Draft Zero: a screenwriting podcast

Listen if you want to understand how narrative POV, screenplay format, and dialogue craft can elevate a contained biopic into an Oscar-nominated film BLUE MOON is a talky, period-drama that film about an obscure...

Listen if you need audiences to root for characters who do terrible things Mel and Chas continue to explore what Noir (the genre) can teach writers of all other genres. In particular: How to keep the audience on side of...

Listen if you want to write morally compromised characters without endorsing their choices. In this two part series, Mel and Chas use Noir (the genre) as a lens to interrogate flawed characters. How can characters doing...

What happens when a group of filmmakers play a ragtag group of filmmakers in a gritty sci-fi horror? "Ignite the fire within and explore unknown territory" - Werner Herzog. This episode is unusual, even by Draft Zero...

Listen to learn how thinking of your hero as the horror (for your villains) makes your script dynamic. In this episode Chas, Stu and guest Kim Ho continue their exploration into the power(s) of antagonism and how...

Listen to strengthen your story by focusing on the antagonistic forces in your script. We often struggle to develop the middle stages of a story. Could this be because we focus on our protagonists’ journeys and plot...

Listen if you're struggling to write subtext without it feeling forced! Or, how focusing on good drama will result in good subtext. We often hear how subtext is important for good screenwriting. We're here to tell you...

Listen if you want to understand how to better dramatise a character's internal journey In this episode, Stu and Chas focus solely on the final choices made by protagonists and how that reflects their character journey...

Listen when you need tension without external stakes--subtext, stillness, and thematic weight do the work. In this episode, Stu and Chas delve into the cultural phenomenon of ADOLESCENCE. We try to find the craft tools...

Listen if you want to write tonal pivots that land on the page without a director's toolkit. Following on from our episodes on establishing tone through action lines and through character , this is what we have been...

Listen to learn how formatting--white space, caps, dashes--becomes your comedy toolkit without a director. Mel joins Chas to tackle physical comedy. We limited our homework selection to extended scenes (as opposed to...

Listen if you want to understand what makes holiday films enduring parts of our seasonal rituals! In this “backmatter” episode of Draft Zero, Stu, Chas, and Mel Killingsworth embark on a festive exploration of what...

Listen to understand how withholding resolution can make your story great! While Stu is on show, Mel and Chas sit down to analyse the meaning behind the ending of 2024's CHALLENGERS, especially when - upon reading the...

Listen if you want to explore how you can make your creative hand visible through meta-storytelling and structural choices!?! In our final (ha!) episode looking at Talking Directly to the Audience, we turn away from...

Listen to understand how breaking the 4th wall directly involves the audience in a character's emotional present. As part of our series on how filmmakers can directly communicate to the audience, we finally examine the...