↓ Skip to main content
DRAFT ZERO

Draft Zero — Screenwriting Podcast & Deep Screenplay Analysis

Recent Foundational Deep Cuts

Latest Episode

DZ-129: Steadfast Character Arcs - Agents of Change

How do you write a satisfying story when your character never changes
DZ-129: Steadfast Character Arcs - Agents of Change
Listen to learn how to move an audience with a character who never changes.
1 Aug 2026
▶ More Info
Do characters need to change for you to have a satisfying story? That’s a question we’ve been asking since, like, episode five of this podcast. And we’re finally talking about it

In this continuation of our deep dive into character arcs -- Stu, Chas and Mel break down MOANA, APOLLO 13 and THE DRESSMAKER to work out what carries a story when a character arc doesn’t. If your protagonist isn’t going to change, the drama has to come from what they do to everyone else… →

"If you never have any doubt, and you never sort of falter. You’re a psychopath; you’re not steadfast."

— Mel Killingsworth  |  DZ-129: Steadfast Character Arcs - Agents of Change

Recent Episodes

DZ-128: What even is a Character Arc?

What effect does character changing have on the audience?
DZ-128: What even is a Character Arc?
Listen to separate the three layers of an arc -- does the character change? How do they feel about it? And how is the audience positioned to feel about it?
▶ More Info
Stu, Chas and Mel finally begin their long-awaited journey into CHARACTER ARCS. In this “primer” episode, we try find some learnings and analytical lenses that we can then apply in future breakdowns… →

DZ-127: Secrets and Clues 2 - The Cost of Revelation

What does it cost a character to find something out, or to say it?
DZ-127: Secrets and Clues 2 - The Cost of Revelation
Listen to learn the emotional impact of revealing secrets vs discovering them.
▶ More Info
In this episode Stu, Chas and Mel apply the Landmark–Hidden–Secret framework (from DZ-126) across two very different genres: the thriller SIDE EFFECTS (2013) and the tragicomic pilot of SHRINKING… →
Shows: Shrinking

DZ-126: Secrets and Clues

How can Secrets and Clues motivate characters?
DZ-126: Secrets and Clues
Listen if you want to understand how hidden information drives character motivation and plot structure!
▶ More Info
“Getting information puts your character in danger. And danger rewards your character with information." — One of three ideas we steal from game design in this episode. In this two part series, we talk about how secrets, clues and hidden information motivate characters and may (or may not) help you plot from a character perspective. Part One (this episode) looks at WAKE UP DEAD MAN; while Part Two (DZ-127) looks at SIDE EFFECTS, and the pilot episode of SHRINKING… →

Foundational Episodes

Beginner's Guide →

DZ-15: World Building Rules, Okay?

How does setting up rules help you build a world?
In our most epic/longest episode yet, Chas and Stu tackle world building in films. Specifically, how the rules make something a world and not just a setting. Starting with world-centric genres like sci-fi and fantasy, we also cover horror, crime drama and - er - “other”. We discuss a variety of techniques for setting up the rules of the world, including cold opens, voiceover, title cards and outsider characters! We’ve limited ourselves to the opening 3-5 pages... mostly... because (so the theory goes) they’re the pages that teach the audience how to read/watch your story/film… →
⏱ 2h 0m
4 NOV 2014
Listen when your opening pages feel like exposition dumps (which is bad, okay?)
▶ More Info

DZ-9: Characterising Introductions

Can the introduction of a character be so good that the character doesn't need describing?
Stu and Chas argue about different techniques for introducing characters and whether character descriptions are even necessary. This is important for writers, as we only have words to compensate for the whole range of cinematic expression. And so Chas and Stu explore techniques like introducing characters through action, having other people discuss the character first, ensuring the introduction represents the character’s goal/flaw/theme, and many more… →
⏱ 1h 22m
23 JUN 2014
Listen if you want your character introductions to pop!
▶ More Info

DZ-31: Tools for Better Dialogue 1

How does dialogue serve to reveal character?
Chas & Stu are joined once again by the renowned script developer and producer, Stephen Cleary. In the first part of our series on writing better dialogue (there will be more!), we take a close look at how dialogue serves character: individuating characters, revealing characterisation, shifting status, and much more… →
⏱ 2h 5m
10 APR 2016
Listen if your want your dialogue to individualizes characters, reveal characterization, and shift status!
▶ More Info

DZ-54: Thematic Sequences

How does removing character and plot question force your audience to engage with theme?
Chas and Stu are joined, once again, by the inestimable Stephen Cleary. This episode is a spiritual sequel to our last episode with Stephen, the one on sequence structure. That episode explored how sequences could be broken into plot, character, and plot/character sequences… →
⏱ 2h 49m
10 OCT 2018
Listen if you want to make theme your primary driver (for a sequence)
▶ More Info

DZ-19: Car-Crash Characters

How do you make unlikeable characters compelling to watch... in drama?
Stu and Chas revisit a topic from a year ago: how do screenwriters make unlikeable characters compelling? This time, we turn our focus to dramas and analyse how AMERICAN HISTORY X, YOUNG ADULT, NIGHTCRAWLER all make their asshole protagonists compelling to watch. We expand our original list of five writer’s tools to include a few more for your tool belt… →
⏱ 1h 59m
1 MAR 2015
Listen when you're writing a protagonist who does terrible things but you need the audience to keep watching.
▶ More Info

DZ-44: Marvel - First Acts and Establishing Characters

How can your first act effectively establish your character journey?
First Acts are hard. They have to set so much in motion, especially setting up characters. To help them understand how to write effective first acts better, Stu and Chas turn their analytical gaze to a franchise that has been refining and reiterating its first act “schema” for over a decade... THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE… →
⏱ 2h 7m
17 SEP 2017
Listen if your first act exposition feels clunky--the MCU has a schema for burying backstory inside character introductions.
▶ More Info