DZ-22: Romantic Comedy, Actually

What this episode covers

Listen if you're writing a romcom and want to understand what makes this gentre tick. With Stu busy working on Hollywood blockbusters, Chas is joined by Alli Parker (script department on Aussie TV series and former co-ordinator of European #scriptchat) to unpick successful romcoms to see if they can illuminate a path for writers working in this struggling genre. Cheap to produce and potentially highly lucrative, Chas and Alli look at RomCom's conventions to see what it may take to reinvigorate this genre. To that end, they look at deep breath WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, WHAT IF, THE PROPOSAL, 500 DAYS OF SUMMER, NOTTING HILL, FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS as well as special mentions to GOING THE DISTANCE, SEAN OF THE DEAD and ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND. As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes. LIKE THIS EPISODE? Send us feedback. Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Theis, Sandra, Jesse, Randy, Paulo, Thomas, Jennifer, Malay, Alexandre and Lily. ——— FILMS WHEN HARRY MET SALLY... (1989) — (w) Nora Ephron (d) Rob Reiner (500) DAYS OF SUMMER (2009) — (w) Michael H Weber, Scott Neustadter (d) Marc Webb THE PROPOSAL (2009) — (w) Peter Chiarelli (d) Anne Fletcher NOTTING HILL (1999) — (w) Richard Curtis (d) Roger Michell SCRIPTS Study the script: WHEN HARRY MET SALLY... (1989) — Nora Ephron Study the script: (500) DAYS OF SUMMER (2009) — Michael H Weber, Scott Neustadter Study the script: THE PROPOSAL (2009) — Peter Chiarelli Study the script: NOTTING HILL (1999) — Richard Curtis LINKS Read: Vulture.com: 10 Most Over-Used Romantic Comedy Plot-Points Read: Goodreads: Writing the Romantic Comedy by Billy Mernit YouTube: WHAT IF trailer YouTube: (500) DAYS OF SUMMER - Expectations vs Reality YouTube: Girls (HBO) Season 2 Episode 10 Finale Read: NewStatesman: "Let's talk about genre" - Neil Gaiman and Kazuo Ishiguro in conversation Read: TheDailyDot.com: The Mako Mori Test: 'Pacific Rim' inspires a Bechdel Test alternative Read: Wikipedia: Cosmic Encounter RELATED EPISODES DZ-04: Catharsis and the Post-Coital Cigarette DZ-13: True That - Tips from Tarantino ——— More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser. We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter. Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2015/dz-22/

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