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DRAFT ZERO
§ PODCAST / EPISODES

Escalating Antagonism

2 episodes  ·  Aug 2025 – Oct 2025

"what screenwriters do, even though we’ve got a finished product, when we’re in the kind of development stages of a story, we are looking to systems to help us, right? Whether it’s Save the Cat or the hero’s journey to use the most well-known models, but even the five, you know, the six sequence for each of the act, whatever structural tools that we’re talking about, we’re looking at systems to help us generate ideas."

— Stu Willis  |  DZ-121: Escalating Antagonism in SINNERS

DZ-121: Escalating Antagonism in SINNERS

How do the antagonistic forces in your story escalate distinctly from the protagonists' journey?
We often struggle to develop the middle stages of a story. Could this be because we focus on our protagonists’ journeys and plot structure more than on how the antagonistic powers are awakened, wronged, discovered, gathering strength and revealing themselves…
⏱ 1h 24m
29 AUG 2025
Listen to strengthen your story by focusing on the antagonistic forces in your script.
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DZ-122: Escalating Antagonism Across Genres

How can you apply horror ideas to action and comedy?
In this episode Chas, Stu and guest Kim Ho continue their exploration into the power(s) of antagonism and how focusing on them can develop story…
⏱ 1h 44m
1 OCT 2025
Listen to learn how thinking of your hero as the horror (for your villains) makes your script dynamic.
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