Podcasts by Write That Shit Down
Two brothers, Ben and Dan work through the process of writing a movie. Each episode they discuss different parts of the journey of writing a film. From concept to pages ending with a finished screenplay. They also pick a movie each week to watch and talk about the difference between the screenplay and the finished movie.
Further podcasts by Ben
Podcast on the topic Kunst
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S1 E34 - Penultimate Episode and The Two Youts (My Cousin Vinny) from 2021-04-11T16:00
Ben and Dan are wrapping up the rewrites of their movie Hinterlands. They discuss the plans to finish things with a hard deadline of end of May. They will have one more episode this season and t...
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Sn1 Ep33 - Rewrites Galore and Kings To You (The Count of Monte Cristo) from 2021-03-24T06:00
Ben and Dan are still rewriting, this is taking forever! They talk about the need to beef up the James Boyd story line and redo the entire section of Sarah and Peter working in California. Then ...
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S1 E32 - Second Act Rewrite and Sell Me This Pen (The Wolf Of Wall Street) from 2021-03-09T08:00
Ben and Dan discuss the continued rewrites of the rest of the first and into the second act. They talk about building up more storylines and removing scenes that just drag on. Then they talk ab...
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S1 E31 - Mas Rewrites and I Didn't Kill My Wife (The Fugitive) from 2021-02-22T09:00
Ben and Dan discuss the first 30 pages that they have rewritten. They also touch on an interesting option to have a huge plot hole that is sorted out in the second movie. Then they discuss the ...
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S1 E30 - Rewrite Plan and Needle Nosed Ned (Groundhog Day) from 2021-02-08T09:00
Ben and Dan talk about the rewriting process they are about to embark on. They will be able to fix any plot holes by taking things scene by scene over the next few months. Then the boys talk abo...
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S1 E29 - First Draft Done and It's So Fetch (Mean Girls) from 2021-02-01T06:00
Ben and Dan are all done with their first draft! Clocking in at 126 pages this thing is a real mess. Now the work of re-writing starts. Then the boys talk about the 2004 teen comedy, Mean Girls ...
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S1 E28 - More Fricken Pages and A Dream Within A Dream (Inception) from 2021-01-26T08:00
Ben and Dan discuss even more pages. This first draft is nearly done and they talk about re-writing to tighten things up. Then they discuss the 2010 mind bender, Inception written and directed b...
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S1 E27 - In The Third Act and I Drink Your Milkshake (There Will Be Blood) from 2021-01-11T06:00
Ben and Dan continue to work through the first draft and add another 8 pages. They discuss a new style approach for linear progressions. Then the boys breakdown the 2007 period piece, There Will...
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S1 E26 - 100 Pages and Yippie Ki-Yay (Die Hard) from 2021-01-04T07:00
Ben and Dan talk about the next 10 pages bringing them to 100 pages total. They talk about a few key plot holes they will close up and how the final bit of the second act and the third act will ...
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S1 E25 - Where's The Drama and Did You Hear That (Elf) from 2020-12-21T07:00
Ben and Dan continue to work through the first draft. This episode they talk about Sarah and Peter agreeing to work with James Boyd and how to pump up the drama in future re-writes. Then they ta...
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S1 E24 - Mystery Tech and You Little Jerk (Home Alone) from 2020-12-14T06:00
Ben and Dan discuss more pages of their second act of the first draft. Now at 75 out of 140 pages. They touch on the elephant in the room, the tech that holds everything together. Then they disc...
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S1 E23 - 20 More Pages and Huge Friggin Guy (The Boondock Saints) from 2020-12-07T06:00
Ben and Dan talk through the next 20 pages of their screenplay. In order to keep with the 02/21 deadline they need to write 2 pages a day. They talk about some pivotal scenes and dialogue that n...
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S1 E22 - It's Boring and Billy Mac (Love Actually) from 2020-11-30T07:00
Ben and Dan continue to discuss their film. They have 40 pages completed which ultimately will be parsed down to 10 or 15. There is a ton of filler and Ben thinks it is becoming boring to even w...
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S1 E21 - Peter's New School and Corporate Accounts Payable (Office Space) from 2020-11-22T14:00
Ben and Dan continue with writing the first act of their movie. The protagonist, Peter, is sent to a boarding school after a horrific accident. He needs to find his way and get the spark to cont...
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S1 E20 - Car Crash and See About A Girl (Good Will Hunting) from 2020-11-17T08:00
In this episode the boys talk about the tragic car crash that kills two of the friends. This first draft version will no doubt be re-written. This sets the stage for Peter's journey through...
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S1 E19 - More Pages and We Got Made (Heat) from 2020-11-09T07:00
Ben and Dan discuss more pages they have written of their movie, Hinterlands. They touch on the timeline paradox and a potential way to address it. Then they talk about the 1995 movie Heat, writ...
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S1 E18 - Second 7 Pages and Denver, Gorgeous (Old School) from 2020-11-02T07:00
Ben and Dan continue working through their screenplay. This episode they focus on the second seven pages. They realize the the pacing is lagging and the dialogue seems forced. In the future duri...
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S1 E17 - First 7 Pages and Bright Boy Alert (True Lies) from 2020-10-25T17:00
Ben and Dan discuss the first seven pages of their screenplay. They discuss the pacing and the future revisions and the importance of setting up a routine to write. Then they discuss the 1994 ac...
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S1 E16 - Act 2.5&3 Scenes and Does Your Mother Sew (Joe Dirt) from 2020-10-13T22:00
Ben and Dan spend a bit of time talking about the second half of the second act, Act 2.5 and then Act 3 scenes. They discuss the tech challenge with explaining the critical point of their movie....
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S1 E15 - Act 2 Scenes and NZT-48 (Limitless) from 2020-10-07T06:00
Ben and Dan talk about the second act scenes for their movie Hinterlands. They discuss the process of writing a screenplay like sculpting a block of marble. Having a large body of work and then ...
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S1 E14 - BONUS - Watch with us: The Core from 2020-10-04T23:00
WARNING: If you are not watching the movie or have never seen it, skip this!
Ben and Dan watch one of the worst movies of all time, The Core. This 2003 sci-fi action film stars Aaron Ec...
S1 E13 - Act 1 Scenes and The Little Hand Says (Point Break) from 2020-09-20T23:00
In this episode Ben and Dan discuss the scenes they need for Act 1. During this discussion they come to terms with just making the best movie possible and not worrying about length and time. The...
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S1 E12 - Scene Structure pt. 3 and Get The Atropine (The Rock) from 2020-09-13T15:00
In this episode Ben and Dan discuss the major beats of the movie again. Each film has roughly 40 important scenes that anchor the narrative. They adjust things and establish an outline of the th...
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S1 E11 - BONUS - Watch with us: Starship Troopers from 2020-09-06T07:00
WARNING: If you are not watching the movie or have never seen it, skip this!
Ben and Dan watch Starship Troopers, the 1997 action classic. This movie is set in a future where the human ...
S1 E10 - Scene Structure pt 2 and There Is A Rat (The Departed) from 2020-08-24T07:00
In this episode Ben and Dan drill into the second half scenes. They talk high level on some key plot points and realize they have way more work in front of them. Then they discuss the 2006 Acade...
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S1 E9 - Scene Structure pt 1 and We Don't Need Roads (Back To The Future) from 2020-08-01T17:00
Ben and Dan talk at a highlevel about scene structure. They start with the core beats of the movie and flush out more of the first and half of the second act. Then they discuss the 1985 hit movi...
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S1 E8 - Character Development pt 3 and Mark It A Zero (The Big Lebowski) from 2020-07-19T17:00
In this episode Ben and Dan run through one final round of character development. Then they talk about the Cohen Brother's cult classic The Big Lebowski.
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S1 E7 - BONUS - Watch with us: The Prestige from 2020-07-13T17:00
WARNING: If you are not watching the movie or have never seen it, skip this!
Something new for this episode. Ben and Dan invite you to watch The Prestige. This 2006 movie stars...
S1 E6 - Character Development pt 2 and The Drake Hotel (Mission Impossible) from 2020-07-08T06:00
Ben and Dan discuss more characters from their movie Hinterlands. Characters are the most important aspects to any story. The more you know about your characters the better the story. You can co...
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S1 E5 - Character Development pt 1 and Ray Finkle (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective) from 2020-06-22T09:00
Ben and Dan discuss a handful of characters and build the backstory that will power the screenplay. They then discuss Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. There is a little baby joining us for a...
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S1 E4 - Treatment and Copper Top (The Matrix) from 2020-06-17T01:00
This week Ben shares the first draft of his treatment for Hinterlands. They work through a few notes and decide to table a rewrite until they can develop the characters next week. They ...
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S1 E3 - Loglines and Rita Hayworth (The Shawshank Redemption) from 2020-06-07T13:00
Two brothers Ben and Dan start their journey of writing their first screenplay. These too have been obsessed with movies since they were younger and now are putting in the work to write their ow...
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S1 E2 - Overview and Randomness from 2020-06-01T15:00
This week Ben and Dan are staging the scene for the upcoming season. Ben gives Dan an overview of his movie. They talk about what not to call the movie. We start to get a glimpse at Dan's &...
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S1 E1 - Finding a Format and Jaggin'Off from 2020-05-30T16:00
In this episode Ben and Dan start this thing. These two brothers love movies and are on a quest to create their own. Each week they will drill into the process further until a finished movie is ...
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S1 E1 - Finding a Format and Jaggin'Off from 2020-05-30T16:00
In this episode Ben and Dan start this thing. These two brothers love movies and are on a quest to create their own. Each week they will drill into the process further until a finished movie is ...
Listen