John and Craig look at how writers (and other humans) handle the anxiety of uncertainty, from election nights to green lights. We’ll talk through strategies for navigating situations where your circle of concern doesn’t match your circle of control.

Then we travel back to the 1980s and 90s, when many studios were run by ambitious strivers in their late 20s and early 30s. As the decades have passed, the players in these positions have held onto their posts, leaving the next generation stuck mid-ladder. We discuss what impact the aging of Hollywood has had on its output, and where the new guard might find an opening.

We also ask, is development wage theft? And answer listener questions on reusing material written for a different project, and the cost-plus model of production.

And in our bonus topic for premium members, what aspects of pandemic life have we incorporated into our daily routines?

Links:

• Scriptnotes LIVE! December 6th at Dynasty Typewriter
• AlphaBirds Game Night at Village Well
• The Big Squeeze: Why Everyone in Hollywood Feels Stuck by Mia Gallupo for the Hollywood Reporter
• ‘Development is Wage Theft’: Pilot Season Death Morphs Into Year-Round Hell by Elaine Low for The Ankler
• Isle of Arrows
• Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte
• Mr. McMahon on Netflix
• 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 Nick Moore (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt, with special help this week from Chris Csont and Megana Rao. It is edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.