The Screenplay Writers

0074: Fight Scenes

Fight scenes are so important to most action movies. The thing you need to think about when you’re writing them and filming them is how to capture them on the page and on the screen. The guys do script surgery on “Creed 2” and Ryan pitches his idea “Boxer Jumper” (working title only) in Logline Cage Match.

0073: Kids

Writing for kids is something every screenwriter does at one point in her or his career. Nathan and Ryan talk about the keys to making your script work for this genre and audience, including two essential Hare’s Rules: You gotta dumb it down, and kids don’t get references. They do script surgery on Ralph Breaks the Internet (Wreck-it Ralph 2), and Nathan pitches his idea “Kid Tax” in Logline Cage Match.

0072: Meet Cutes

The meet cute is an essential scene that appears in most genres. It's the moment the main character meets his or her romantic love interest. Most effective meet cutes involve the throwing or dropping of paper, or the meeting of in-laws. Nathan and Ryan do script surgery on "Widows," and Ryan pitches his new idea “Burger Time” in Logline Cage Match.

0071: Parentheticals

If you’ve written or read a screenplay lately, you’ve probably come across parentheticals. They’re those bits of direction before dialogue that inform directors what the heck to do. Without them, directors wouldn't have a clue—and for that reason they're among the top seven things to master when writing screenplays. The guys do script surgery on “The Crimes of Grindelwald,” and Nathan presents “Nathan Canadian” in Logline Cage Match.

0070: MacGuffin

What’s a MacGuffin? What do you do with it? How does it inform your screenplay? A MacGuffin can be anything and do anything. Let us explain. The guys do script surgery on "Johnny English Part 3" and Ryan reads his pitch, “Mr. Words of the Year,” in Logline Cage Match.

0069: Storage Part II

Continuing their surprising and very important conversation about storage, the guys talk about cloud-based solutions. That's where you store files in a place other than your computer’s own hard drive. Something to think about as you craft your screenplays. The guys do script surgery on “Susperia” and, in Logline Cage Match, Ryan pitches Nathan his idea "Space Diner."

0068: Storage

How and where you store your computer files is a big part of being a successful screenplay writer. If you lose your files, you’re done for. The guys do script surgery on “Beautiful Boy,” and Nathan pitches his thriller-horror “The Killer from the TV” in Logline Cage Match. Ryan proposes a more successful name, “Big Scream TV.”

0067: Rebirth

It’s simple screenplaywriting 102: your main character better go through some sort of change on her journey through your script. The most impactful journey? A full rebirth. Remember this Hare’s Rule: A character’s mental and spiritual rebirth can be driven by a physical transformation. The guys do script surgery on “Halloween” and Ryan reads his idea “Killer Cold” in Logline Cage Match.

Special thanks to special guest Graeme Achurch.

0066: Tragedy

Ryan has a really bad cold, so Nathan call his go-to guru, an unlicensed underground medical health advocate named Graeme. Graeme prescribes Ryan a specific brand of Himalayan salt water and advises he buy Nathan gifts cards from any retailer or restaurant.

Featuring Graeme Achurch on vocals.

0065: Rejection

All screenwriters have to deal with rejection, even the best of us. In life and in screenplay writing, it’s something we have to confront and move past. Good lesson. Nathan and Ryan do script surgery on “The Nun” and Ryan pitches “Worlds Collide” in Logline Cage Match.