Stephen Cleary

In developing our stories and scripts, we have probably written some combination of treatments and loglines and outlines. Some of us have probably even sent these development materials out to producers or agencies when “selling” a project — as a step towards getting someone to read or gulp produce your material. If so… have you written them differently? Should you have? You probably should have&hellip… →

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AI✦Rather than teaching one tool, Stephen isolates the craft choices that separate a development document from a selling document, giving you specific levers to pull depending on your document's purpose.✦

Continuing our look at tools used in development, Chas & Stu are joined by Stephen Cleary to talk about Theme, The Thematic Logline and what Stephen calls The Story Synopsis. All are tools to help writers better understand their theme and how it is dramatised. We use the classic film WITNESS as an example, so spoilers abound… →

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AI✦The thematic logline is one of three primary tools Chas, Stu, and Stephen discuss as a means to clarify and dramatize theme during the planning stage.✦

Films: Witness (1985) , Lawrence of Arabia (1962) , Macbeth (1971)

Stu and Chas are joined by fan-favourite, Stephen Cleary, to NOT look at what makes great screenplays work – but what makes great “short documents” work. We draw on Stephen Cleary’s wealth of experience in developing work with writers, as a producer, as a script editor and as a former head of development… →

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AI✦Cleary's producer and development experience shapes a conversation centered on the mechanics of plotting your story before you hit the page.✦

Stu and Chas are joined by Stephen Cleary following his exploration into Melodrama, and together they try to reclaim the word from its pejorative meaning… →

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AI✦The episode's central question hinges on how to write powerful stories where protagonists cannot drive the plot--a direct inversion of agency-driven narrative.✦

Films: Ladies in Black (2018) , Marriage Story (2019) , Pete's Dragon (2016) , Mildred Pierce (1945) , Joker (2019) , The Handmaid's Tale (2017) , Stranger Things (2016) , The Witcher (2019) , Lost (2004)

Shows: The Handmaid's Tale 1x1 , Stranger Things , The Witcher , Lost

A full three years after the first instalment (and one of our most popular), Stu and Chas have kidnapped Stephen Cleary to once again develop some craft tools around dialogue. It would be fair to say that - in that time - all three have learnt a lot more about dialogue than they knew in 2016. It would be also fair to say that Stephen perhaps learnt a little more through his research into “genderlect”… →

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AI✦By breaking down key scenes from Fleabag, Juno, and Deadwood, Chas, Stu, and Stephen reveal how dialogue functions as the engine of scene construction and pacing.✦

Films: Juno (2007) , Deadwood (2004) , Fleabag (2016)

Shows: Deadwood 1x1 , Fleabag 2x5

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… →

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AI✦Stephen Cleary returns to explain how thematic sequences function as a distinct type--one that strips away plot and character questions to force audiences into direct engagement with meaning.✦

Films: Love Actually (2003) , The Exterminating Angel (1962) , Apocalypse Now (1979) , In the Bedroom (2001)

Chas and Stu are joined for the fourth time by the inestimable Stephen Cleary - this time to take a deep dive into sequences. A real deep dive. A 3+ hour deep dive… →

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AI✦The episode's central thesis examines how plot questions versus character questions--and combinations thereof--shape the intensity and audience engagement of your sequences.✦

Films: The Bourne Identity (2002) , Naked (1993) , The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) , There Will Be Blood (2007) , Fargo (1996) , Children of Men (2006) , Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)

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… →

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AI✦The episode examines how dialogue reveals characterization by making characters sound like themselves rather than mouthpieces for exposition or theme.✦

Films: Analyze This (1999) , Notting Hill (1999) , The Remains of the Day (1993) , The Avengers (2012)

Can one scene be the key to unlocking the whole story… →

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AI✦Stephen's observation hinges on having your characters figured out first, meaning their motivations must be clear enough that they'll naturally reveal your story's architecture in a single scene.✦

Films: Heat (1995) , Margin Call (2011)

Stu and Chas are joined by their first guest – illustrious script developer and producer Stephen Cleary – to explore how certain films can trigger an outpouring of emotion from the audience. Turns out that Aristotle may have figured it out a few thousand years ago and called it Catharsis… →

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AI✦Stephen Cleary joins the hosts to analyze how the last few pages of Field of Dreams, Toy Story 3, and Se7en trigger outpourings of emotion from audiences.✦

Films: Field of Dreams (1989) , Toy Story 3 (2010) , Se7en (1995)