rafael Casal, likes it that way: confronting his audiences with genre-breaking, even medium-breaking decisions in the production. For Rafael, as long as the writing remains deeply committed to truth an…

Jump behind the scenes with us to experience the highs and lows of producing one of Pixar's most celebrated and subversive films: Turning Red from the minds of Domee Shi and Julia Cho, who wrote it. Domee Shi began as a story intern at Pixar Animation Studios in June 2011, and was soon hired as a story artist on the Academy Award-winning feature fi…

Jane Anderson is an award-winning writer of plays, television, and movies, with over three decades of produced material, some of which she herself directed. Jane's work is known for its rich and complicated depictions of female life, with films like THE WIFE, which was Oscar-nominated, and shows like OLIVE KITTERIDGE, which won multiple Emmys, incl…

John Lee Hancock is an award-winning writer/director whose extensive career includes writing and directing The Blind Side, directing Saving Mr. Banks, and most recently writing and directing Mr. Harrigan's Phone for Netflix. Across nearly three decades of his career, John has worked as a producer, writer, and director in multiple genres including s…

Every writer should experience set life at least once in their life, whether they're directing their own work, supervising production on their episode, or even just helping out as a PA. Every set has it's own rules and universe, so today, we wanted to unpack those with our own stories and advice! JOIN OUR PATREON: www.patreon.com/thescreenwritingli…

CALL US WITH YOUR PITCHING HORROR STORIES: 440.305.0690 Kelly Edwards' multi-faceted career has multiple phases: she has worked in development, platforming shows like LIVING SINGLE, GIRLFRIENDS, and MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE. She has also worked as a diversity executive for studios like HBO and NBC Universal, ushering in diverse creative talent for NBC…

It's a TSL first as we explore a crossover episode with Matt Enlow and Oren Kaplan of the popular JUST SHOOT IT PODCAST to discuss pitching, free work, social media, and what directors are really looking for when it comes to the page. TO SUBSCRIBE TO JUST SHOOT IT: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/just-shoot-it-a-podcast-about-filmmaking/id995…

All of us have goals in our career, but how do build the steps to actually get there? Or perhaps more importantly, how do we be intentional about budling the steps to get there? Not only is scaffolding an essential part of career-building, but also in our work. JOIN OUR PATREON: www.patreon.com/thescreenwritinglife…

Joe Robert Cole, known for marathon writing sessions, has a simple litmus test to assess his own work: how does this make me feel? He calls it "Method Writing," and it's an essential part of his process. Joe Robert Cole is an award-winning writer/director of both television and features. He has co-written two Oscar-nominated movies with Ryan Coogle…

Though Dana Stevens wrote one of 2022's buzziest and most exciting movies, The Woman King, she has decades of experience in both film and television. On today's show, we discuss how Dana got involved in The Woman King, how she approached the film's extraordinary action set pieces on the page, and what she learned while showrunning. JOIN OUR PATREON…

โดย Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna

Dustin Lance Black is an Oscar-winning writer/director, known for writing the films like Milk and J. Edgar, in addition to creating the award-winning 2022 crime miniseries Under the Banner of Heaven, starring Andrew Garfield. Black is a fierce LGBTQ rights advocate, serving as a founding board member of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, and…

Allison Tolman's first major television role made waves in the industry, even scoring her a Critics Choice Award for her portrayal of Molly in FX's acclaimed debut season of Fargo. She has worked in Network TV on shows like Brooklyn 99 and Good Girls, Streaming TV, starring in Marc Cherry's Why Women Kill, and Premium Cable Fare, recently guest sta…

Constanza and Doménica Castro are the founders of 271 Films, which tells stories that bring meaningful perspectives to an audience, that connect them to their humanity and their emotional intelligence. Today we discuss what they look for as they vet work, and how they found the courage to tell their OWN stories. WE ARE HERE: https://271films.com/we…

271 Films Founders Constanza and Doménica Castro coming to you this FRIDAY! Thanks for your patience - it’s worth the wait!โดย Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna

There are some lessons that can only be learned through experience, time, and let's be honest - failure. Today, tons of professional writers anonymously share their ups and downs in the business by sharing what they wish they knew early in their career. It's a must-listen!โดย Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna

Why is it that the New Year so often invites trepidation, fear, and panic as we consider our achievements as artists? We consider that question today, while rethinking new years resolutions as a concept to feel more generous, achievable, and thoughtful as we approach the new year.โดย Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna

We’re closing out 2022 with a LIVE panel from our time at the Austin Film Festival. Thanks to Joe Forte for joining! TO JOIN OUR PATREON: www.patreon.com/thescreenwritinglifeโดย Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna

It's that time of year when hundreds of Holiday Movies air on screens all over the world. Whether its Hallmark, Lifetime, Disney+, Netflix, or Apple, or even Theaters, it's one of the hottest markets around for emerging and professional writers, and for Holiday screenwriting Queen Eirene Tran Donohue, one of the best ways to break in. Listen to her…

Diving back into your work after a round of notes can feel overwhelming, especially when we get thoughtful notes that can feel contradictory. How can we possibly incorporate every suggestion into our next draft? Spoiler alert: you can't. Instead, focusing on one ELEMENT of your rewrite can be the ticket to moving forward. Keep it simple; pick a pon…

It's becoming and increasingly common (and important) question: are we allowed to tell stories about characters whose lives don't reflect our own? On today's show, UCLA psychologist Dr. Yalda T. Uhls answers this question, in addition to addressing questions around TV programming for kids and adolescent viewers, and unconcious bias in our writing.…

One of Netflix's most celebrated animated movies of the year comes from our very own Meg LeFauve, whose beautiful script for "My Father's Dragon" was brought to life by Nora Twomey, one of our industry's most celebrated animated directors. Nora and Meg discuss how the movie came to fruition, what the development process looked like, and why precisi…

We have all been very busy so our new episodes for the next two weeks will be dropping on Mondays. Thanks for your patience!โดย Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna

There are few jobs more mentally strenuous than that of a writer. Rejection. Writers block. Notes. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. But today, bestselling author and thought leader Dr. Kristin Neff - renowned for her decades of research - is here to teach us about the beauty and the POWER of self-compassion. It will fundamentally shift the way you see you exec…

Patrick Osborne may have won an Oscar for his short film feast, but finding the conviction to stick to his creative "North Star" while writing is still a journey. Find out how he does it on today's episode. Patrick Osborne - is An Oscar, Emmy, and Peabody winning (and even Grammy Nominated) Writer/Director and animator. Patrick animated on a bunch …

Tone is consistently one of the most challenging things that Screenwriters face. What is it and how do we capture it on the page? We're thrilled to be joined by super-producer and friend-of-the-show Sheila Hanahan Taylor to unpack ALL of that today. Buckle up!โดย Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna

Thanks for your patience! Editing now, and new episode drops tomorrow.โดย Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna