John Phipps

The importance of sadism in writing a great screenplay

Plus: listen to the who’s who of cinema interview each other

Like with every great story, Finding Nemo is full of sadism. Image: Moviestore / Shutterstock 
issue 02 May 2020
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  • Scriptnotes with Craig Mazin and John August; The A24 Podcast

    Available on iTunes, Spotify and other apps

How do you tell a great story? According to Craig Mazin, you have to be a sadist.

‘As a writer, you are not the New Testament God who turns water into wine,’ Mazin chuckles on his long-running podcast Scriptnotes. ‘You are the Old Testament God who tortures Job because, I don’t know, it seems like fun.’

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