Professional screenwriting, and why no one really breaks in

Craig and John just have to talk about the double-barrel craziness of the Joe Eszterhas/Mel Gibson spat. How often do you have screenwriters lobbing incendiary accusations at movie stars? Well, pretty often, actually. But almost never so publicly. And the already-certifiable, formerly-A-list-ness of it all makes it especially gossip-worthy, so forgive us if we go on for a while. That settled, we follow up on the Amazon Studios deal and what it means for screenwriters not currently in the WGA. One listener calls Craig an idiot, which leads to a discussion about what “professional screenwriting” even means. John wants aspiring screenwriters to stop using the term “breaking in,” because it doesn’t accurately reflect the early stages of a writer’s career. Meanwhile, Craig takes umbrage at the idea of “trust fund screenwriters.” We end with some questions and answers: What is a screenwriter’s quote, and how does it get determined? How do international screenwriters get U.S. visas? Can animation writers get WGA coverage? All this and more in the new Scriptnotes. LINKS: Joe Eszterhas’ letter to Mel Gibson Warner Bros. buys rights to Reddit creation Rome Sweet Rome John’s rusted car, 1990-1996 Intro: Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle TV cartoon intro Outro: North Korean teens play “Take On Me” You can download the episode here: AAC. UPDATE 4-19-12: The transcript of this episode can be found here.The post Professional screenwriting, and why no one really breaks in first appeared on John August.