John August

@johnaugust.bsky.social

7223 Followers 65 Following

Screenwriter, mostly. Also Highland and Scriptnotes.

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Splashdown of lunar capsule with orange parachutes against deep blue ocean
Screenshot from podcast player with episode description reading: John welcomes back Drew Goddard (Project Hail Mary, High Potential) to ask, how do you turn the beats of your story into full scenes? Using Drew's script for The Martian, we look at how he translates moments in a book into scenes in a movie, the freedom Drew finds in a beat sheet, how beats are approached in a TV writers room, and his advice to a staff writer struggling with a draft. We also dig into Drew's process for adapting Project Hail Mary, choosing what to cut, and his eloquent defense of double-spacing in a screenplay. He's even kind enough to help answer listener questions on how to recharge your brain and how to indicate you wrote the most on a co-written script. In our bonus segment for premium members, Drew shares his outlook on the current TV landscape, including the big mistake he sees young writers make in their spec pilots.
Birdigo gameplay footage showing letter tiles and pudgy birds
Screenshot of the USA today list from numbers 100 through 150. Scriptnotes is at number 149. D and D handbook at 123
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orange scriptnotes book cover with headline Scriptnotes Live
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Back-to-back slack notifications. The first reads, “Very exciting, and it works!” The second reads, “Got a crash. Sent the report."
Frame from Alien: Earth with crew member in MU/TH/UR control room surrounded by glowing white switches
Screenshot of Metacritic review showing Vertigo artwork that was released on July 30, 2025, with a generally favorable mark of 84 based on four critics' reviews.
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Author standing at a pier in Venice, Italy. He’s wearing glasses and there’s a uncanny smoothness to the image.
screenshot of podcast listing. icon for premium scriptnotes. Label reads 682 the second season with tony gilroy date is march 31st 2025 running time is 55 minutes and 38 seconds
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Game play footage showing letters being arranged to make words. Chubby birds watch in appreciation
Character is typing a script on a laptop that’s running Highland
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Matt Gaetz holding out phone to take a selfie with unseen person
Screenshot from app showing poster from Wicked
John, Craig, Stephanie, Brian and Jac seated on stage
screen shot of cluttered UI in Causality
Bullet points reading costumes, looking for ruby, mr d, technical issue, spotlights, heart of glass, backstage parking lot, burning man, emma and damon
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From Airplane! Joey do you like movies about gladiators
Brad Pitt in Moneyball
Valentines card held in Ralph Wiggum’s hands with a train and text reading I Choo Choo Choose You
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