On The Page

Screenwriter Giz Gewirtz, co-founder of Seismic Games, discusses the possibilities and limitations of virtual reality narratives.

Kathryn Renee Thomas and Caitlin Barlow, creators and stars of "Teachers" on TV Land, school us in the improv techniques they use to build characters and find "the game of the scene."

Jim Churchman, stunt coordinator for Marvel movies, discusses what lifts off the page and onto the screen to create great action sequences.

Pilar and members of her Tuesday-night Writers Group pour champagne, look back on 2016 successes and discuss goals for the new year. (Stick around for Pilar's 5 Writing Resolutions for 2017. They might surprise you.)

What do pro-wrestling and good screenwriting have in common? Writer, actor and wrestling fan Sam Benjamin explains it to you.

This week Pilar is on a business trip teaching on the East Coast, so please enjoy a rebroadcast from December 16, 2011. A twelve day writing guide from logline to pages. Sing along with Pat and Pilar!

Filmmaker Kim Adelman shares tips on short film writing and low-budget filmmaking from her book, "Making It Big In Shorts," now in its third edition.

Actor Kevin E. West gives an actor's perspective on the script and discusses how the 7 Deadly Sins get in the way of artists' success.

Nadia Madden, Pilar's "most improved" writer of 2016, talks about navigating the Austin Film Festival, the benefit of notes and classes and how much she secretly hates pumpkin pie.

English writer/director Mark Heywood and Irish writer/director and Tribeca shorts programmer Niall McKay talk about the different story telling approaches here and abroad.

Can we still have a good laugh after this election? Kelly Hudson and Jocelyn Richard of "Funny or Die" are here to help.

Writers Judalina Neira and Sarah Fahey talk about the different roads that led them from college in Boston to writing for shows like "Hit the Floor" and "The Flash."

Pilar goes it alone this week to help you polish up your script before giving it to an important reader. E-mail her at [email protected] to get the list!

Comic book writer Eric Freitas (Judge Dredd, Regular Show, Godzilla), reveals how he uses movie structure to write his comic books, then uses the scripts he's created to write feature films.

Sometimes a creator's got to create in order to create more. Filmmaker Noel Orput and web series producer Sarah Hawkins explain how they made it happen for themselves.

Academy award-nominated animation supervisor David Schaub shares the analysis of three-act structure he used when creating his structure app, "The Three Act Compass."

Jonathan Wolf, Managing Director of the American Film Market, discusses the power of the pitch at the world's largest motion picture business event.

Audience Development Strategist Lara Hoefs discusses the ways that creators and storytellers can learn from their fanbase.

Producer Glenn Williamson brings stories from his early years working for Tim Burton on Edward Scissorhands to producing critically hailed and compelling titles like 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind', 'Sunshine Cleaning', and 'The Omen' (2006).

Matt Belknap (podcast king and former reader for Imagine Entertainment) joins Pilar to evaluate listener log lines and pick a winner!

Tom Nunan discusses his tremendous career from being an executive at ABC, Fox, NBC and UPN to founding Bull's Eye Entertainment which produced the Academy Award winning movie "Crash."

Marc Haimes, writer of "Kubo And The Two Strings," discusses his up and coming projects: the adaptation of the subversive graphic novel "Nimona," and a drama based on the Waco Texas tragedy, produced by Mark Boal.

Producer and TV host Damona Hoffman talks about the creativity and storytelling that goes into developing and writing reality shows.

Larry Friedman, the high school teacher you wish you had, walks us through the inspiring prompts and exercises he gives in his writing classes. Guaranteed to unstick any writer ... no matter what the age.

Writer Sonya Ellis talks about the negative tropes and positive approaches to writing trans characters in film and TV.

Composer and writer Heather Schmidt talks about the ways she captures the emotion, tone, pace and story beats of the films, TV shows, and video games she scores.

Pilar entertains Robin Schiff in the OTP Studio, as Robin relates the autobiographical origin of her script for 'Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion', and teaches us how to effectively write voices through improv, all while reflecting on how writing comedy for TV and Film have changed over her thirty-year career.

Writer Aaron Korsh, (creator of the hit show Suits), and director Kevin Bray (Suits, Empire, Blackish, CSI, Walking Tall) discuss the happy intersection of writing and directing on TV.

Rebecca Phelps and Chris Cookson, authors of the blog "Novel2Screen," discuss the ways that screen adaptations go right … and painfully wrong.

Entertainment attorney Richard DeLossa discusses copyright protection, script releases, writing partnerships and more.

Writer Suzanne Keilly talks about her work on "Ash vs. Evil Dead" as a writers' assistant, episode writer and webisode writer.

Pilar helps writers Alicia Lomas Gross and Steve D'Arcangelo build a whole movie from one real-life-event. Listen and follow along!

Terry Rossio, writer of "Aladdin," "Shrek" and "Pirates of the Caribbean," shares his thoughts about adaptation, story telling, dialogue and script notes.

SK Valenzuela, literature professor and winner of the Industry Insider Screenwriting Contest, discusses the similarities between poetry writing and screenwriting.

Joel Trussell and Noah Jones traveled from Maine and Tennessee to the land of unicorns. Hear how they did it and went on to work on animated projects such as "Yo Gabba Gabba," "Fish Hooks" and "Pickle and Peanut."

Joy Gorman Wettels, producer of "The Meddler" and "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World," starts with the question, "why should your story be told?"

Writer Irene Turner does not shrink away from tough characters and true crime. Here, she talks about co-writing "An American Crime," starring Ellen Page, and "The Most Hated Woman in America," with Melissa Leo (Netflix 2017).

Writer Paul Rust is everywhere on Netflix right now with his show "Love" and co-writing credit on "Pee-wee's Big Holiday." So it looked like a good time to replay an episode you might have missed!

Writer and marketing consultant Melissa Cassera talks about 7 ways you can create your "little black book" of helpful industry connections.

What do a "Grey’s Anatomy” and “I-Zombie” writer have in common? They both moonlight as Y.A. writers! Jen Klein and Sara Saedi talk about structure and storytelling for both mediums.

Aaron Covington, co-writer of “Creed," talks about the work and thought that went into writing the 7th "Rocky” movie.

Stephanie Allain, producer of “Dear White People," and “Hustle and Flow,” and an early champion of "Boyz n the Hood," talks about theme, diversity and scripts that make her “heart beat fast.”

Pilar is joined by writers Garrett Frawley and Brian Turner (AKA The Christmas Guys) to discuss their reboot of the 70's kids' show "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters” and their award-winning Amazon show "Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street.” Guest interviewer: Rita Dodson.

As the second edition of "The Coffee Break Screenwriter" hits the shelves, we replay an episode devoted to that book, hosted by Matt Belknap. New edition available through mwp.com and amazon.com

Pilar sits down with screenwriting team Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt to discuss the intricacies of writing action films such as "Olympus Has Fallen," "The Expendables 3" and their current release "London Has Fallen."

"What keeps you up at night?" Writer Charlotte Stoudt discusses what it's like to write for Homeland.

Ethan Erwin, executive VP of Silver Pictures and producer of The Book of Eli and The Nice Guys, discusses the process of movie making, working with Shane Black, Denzel Washington's guest house and Jean Claude Van Damme's six pack.

Costume designer Mary Zophres and set decorator Dena Allen look to the script to layer the movies and TV shows they work on.

Brian Pope and Mike Musa join Pat Francis and Pilar for their annual discussion of the nominees for best screenplay and best adapted screenplay.

Joey Tuccio, the head of Stage 32 Happy Writers Online Pitchfest, talks about do’s and don’ts for online pitching.