On The Page

Writer Marc Haimes stresses the importance of creative collaborations and the need to have fun as he returns to the podcast to talk about his latest projects, Nimona, Ultraman and Lost Ollie.

Rocky (RaKenna) Luckey talks about how she took the skills she learned from "pressure cooker" jobs in music, production and film festivals to write a spec and land a job in television!

Dr. Laura Erickson–Schroth, psychiatrist, writer and activist, discusses positive and negative portrayals of mental health issues in film and television.

Managers versus agents, packaging deals versus spec sales. Zack Zucker from Bellevue Management breaks it all down for us.

Proving that a couple who creates together stays together, writer Elizabeth Musgrave and artist Frank Forte talk about their adventures turning features into plays, plays into short films and scripts into comic books.

Pilar helps you "declare your independence" from a conventional screenwriting school of thought on outlining, branding, daily writing and more!

Actor/writer Scott Turner Schofield, Executive Producer of They/Them and consultant for Euphoria, talks about his work bringing complex and authentic stories of trans-characters to script and screen.

Jon Fitzgerald, co-founder of Slamdance and author of Filmmaking for Change talks about ways to get attention at film festivals, the importance of a call to action in movies with a message and how his latest venture, Cause Cinema, highlights content with social impact.

Writer Bill True, Department Chair at the Scottsdale School of Film and Theater, talks about the specific factors that helped propel a community college in Arizona to Variety's list of "Top Film Schools in North America."

Bafta-winning, Academy Award-nominated writer Tony McNamara, (The Favourite, The Great, Cruella), talks about his approach to telling story and creating period pieces with a contemporary stamp.

Jennifer Cram's experience in casting helped her say "yes" to directing her first feature. Jen talks about the years-long journey of her soon-to-be-released feature film, Sick Girl, why it's fun to write about unlikeable characters and how she's learned to be an advocate for her own work.

Advice from Brian Keith Etheridge (Mythic Quest, The Neighborhood, The Ranch, Mike and Molly), will help you with pitching and characters, and may just make you a better poker player as well!

For Mother's Day, Pilar's 18-year-old daughter Rita Dodson shares her thoughts and wisdom about on-screen content that portrays teenagers in accurate and interesting ways.

Career coach Carole Kirchner returns to the podcast to talk about ways to brave career obstacles and overcome writers block.

WGA writers are striking to get the pay and benefits they deserve. But how does this effect non WGA writers as well? Career coach Lee Jessup explains it all.

A little scared about AI's role in the writing world? So are we. Writer and communications data analyst Michael Grebb helps us understand what's happening now and what might be ahead.

Brit McAdams talks about the fact that it took twelve years to make his comedy Paint, starring Owen Wilson, only to discover that now is the perfect time.

What does a late night talk show, a game show, a limited series about The Godfather and a college soap have in common? The writer Mona Mira! Listen to how she wrote and learned on The Weakest Link, The Offer and the Hulu series Tell Me Lies.

Co-writer/directors Peter Murphy and Rachael Moriarty talk about making movies in Ireland, their creative process and the open door that allowed them to write their award winning movie, Róise and Frank, about a grieving woman and the dog who may or may not be her husband.

When Broadway went dark and Tommar Wilson found himself without a job, he turned to writing. Now he's an NBC Fellow and has just been staffed on an upcoming TV show for Universal Content Productions that will air on Netflix.

After years in the music business and as a counselor in corrections, Jevon Graves found himself writing on the We TV show, Kold x Windy. Now he's truly doing what he loves.

Actor/writer Kristen Lee Kelly (original cast of Rent) stage-reads scene direction submissions from listeners as they showcase their writing skills! Who will win?

Acclaimed theater director Marya Mazor shares her thoughts on the differences between directing for theater and for the screen and how she follows the clues within the script to help achieve her vision.

Did you write a prize-worthy piece of scene direction? Enter it in the On the Page Scene Direction Contest! Pilar explains the rules and gives the deadline.

Emphasizing "the art of reader engagement," writers Chris Perry and Eric Henry Sanders's new book Scenewriting helps writers come up with new ways to plan, draft and perfect their scenes.

Pilar and her friends Brian Pope, Mike Musa and Alex Troxler get together for their annual discussion about the best screenplay and best adapted screenplay Oscar nominees.

Writer Alicia Lomas-Gross shares about her experiences and writing process on her first produced feature, Perfect Harmony for Hallmark Movies and Mysteries.

Writer Matt Pacult of Documentary Now talks about the creative ways he goes about finding story, pitching ideas and giving notes.

Hear how Victor Gabriel captured "the resilience of innocence" in his first short film that went to Sundance and his feature film which attracted none other than director Spike Lee.

Copyright advocate David Newhoff returns to answer all your questions about protecting your work, obtaining rights to IP, hiring a lawyer and much, much more.

Writer Gary Jones talks about what he's learned about writing and editing as he turns written short films into spoken radio plays.

Mika Frank talks about how her love of writing, combined with her training in pharmacy and research led her to her current job as story editor on Fox's hit show, The Resident.

From comedy writer to therapist, Phil Stark, writer on South Park, That 70's Show and the screenwriter of the movie Dude, Where's My Car? talks about his unique, personal journey.

Career coach Lee Jessup returns to discuss the writing trends popular in 2022 and shares what's ahead for the new year.

Pilar reads and gives feedback on the loglines that didn't make the top fifteen lists for the 2022 Logline Contest.

Pilar and Aadip read, evaluate and vote on feature and TV loglines sent in by listeners. It all comes down to a well-written sentence and a creative idea. Who will win?

When his day job was threatened, writer Jeff Bonnett decided that he wasn't going to write a resume; he was going to write a screenplay. The end result is "Falling for Christmas," a Netflix movie starring Lindsay Lohan.

Linda Klein, co-editor of the new book Loss and Grief, discusses the visual, sensory and emotional realities of the dying and grieving experience and how writers can use this knowledge to create more truthful depictions on screen.

Ready to submit for the annual On the Page logline competition? Pilar explains the rules and gives the deadline.

Screenwriting teacher and author John Truby reveals how to master and transcend genre by understanding their unique story systems and philosophies.

The writer of the Oscar winning film Inside Out talks about her new movie My Father's Dragon and how she builds story from theme and emotion.

We check back in with writer Kris Crenwelge after her "year of going for it" earned her three writers' fellowships, staffing on an animated show and a new job on the series True Lies on CBS.

Brandon Childs was only a PA when he started adding jokes to the lunch order e-mail. Before long he was brought into the writers room on Black Monday, Kenan and, most recently, Netflix's new comedy Blockbuster.

Cinematographer Sarah Whelden talks about how she holds the vision of the director, looking through the lens to help capture theme, tone and story.

As British writer Sam Benjamin discusses the release of his new film The Payday he's joined by Elizabeth McKenzie from Australia and Dawn Ius from Canada to discuss the challenges of writing in their home country, the lure of Los Angeles and the love of their genres.

Andy Raymer shares writing and industry information gleaned from his experience as a writer, creative exec, independent producer and script consultant.

Actor/writer Cynthia Gravinese decided to stop feeling powerless and write a web series about the people and place she loved. When Covid hit her hard and she lost the ability to speak, she did the same thing all over again.

Pilar and her husband Pat brainstorm film and TV show premises inspired by song titles in Pat's playlist. A fun way to find your next script idea!

Vanessa Benton wrote their "F-it" script and broke through. Now they're a writer for Netflix projects Sandman and Fate: The Winx Saga, writing the dark fiction that they love.

Writer and historian Gina DeAngelis talks about the balance of historical accuracy and entertainment in her scripted work and on screen in general.