On Screen/Writing

The F*cked Up Amount of Work It Takes to (Not) Sell Something in Hollywood Today

Or: that time a studio told me to spec a TV pilot for it even though I had an A-list actor attached to the project

Mar 10 • Cole Haddon

14:24

Anatomy of 'The Code': Why I Walked Away from My Dream TV Project

Screenwriters can learn a lot from my take on Greta Garbo’s war with the architect of the Hays Code—and what went wrong thanks to my reps

Feb 26 • Cole Haddon

Bonus Episode: Justin Simien Talks '2001: A Space Odyssey'

The 'Dear White People' writer-director offers up a bold new take on a seminal piece of art from his life - the Stanley Kubrick sci-fi classic

Feb 12 • Cole Haddon

30:19

Director Justin Simien on Telling the Truth in His Films (and Hollywood)

The filmmaker behind 'Dear White People', 'Haunted Mansion', and 'Hollywood Black' discusses finding your voice in an industry that increasingly doesn’t…

Feb 10 • Cole Haddon and Justin Simien

1:01:16

This NYC Local News Story Is a Master Class in Screenwriting

You can learn so much about three-act feature writing from this 100-second 2001 news segment about a landlord-tenant dispute

Feb 4 • Cole Haddon

60 A24 Screenplays to Download and Study

There's no American film studio/distributor with a better 21st century track record, which is why I curated this collection of scripts for its arthouse…

Jan 28 • Cole Haddon

Resource: Kurt Vonnegut's 8 Rules of Writing Fiction

Let’s take a look at the legendary author’s approach to storytelling and see what we can learn from it

Jan 26 • Cole Haddon

'Real Steel 2': Lessons from My Screenplay Pitch

Thirteen years ago, I was asked to develop a sequel take for Hugh Jackman's robot boxing family film...so, let's see what screenwriters can learn from…

Jan 14 • Cole Haddon

8 Essential Questions to Help You Write Your Character-Driven Screenplay

Nail your next script by asking the right character questions before you even start outlining

Jan 7 • Cole Haddon

30 '90s Thriller Scripts to Download and Study

5AM StoryTalk has curated a tour through the most thrilling feature scripts from the end of the 20th century for you to learn from

Dec 17, 2025 • Cole Haddon

Bonus Episode: Cinco Paul Talks 'It's a Wonderful Life'

The 'Schmigadoon!' creator breaks down his favorite scene from one of his favorite films - the Christmas classic, 'It's a Wonderful Life'

Dec 3, 2025

32:14

Screenwriter Cinco Paul Keeps Gambling on Himself

Listen now | Sure, he’d conquered the animation world – including writing three ‘Despicable Me’ films – but he wanted more. This is how the…

Dec 1, 2025

57:28

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