When Writers Talk, Members Listen

Some of the best screenwriting podcasts were around long before the 2020 pandemic lockdown led to a surge of enthusiasm for podcasts of any kind. Launched in 2015, the WGAW’s 3rd & Fairfax podcast is “a deep dive” into writers’ personalities, projects, and Guild priorities, with the mission to create a screenwriting record of our times, as host and WGAW member Brian Gary puts it. Gary also co-chairs the WGAW Writers Education Committee (WEC), whose programs offer up-to-date insider tips and strategies developed to help writers succeed.

Now, with so many industry-focused titles offering advice, it seems there should be no more excuses for serving up under-baked characters, implausible plots, or leaden scenes. But how to choose which podcasts to listen to when there are so many? 

Not all podcasters listen to podcasts, but those who do are happy to share their favorites. Written by asked what shows they admired that are hosted by a fellow member, and here’s what they said:

Scriptnotes, the great-granddaddy of screenwriting podcasts, has been co-hosted since 2011 by John August (Big Fish, Aladdin) and Craig Mazin (Chernobyl, The Last of Us). Episodes range from writer-psychotherapist Dennis Palumbo tackling those evergreen subjects of procrastination and writer’s block—“Writing begets writing,” Palumbo points out: thinking about writing doesn’t—to  the recent “State of Pitching,” in which Crazy Ex-Girlfriend co-creator Aline Brosh McKenna discusses the expectations of executives.

“It’s encyclopedic. They’ve done so many episodes, and they’ve explored the craft from every possible direction,” says 3rd & Fairfax host Aaron Fullerton. He also finds Scriptnotes practical. “They really help demystify a lot of the process and get into the bare bones of what good writing is, and how to make sure it translates from your head, to the page, to the screen. I feel like I could listen to them and their guests for hours. And I have.” Adds Brian Gary, who hosts 3rd & Fairfax as well as produces: “It’s an institution.”

The Screenwriting Life, hosted by Captain Marvel and Inside Out writer Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna (Up, Tab Time). Discussions include “From Barf Draft to Next Draft”; fearless comedy; and “Finding Your Creative Center,” with Melissa Rosenberg (Dexter, Twilight movies). 

“This podcast has a ton of good nuggets, from how to navigate development, create a character arc, and attract talent to your script,” says 3rd & Fairfax host Josephine Green Zhang, who first discovered LeFauve through a workshop: “They've built a beautiful community online that keeps it craft-focused and positive in a business that requires a lot of solitude and discipline. It's easy to get negative, so this is like having two great coaches and moms in your ear.” Gary is another fan: “So much of our mandate in the Writers Education Committee is to address what is outside the craft of writing, but essential to surviving the profession. The Screenwriting Life is the perfect companion when you’re a solitary screenwriter feeling alone in the Hollywood wilderness.”

Screenwriters’ Rant Room: Host Hilliard Guess (Deadly Class, Cross: After Hours) is co-chair of the WGAW’s Committee of Black Writers. His podcast motto: “Keep it GAME all day!” Early in his writing career, Guess craved grittier details than he was gleaning from panel discussions. Now his more than 500 Rant Room episodes, some co-hosted, feature audience Q&As, laughter, and applause.

“It makes you feel like you just dropped into the middle of a bar conversation with industry types about the nuts and bolts of life, and working in the film/TV biz. It’s an essential Hollywood survival guide, as far as I’m concerned,” says Guild member and fellow podcaster Cole Haddon. 

Veteran writer, producer, and educator Felicia D. Henderson (Soul Food, Empire) has spoken about wanting to mentor, but not be “anyone’s mama”; in another episode, Y. Shireen Razack (Vampire Academy) and Katie Mathewson (Jury Duty, Dexter) discussed their rise as TV writers and their activism on behalf of the Think Tank for Inclusion and Equity and WGAW’s LGBTQ Writers Committee, respectively.

WGAW Board member, and 3rd & Fairfax host Myles Warden appreciates Rant Room’s perspective: “A lot of Black writers explain their process of how they got to where they were. The main takeaway: there is no one way in. That was very good for me to learn early on, so I wasn't that set on, Oh, I have to get into this fellowship, or I have to become an assistant first.”

Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air, hosted by writer-producer Wilmore (Insecure, Grown-ish), is among Rant Room Guess’s favorite podcasts. Recent Wilmore interviewees include Phil Rosenthal, Jon Lovett, and Ken Burns.

“He has access. He has game,” Guess says, of Wilmore. “I’d rather listen to his podcast and catch up on what has happened in the world than go and read the newspaper, because there’s humor and there’s wit. He interviews people in politics, but he still finds a way to bring it back, not necessarily to screenwriting, but entertainment.”

5AM StoryTalk, hosted from Australia by Cole Haddon (Dracula), which he spun off from his ongoing Substack newsletter last April. Favorite episodes include “What I Learned from My First Hollywood Script Sale,” and “Don’t Save the Cat…Put it in the Blender.”

“When Cole lived in LA, he used to host dinners and invite people from all different disciplines and expertise—to talk and find connections,” remembers LeFauve. “I love how he’s taken that spirit into his podcast. He’s passionate about delving deep into writing, art, and this human experience.  I always come away inspired with new perspectives.” Guess, who admires Haddon’s honesty, also counts 5AM StoryTalk among his favorites. “I love when somebody tells you their how. He did a four-part episode where he talks about how he created his series Dracula: all the issues he went through during development; in the writers’ room; in production, [and] why the show got canceled. It is amazing.”

Happier in Hollywood: In this podcast, Liz Craft and Sarah Fain (The Shield, Women’s Murder Club, The Vampire Diaries) tackle, with often hilarious honesty, a business they describe as “back-biting, superficial, chaotic,” and “unpredictable.” Their advice, in more than 400 episodes, ranges from how to suck it up when mistreated during a meeting, to how to choose the best Zoom lamp.

Says Haddon: “Happier in Hollywood is this fantastic, fun mash-up of TV writers’ room advice and surviving-the-21st century-as-an-artist talk, hosted by writing partners who have kind of seen and done it all at this point. They’re high school friends, too, so their dynamic feels naturally polished from years of working together.” Gary adds: “This is about, in many ways, perseverance. Two writers who are successful in their own right talk about the struggle, and talk about surviving as a professional. It’s about the side of the artistic life that often gets glossed over or forgotten. Podcasts like Happier in Hollywood are meant to be kind of emotional support lines. This is a must-listen for anyone cutting their path into the industry.”

The Writers Panel, hosted by Ben Blacker (Supernatural, Puss in Boots, The Thrilling Adventure Hour podcast). Through live panels and informal studio chats, Blacker speaks to writers, producers, and showrunners about what he describes as “our current golden age of television.” His nearly 500 episodes include guests Vince Gilligan, Damon Lindelof, Bruce Miller, and Amy Sherman-Palladino.

“Ben’s interviews are a writer’s dream because he asks all the right questions,” says Warden, who taught himself screenwriting through podcasts and considers Blacker’s The Writers Panel as useful as any college course. “Whenever I had a thought or a follow-up to something the interviewee would say, nine times out of 10, he’d be on it and get the answer I wanted to hear. He was especially skilled at extracting insightful quotables and nuggets of wisdom that were genuinely useful in my day-to-day writing. His tone and demeanor are also just very welcoming, and that helps both the listener and the interviewee feel at ease, which is what you want from a podcast.”