Since 2014 we’ve been doing our screenwriting homework.

And then talk about it.

The Logline

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Two ’emerging’ screenwriters - Chas Fisher and Stu Willis (there’s also Mel but she’s American so doesn’t count… yet) - try to work out what makes great screenplays great. Discovering what it takes by analysing what successful writers put on-the-page — and then talking/discussing/arguing about it in a podcast.

Monthly. Let’s not get carried away here.

The Actual Logline: When two emerging screenwriters read a great script, they must work out what makes it great before it becomes too late for them to have actual careers as screenwriters.

The Deep Dive

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Quanity has a quality of it’s very own.

Our episode are epic deep-dives into the art and mechanics of storytelling for the screen. With every episode, our goal is to unearth practical techniques and tools for storytellers. If you want to sound fancy, you’d call it “narrative aesthetics”. But we ain’t fancy.

We are trying to really, really hone our craft. And we do that by looking “under the hood” of great movies and TV shows.

We’ve been doing this since 2014. We pick a particular topic or thesis — for example, how shifting the audience’s point of view can heighten their emotions — and then set ourselves homework: reading scripts and watching screen stories. We then record our podcast — arguing, debating, and exploring these topics in depth — and share our discoveries with our listeners.

Our episodes aren’t for the faint of heart: they average 90 minutes each. Our longest is over 3 hours. If you want something like ‘Top Ten Tips For Dialogue’, we ain’t for you. But if you want an in-depth, passionate and analytical discussion: you’ve come to the right place.

Our listeners run the range from complete beginners to established showrunners & directors, and everyone in-between. Some of our listeners’ favourite episodes tackle catharsis, exposition, tactics and dialogue. We even got schooled by Tarantino himself after his listened to us breaking down his work. It was humbling… but it was rewarding, too.

The Sales Pitch

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We won’t paywall our content. We want Draft Zero to be freely available to everyone, everywhere. We have listeners worldwide from Iraq to China to Russia to the US and, of course, Australia. If you can’t afford film school or a online master class, you can always listen to Draft Zero.

We may do merchandise cause merch is cool, but it’s a poor way to raise money that feeds directly into us producing more episodes.

We’re not script gurus. We’re not trying to sell you our “script coaching” services or workshop tours or our e-book.

We’re just two-ish screenwriters trying to work out how to get better at our craft. We’re not here to get rich.

We’re here to make better movies and TV… and maybe narrative games too.

Thanks for reading.

<3 - Chas, Stu, and Mel.