You are browsing the archive for John August.

What do Producers do exactly?

Posted on December 22, 2011 in Producing | No Comments

John August and Craig Mazin discuss what the job of a producer is (or should be). John looks at the four different roles a producer can take on: The general, The diplomat, The creative or The bulldozer.

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How Movie Money Works

Posted on November 9, 2011 in Filmmaking 360, Financing, Marketing | 1 Comment

In Script Notes, John August and Craig Mason talk about how the money flows in a Hollywood Studio and how a theoretical movie studio can make money even if the last 20 pictures it releases looses money.

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25 minutes with Screenwriter John August

Posted on May 14, 2011 in General Screenwriting, Interviews | No Comments

John August sits down to talk screenwriting, directing and making it in Hollywood.

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John August: Writing Better Dialogue

Posted on September 8, 2010 in General Screenwriting, Story | 3 Comments

This is a series of screenwriting scriptcasts by John August showing how he rewrite scenes. This one focuses on dialogue, using an actual scene from Lance Edmand’s Bluebird.

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Using the Net to Advance Your Writing Career

Posted on August 5, 2010 in General Screenwriting, Internet, Selling Your Film, Selling Your Script | No Comments

Presented by the WGAW Publicity and Marketing Committee, this March 27, 2010 all-day seminar offered Writers Guild members tools to help them get online, promote their careers, raise their industry profiles, build their brands and distribute and monetize their work.

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One. Million. Dollars.

Posted on July 14, 2010 in General Screenwriting | 1 Comment

In movies, TV, and actual conversation it’s by far the most frequently quoted dollar figure to mean “rich,” despite inflation. The top-shelf reality competition shows (Survivor, The Amazing Race) use that as the prize figure. But it’s not just a lot of money. It’s been mythologized as the transformative tipping point between the life we have and some mythological Good Life in which profound satisfaction is possible.

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John August on Screenwriting

Posted on July 10, 2010 in General Screenwriting, Interviews | No Comments

An educational Q&A with screenwriter, director, and producer: John August, exploring his work on the films, Go, Big Fish, The Nines, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Minority Report, Corpse Bride, Charlie’s Angels, and Titan A.E. — Moderated by Deborah Dearth as part of the Palm Springs Film Festival.

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Publicity 101: A Workshop for Screenwriters

Posted on July 28, 2009 in General Screenwriting | No Comments

A workshop presented by the Writers Guild of America, West’s Publicity & Marketing Committee teaching screenwriters how to use the media to publicize themselves and their careers.
VIA: wgadotorg
In this segment, Variety.com editor Dana Harris and L.A. Times “Scriptland” columnist Jay Fernandez explain how to pitch a feature story.

In this segment, screenwriter John August (Go, Big [...]

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A look at Final Draft 8

Posted on May 14, 2009 in Screenplay Format | 3 Comments

John August takes a brief look at the new bits in the latest Final Draft, including a peek into the new file format and the package contents.

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John August: Writing better action

Posted on May 5, 2009 in Story | No Comments

Screencast lesson from screenwriter John August on writing better action beats. More info can be found at johnaugust.com.

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John August: Entering a scene

Posted on May 1, 2009 in Story | No Comments

Screencast lesson from screenwriter John August on how to enter a scene with more impact. More info can be found at johnaugust.com.

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Writing better scene descriptions

Posted on April 6, 2009 in Story | 2 Comments

Screenwriter John August works through a scene to improve the scene description. You learn much more about screenwriting at johnaugust.com.

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Screenwriting: How to explain quantum mechanics

Posted on January 5, 2009 in General Screenwriting | No Comments

John August offers up some tips to help you make those difficult technical descriptions easier on you and your audience.

…One of the more common challenges faced by a screenwriter is how to explain a difficult concept that’s important to your plot. For instance, in Jurassic Park, we need to understand how the dinosaurs came [...]

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The purpose of drama, and its relationship to Cameron Diaz’s ass

Posted on September 24, 2008 in General Screenwriting | 1 Comment

John August (co-writer of Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle) asks his readers to comment on this quote by David Mamet:
“People have tried for centuries to use drama to change people’s lives, to influence, to comment, to express themselves. It doesn’t work. It might be nice if it worked for those things, but it doesn’t. The only [...]

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John August: The Politics of Superheroes

Posted on August 25, 2008 in Filmmaking 360 | No Comments

Screenwriter John August shares his thoughts on Superhero Politics in his recent article “Aquaman is a Pescepublican.”
…Recent articles about the political leanings of popular comic book characters got me thinking about the uncanny valley between fictional and real-world ideologies. We’re happy to have characters speak in broad terms — “With great power comes great responsibility” [...]

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