Screenwriters & Scriptnotes Podcasters, John August & Craig Mazin, Wonder If Writing’s Really the “Right Fit” for Jay

Writing legends John August & Craig Mazin talk about their journey to screenwriting, podcasting, & writing a book.  They talk about how to boil  down 15 years of shows down to a book, the origin of the scriptnotes podcast, the need to help people combined with being annoyed by people, what each of them considers good writing, why people who hate books on writing wrote a book on writing, there are no rules to screenwriting, customizing your process, the moment they thought the might be good enough to make a living at writing, their messiest jobs, their best jobs, the changing nature of show biz, and why the Scriptnotes book weighs a lot less than you think it does. 

Bio: Craig Mazin is the multiple Emmy® award-winning co-creator, executive producer, writer and director of the smash hit HBO series THE LAST OF US. An addition to setting viewership records for HBO, THE LAST OF US has earned 51 Emmy® nominations including 9 Emmy® wins, a Peabody Award, an AFI Award, a BAFTA Award, two SAG Awards, a DGA Award, a WGA Award, a GLAAD Award, two Film Independent Spirit Awards, and four Golden Globe Award nominations.

Previously, Mazin served as creator, writer and executive producer of the HBO limited series CHERNOBYL, for which he won 2 Emmys®, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a Peabody, and awards from the Writers Guild, the Producers Guild, the Television Critics Association and the American Film Institute.

Looking ahead, Mazin is executive producing the upcoming HBO E-sports drama DAMAGE alongside writer, director and executive producer Celine Song.

In addition to his work in television, Mazin has written numerous hit feature films, which have grossed over one billion dollars in theaters worldwide.

Mazin can be heard on the popular screenwriting podcast Scriptnotes, which he co-hosts with fellow writer John August.

Bio: John August is a screenwriter whose credits include Aladdin, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, Frankenweenie and the first two Charlie’s Angels movies. He directed the 2007 film The Nines starring Ryan Reynolds and Melissa McCarthy, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

He earned a BAFTA nomination for his script for Big Fish, and a GRAMMY nomination for his song in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In 2016, he received the Writers Guild of America West’s Valentine Davies Award in recognition of his humanitarian efforts and civic service.

In addition to his work in film, John wrote the Arlo Finch middle-grade novel trilogy, and the book for the Broadway musical of Big Fish.

Since 2012, he has co-hosted the popular weekly screenwriting podcast Scriptnotes. His company, Quote-Unquote Apps, makes utilities for writers (including Highland and Weekend Read) along with Writer Emergency Pack, which is used in 2,000 classrooms nationwide.

Born in Boulder, Colorado, John received a BA in Journalism from Drake University and an MFA in Film Producing from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. He lives in Los Angeles with his family.

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