This week we’re talking about world building - from the minutiae to the BIG ideas. We discuss the ones who did it best and our strategies for recreating that magic.

• Pod Racing, George Lucas and the Star Wars prequels
• Kathleen Kennedy - President of Lucasfilm and patron Saint of our career endeavors 
• The 2021 Cannes Film Festival and Brit’s fave - the red carpet fashion 
• Pink suits are in! Spike Lee in Vuitton, Olivia Rodrigo in vintage Chanel, Kamala Harris in Sergio Hudson! (Even Kate Middleton at Wimbleton!)
• Which reminds us - Wimbledon just happened and it was high fashion and star studded. We love to see it. 
• The J.Crew sweater jacket that Meghan Markle wore to Wimbleton. (FYI she has it in heather dove aka light gray)
• HBO announced ANOTHER GOT spinoff. But we finally get to leave Westeros! 
• Tze (pronounced Z) Chun - a cool dude, an AWESOME twitter follow and his timeline which is THE place to find Asian American creators! (Also he’s hella cool and lowkey hilarious.)
• What is World Building? 
• Great examples in literature (and therefore tv/film): Tolkien and Lord of the Rings, Rowling and Harry Potter, GRRM and GOT, CS Lewis and Narnia, etc.
• We have ~ thoughts ~ about The Witcher (on Netflix). Season 2 drops this winter.
• HBO’s new show The Last of US - based on a video game and adapted for screen by Craig Mazin.
• Story archetypes! 
• The Kevin Fiege interview Caitlin loves and recommends too much. 
• Correction: Post credit scenes are called STINGERS (not spider lol). 
• John Francis Daley - Actor (Freaks and Geeks/Bones) but now a successful screenwriter (Horrible Bosses, Vacation, Dungeons and Dragons) 
• Anna Waterhouse - screenwriter (The Gray Man, Rebecca)
• The Edge of Tomorrow (2014) aka Live Die Repeat - Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt sci-fi action movie that is awesome. 
• World building techniques - top to bottom or bottom to top?
• Trying to film something set in NYC while not in NYC.
• Studios and production companies want you to build a world that they can mind for IP for the next 50 years. (Also favorite words from execs “aspirational” and “elevated”)
• Brittany wants to live in The Sopranos universe… HBO open a damn theme park!
• Caitlin makes pretty obvious conclusions about post WWI and WW2 audiences and the rise of film and tv but someone had to say it.
• Emmy Noms - HBO holds its dominance alongside the rise of Disney+. (Which reminds us - Warner Brothers, where are those Harry Potter spin off series at? What are you waiting for?)
• Perfect IP situation - writing within a world people know and love but telling a story audiences know little to nothing about so there are limited expectations or comparisons. 
• John Mayer’s new album “Sob Rock” - out now. Also, we love a well executed theme. The merch! The branding! What a triumph! 
• CAN YOU GET US HARRY STYLE TICKETS?! HELP US PLZ.
• Brit is heading to DisneyWorld and the world is her oyster! 

Hi! We are very burnt out and discussing sequels. This episode may be best consumed with cold medicine. (Kidding. Exhaustion is a drug in and of itself! Let's party!)

• Pixar’s newest film - LUCA (2021)
• The most recent DC/Twitter discourse re: Harley Quinn’s animated series on HBOmax - does Batman give head?
• Funniest tweets from that day. 
• The Room (2003), The Disaster Artist (2017) and Tommy Wiseau
• Audrey Hepburn’s best quotes - “The mind reels!”
• 2022 sequels coming down the pipeline - Jurassic World: Dominion, Scream, Thor: Love and Thunder, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
• Erza Miller - actor (Justice League, Fantastic Beasts)
• We spiral into a bit of a Harry Potter rabbit hole… there’s uh, a lot of Dumbledore discourse.
• Top Gun: Maverick (2021)
• Tom Cruise and the coconut cake
• Avatar and it’s many sequels in development
• IMAX and 3D movies - we have ~ thoughts ~
• 2009 Best Director at the Oscars
• Kathryn Bigelow - director (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Forty)
• Chloe Zhao - director (Nomadland) 
• Jurassic Park: The Lost World (1997)
• The Mummy Returns (2001)
• Grease 2 (1982)
• Aladdin - The Return of Jafar (1994) and The King of Thieves (1996)
• The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride (1998)
• Addams Family Values (1993) NOTE: Caitlin mixed up movie camp counselors here - mistakenly referencing the Parent Trap cast and erasing Christine Baranski from the conversation. She will be watching The Good Fight as penance for her sins.
• The Godfather: Part Two (1974)
• The Pirates of the Caribbean sequels
• HBO’s new series from Craig Mazin - The Last of Us. Starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay. 
• Reboots and Revivals - Gossip Girl, Spring Awakening 
• Tap Dancing! Yes, we really talk about everything. 

Our unplanned hiatus is OVER and we are ready to RAMBLE! Err... rumble?

• Screenwriting competitions, festivals, fellowships
• Spreadsheets are our savior. (Even if Caitlin is a psycho about it!)
• Reflecting on our pre-2021 episodes and our predictions and excitement (Inauguration fashion, Disney+ Marvel shows!)
• Amazon buys MGM for $8 Billion
• Wizard of Oz sequels - Return to OZ (1985)
• John Chu - Director (Crazy Rich Asians, In The Heights, Wicked)
• Our college days in NYC circa 2007-2012 and theater school antics at AMDA
• Anthony Ramos - actor and AMDA alum (Hamilton, In The Heights)
• Acting school tries to make every student a “blank slate” but ends up making everyone homogenous when what usually gets you the job is the thing that makes you stick out from the crowd!
• Originating a role versus replacing a role in theater
• Tick, Tick… BOOM! Movie musical trailer. Directed by Lin Manuel Miranda. 
• Andrew Garfield - actor (The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Under the Silverlake, Spider-Man, The Social Network)
• *Disney+ SPOILERS* and our collective freak out on Disney’s Shareholder Day announcements
• Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni doing the most (and the best) at LucasFilms.
• Daniel Brühl - actor (Falcon and the Winter Soldier, The Alienist)
• Loki, Disney+ series starring Tom Hiddleston
• Brit’s vision for an indie superhero movie a la Logan (2017)
• Brie Larson - actor (Captain Marvel, Room) who is prepping for Captain Marvel 2 with celebrity trainer, Jason Walsh (Rise Movement and Rise Nation - our favorite cardio class in LA!)
• Jurassic World sequel - Bryce Dallas Howard (actor) & Colin Trevorrow (writer/director)
• NOTE: Caitlin calls people by their first names simply because she is lazy. These people are ~ not ~ her friends.
• Dax Shepard’s podcast - Arm Chair Expert, Kerri Russel, and our love of JJ Abrams
• Pacific Palisades - JJ and Caitlin are from the same small town that has recently been dramatically renovated by developer, Rick Caruso
• Pitching! Our two recent pitches - one project to a studio and the other for an OWA at a major production company
• Our career coach, Lee Jessup
• Questions everyone in Hollywood asks about your project: 1. Why are you the person to tell this story? And 2. Why now?
• Adapting a real life event - what about this makes it a movie and not a documentary?
• No matter how specific a story, audiences need an emotional journey to connect to that makes the project feel universal
• Open Writing Assignment - screenwriting work for hire
• A brief interlude on music licensing in podcasting
• General meetings - we’ll cover that soon
• Tent Pole Intellectual Property - example: Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, Star Wars
• ISA - International Screenwriting Association
• “Kill Your Darlings”
• Brit’s SKIMS obsession is real. We sidebar to discuss our favorite Kardashians.
• Caitlin’s recent TV binges: Shrill on Hulu and Peaky Blinders on Netflix
• Lindy West’s book - Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema
• Our DMs are open! (Not THAT way. Or maybe…)