The Truth About Agents
How Writers Really Get Repped (The 90/10 Rule You Need to Know), Take 10 with ISA Founder Craig James
Jun 15, 2025•11 min
The ISA Podcast
Welcome to the Curious about Screenwriting Podcast where you'll enjoy listening to fascinating film industry guests who share their insights on how you can take your screenwriting career to the next level.
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Episodes
Allegra Oxborough, Table Read My Screenplay Grand Prize Winner & Director Paul Lindsay
The most recent Table Read My Screenplay contest brought the grand prize winner to the South of France during the Cannes Film Festival. Hear from screenwriter Allegra Oxborough & director Paul Lindsay.
Jun 06, 2025•17 min
Jen Butler, Emerging Screenwriter Interview Series
Jen Butler is a comedian and storyteller who specializes in writing feature-length, multi-layered dark comedy screenplays focusing on the complex nature of humans as they navigate spiritual and emotional awakenings. When not writing screenplays, Jen tells comedic real-talk stories to her 275,000 online followers (@jenbutlersays IG, TikTok, & Threads), performs improv and stand-up comedy, practices martial arts and ballroom dance, and rewatches The Matrix for the 900th time. Find more about J...
Jun 03, 2025•1 hr 4 min
Screenwriter Update! AJ Bermudez, author & co-writer of "My Dead Friend Zoe"
A. J. BERMUDEZ is an award-winning author and filmmaker based in Los Angeles and New York. Her first book, Stories No One Hopes Are About Them, won the 2022 Iowa Short Fiction Award and was a 2023 Lambda Award Finalist. Her most recent feature film project, My Dead Friend Zoe (co-written with director Kyle-Hausmann Stokes, starring Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman), premiered at SXSW and won the Narrative Spotlight Audience Award in 2024. Her work has been honored...
May 30, 2025•23 min
Stephanie Bast, Emerging Screenwriter Interview
Stephanie Bast was abandoned in Korea, adopted by Italians and raised in a town so small and white, someone asked: “How are you gonna understand her when she starts speaking?” Fiercely loved and protected, she was taught to fear “the other” while knowing “the other” was herself. She started to write comedy to heal a wound. Now she writes to heal others, creating characters who think they’re not enough, desperate to prove they’re worthy of being saved. Stephanie lives in Los Angeles and is curren...
May 09, 2025•35 min
Short Film Table Read, "Suicide at Noon" by Merrit Chelsey Schmidt
Suicide at Noon Logline: A newly organized but suicidal woman must withstand the various objections of her friends and family and convince them to support her or be forced to cancel her perfectly scheduled upcoming suicide.
Apr 24, 2025•28 min
Script Consultant Pioneer Linda Seger discusses her latest book, "Unpacking"
There's a lot to unpack here as Linda Seger is full of interesting stories and lessons learned along the way. As a pioneering female entrepreneur, she was on the cutting edge of a new type of business - being a screenplay consultant. Her passion, drive, and wiliness to dive into every opportunity took her from small town Wisconsin to lecturing around the world and collaborating with massive Hollywood stars, all while her midwest roots kept her grounded and working hard. Find her book on Amazon, ...
Apr 19, 2025•59 min
Emerging Screenwriter Interview: Adam Karpel
A native New Yorker, Adam received a BFA from Ithaca College and completed one year of his MFA at UCLA before deciding to quit because those hard wooden classroom chairs were really chafing his ass. Writing began for him when his first play was produced at the West Coast Ensemble Theater in Hollywood. A creative executive who happened to be in the audience one night called Adam the next day and asked him to write a movie for him. Spoiler alert: it never got made. Shocking, I know! Nevertheless, ...
Apr 16, 2025•51 min
"Offbeat," pilot episode, Table Read My Screenplay Grand Prize Winner
"Offbeat," pilot episode, 2020 Table Read My Screenplay Grand Prize Winner, written by Marshall “gripp” Gillson.
Apr 01, 2025•31 min
"The Icebox," Award-Winning Short Screenplay Table Read
Please enjoy a performance of the Table Read My Screenplay Award-Winning short script, "The Icebox" by Brian P. Glass. Cast: Elijah Terrell Haney, Hye Bin Lee, Carson Grant, Damon Evans & narrated by Felicity Wren.
Mar 24, 2025•20 min
Extended Interview with Michael Graf Screenwriter of "Green and Gold"
Green and Gold: A struggling family farmer wagers everything on a high-stakes Championship bet, while his granddaughter's musical ambitions could be their ticket to a new beginning. Starring Brandon Sklenar, Craig T. Nelson, M. Emmet Walsh
Feb 13, 2025•43 min
ISA Pitch Panel Featuring Executives from Atomic Robot, Morning View Ent & Snarky Elephant Prods
Solid pitches sell screenplays. Join us to watch pitches delivered to Creative Executives at prominent companies and hear live feedback. Learn the DOs and DON'Ts of great pitching, so you'll be prepared when you're in the room! Caroline Dillingham is the Chief Executive Officer of Morning View Entertainment LLC, where she leads the company in its mission to discover and develop compelling stories from across the United States, with a focus on creating content for the North American audience. Und...
Feb 08, 2025•1 hr 17 min
FSS: Halloween Special, "Famously Haunted: Hollywood" Tubi Documentary Reaction
One of our co-hosts, Scott, was recently featured on the Tube documentary, Famously Haunted Hollywood. We go over the stories featured in the documentary: The Black Dahlia, The Manson Murders, Comedy Store, Peg Entwhistle, The Cecil Hotel.
Nov 04, 2024•1 hr 2 min
Film Inquiry interview with Andrea Berting, an ISA Top 25 Screenwriter to Watch in 2024
Kristy Strouse of Film Inquiry interviews screenwriter Andrea Berting, who has been an ISA Fast Track Fellow and is now on their Development Slate.
Oct 01, 2024•17 min
Film Inquiry Interviews Sandy King, Producer & Co-Founder of Storm King Comics!
Sandy King is a film producer & businesswoman who is known for In the Mouth of Madness, Village of the Damned, Vampires & Ghosts of Mars, all of which were directed by her husband John Carpenter. She co-created the comic book series Asylum.
Aug 02, 2024•18 min
Film Inquiry, Interview with Zoe Hodge, an ISA Top 25 Screenwriter to Watch in 2024
Zoë Hodge is an award winning writer & director born in the Boogie-Down-Bronx. Her work often explores yearning & the deep solitude that comes from denying yourself. As a writer, Zoë grew up on Everybody Hates Chris and Jane Austen adaptations.
Jul 02, 2024•17 min
FSS 49: Script & Story Consultant Jen Grisanti, on the State of writing for TV Today
This is the replay of a live event Max & Scott did along with the International Screenwriters' Association. They welcomed screenwriting aficionado Jen Grisanti, who has a long history of working with screenwriters as an executive and consultant.
Jun 25, 2024•1 hr 17 min
Film Inquiry's Interview with Thuc Doan Nguyen, an ISA Top 25 Screenwriter to Watch Interview
Screenwriter Thuc Doan Nguyen went from Vietnamese refugee to writing for The Lost City with Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum & Brad Pitt. Hear her story here.
May 21, 2024•25 min
Film Inquiry's Interview with Adam Karlson, an ISA Top 25 Screenwriter to Watch in 2024
Adam Karlson signed a shopping agreement with CS Productions and is now managed by Gravity Squared Entertainment due to introductions made by the ISA.
May 14, 2024•22 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Film Inquiry's Interview with Kim Hornby, an ISA Top 25 Writer to Watch in 2024
Each year the ISA lists 25 talented writers. Our first interview is with multi-talented screenwriter & novel writer Kim Hornsby. I spoke with Kim about her journey, projects, and recommendations for other screenwriters! Check out more at FilmInquiry.com
Apr 02, 2024•22 min•Season 1Ep. 1
FSS: Paranormal European Travel - Ireland legends & Faery Lore Above Knockma Hill & at Kilkea Castle & the Hellfire Club
Scott (and his wife Wendy) fill Max in on their adventure across the Emerald Isle, discussing the haunted hot spots and legendary tales they discovered along the way... also the adventures of driving on the other side of the road.
Mar 15, 2024•55 min•Season 5Ep. 7
Chaseedaw Giles, Using Dark Topics to Find the Light in Humanity, Emerging Screenwriter Interview
Chaseedaw Giles moved to LA as everything shut down for the pandemic. However, she used that time to work on her craft. She's taken an approach of being proactive and using darker story topics to find positivity.
Feb 28, 2024•32 min•Ep. 34
Talking Horror Movies & Haunted Chicago with Jackson Schreiber from Katch Data
Big thanks to the horror blog WonderfullyWeirdAndHorrifying.com for making this conversation happen. What did you think of "Hereditary?"
Feb 20, 2024•50 min
Emerging Screenwriter AND Director Interview, Diane Lansing
An ISA Top 25 Writers To Watch in 2019, Diane has taken her work behind the camera, screening her directing work at the DGA and garnering awards and laurels. Creating and collaborating through film are her driving force.
Feb 06, 2024•22 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Introducing Fast Track Fellow & Screenwriter, Kiefer Lloyd
Kiefer Lloyd's a writer who uses genre to explore queer narrative and masculinity. He is a Lambda Literary fellow, an alumnus of the Tin House Fiction Workshop & holds an MFA in fiction from Vermont College.
Feb 01, 2024•33 min
Brittany Kelly's Background in Psychology, the Prison System and ...CraigsList
Writer-director Brittany Kelly's utterly fascinating life and outlook has certainly influenced her voice as a storyteller. Though she's experienced a recent personal strategy, she's returning to writing and we are so excited for her future.
Jan 23, 2024•29 min•Season 2Ep. 1
FSS: Paranormal European Travel - Portugal, Sintra's Knights Templar Connection
Join us for an international travel episode as co-Host Scott Markus & his wife headed to Portugal and visit the most famously haunted location in Portugal & visit a city that has a long mystical connection to folklore and witchcraft.
Dec 19, 2023•37 min•Season 5Ep. 5
Amanda & Lita Lopez, Underdogs Excelling as Screenwriting Sisters
Screenwriting SISTERS, Lita and Amanda Lopez, created an amazing drama pilot for a series titled "The Work" that won the Table Read My Screenplay competition in 2022 based on Amanda's social work career.
Nov 29, 2023•35 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Caitlin Gallo & Brittany Harris: Don't be Afraid to Stand Out, Be Uniquely You
You will quickly see how Caitlin and Brittany are writing partners as they practically finish each other’s sentences. These two are high energy, fiercely hard working and driven writers who are part of our ISA Top 25 Writers to Watch in 2023.
Nov 22, 2023•52 min•Season 1Ep. 30
FSS 44: Rita Mae Moore, Haunted Lake Geneva & the curious ghosts at Baker House
Haunted history tour guide, Rita Mae Moore, grew up with a ghost hunting mom before working in the police force and having some paranormal experiences there. Today, she's a tour guide & two-time author of a fantasy book series.
Nov 01, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 5Ep. 2
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