John and Craig circle back on all the euphemisms and stock phrases that float around Hollywood. Using some favorite examples, they attempt to define and demystify the current industry-speak so everyone is looped in when we come up for air after the holidays.

We also wrap-up 2025 with a look at Scriptnotes by the numbers, check-in on Disney's deal with OpenAI, follow up on that director who scammed Netflix out of $11 million, and answer listener questions on the guilds' involvement in video podcasts and reps who won't send out co-written scripts.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Craig navigate how to deal with difficult collaborators.

Links:

• How Disney's OpenAI Deal Changes Everything by Steven Zeitchik and Julian Sancton for The Hollywood Reporter
• Guilty! Director Who Scammed Netflix Out Of Millions Faces Decades Behind Bars by Dominic Patten for Deadline
• Writing Movies for Fun and Profit: How We Made a Billion Dollars at the Box Office and You Can, Too! by Robert Ben Garant & Thomas Lennon
• Down to Puck: Why Women Are Going Wild for 'Heated Rivalry' by Seth Abramovitch for The Hollywood Reporter
• Search Engine annual meeting
• Order a signed copy of the Scriptnotes Book!
• Charli XCX's Substack
• Trailer for Divinity by Larian Studios
• Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book!
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
• Become a Scriptnotes Premium member, or gift a subscription (now with fewer emails!)
• Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube
• Scriptnotes on Instagram
• John August on Bluesky and Instagram
• Outro by Nick Moore (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

(46:41) Scriptnotes: A Book About Screenwriting and Things That Are Interesting to Screenwriters (Unabridged)