John and Craig stand waist-deep in rotten tomatoes and ask, what can we learn from bad movies? Resisting the urge to walk out, they explore ways to evaluate a movie’s problems, interrogate your taste, and turn a real stinker into an opportunity to grow as a writer.

We also follow up on Lifetime movies, colored pages and AI screenwriting, and answer listener questions on weirdo characters and the validity of a ghostwriter.

In our bonus segment for premium members, when is it okay to bail on something you no longer enjoy? We look at when to bounce on books, friendships and more.

Links:

• WGAW Good and Welfare Emergency Assistance Loans
• AI Screenwriter job posting
• Pageant of the Masters
• Pageant of the Masters Brings Art to Life from the Wall Street Journal on YouTube
• Arrested Development – The Living Classics
• Severance on Apple TV+
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
• Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
• Craig Mazin on Threads and Instagram
• John August on Threads, Instagram, Twitter and Mastodon
• Outro by Pascui Rivas (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.