Episodes

In this episode of the Write Your Screenplay Podcast, Jacob Krueger explores how K-Pop Demon Hunters transforms a wild premise into a moving story. You’ll discover 3 tools every writer can use to elevate their screenwriting: research that makes your world culturally rich and emotionally grounded, themes that turn spectacle into resonance, and characters whose voices and actions carry real emotional weight. Whether you’re working on your first script or refining your tenth, this episode will show...

In this episode of the Write Your Screenplay Podcast, Jacob Krueger breaks down Mark Anthony Green’s Opus to reveal how elevated horror and screenwriting allegory can emerge organically from what already exists on the page. Through deep analysis of character wants, political themes, and mirrored choices, you'll learn how to create meaning without exposition, use your first image to establish emotional stakes and tone, and develop structure that resonates from the inside out. Perfect for writers ...

Learn a powerful self-hypnosis technique to break through past trauma and writer’s and more deeply connect to your characters and your voice as a writer. Jacob Krueger shares life-changing tools drawn from hypnosis, NLP and neuroscience.

Explore how sea change, bifurcated characters, and mythic symbolism power the structure and politics of Ryan Coogler’s Sinners. Join us for a Special Thursday Night Writes! Our Happy Hour of Writing Exercises with Jake every Thursday night at 7:00 pm ET, RSVP: https://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/free-writing-classes-thursday-night-writes/

This episode pulls it all together, with a deep dive into the structure of Adolescence Episode 4 and how it fits into the overall structure and series engine of Adolescence and how to know if your project should be a Limited Series. Join us for a Special Thursday Night Writes! Our Happy Hour of Writing Exercises with Jake every Thursday night at 7:00 pm ET, RSVP: https://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/free-writing-classes-thursday-night-writes/

Learn how Adolescence Episode 3 (building upon structural techniques from The Wire) uses a Pattern Based Series Engine to navigate rare changes in characters and narrative form while still preserving the feeling of the series Join us for a Special Thursday Night Writes! Our Happy Hour of Writing Exercises with Jake every Thursday night at 7:00 pm ET, RSVP: https://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/free-writing-classes-thursday-night-writes/

Learn how to use dialectical structure to deepen your screenplay’s theme, character arcs, and emotional impact through a deep analysis of Adolescence Episode 2. Join us for a Special Thursday Night Writes! Our Happy Hour of Writing Exercises with Jake every Thursday night at 7:00 pm ET, RSVP: https://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/free-writing-classes-thursday-night-writes/

Learn how Adolescence grabs its audience in the first ten seconds—and what screenwriters can take from its naturalistic style, one-shot structure, and emotionally grounded approach to character. Join us for a Special Thursday Night Writes! Our Happy Hour of Writing Exercises with Jake every Thursday night at 7:00 pm ET, RSVP: https://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/free-writing-classes-thursday-night-writes/

Discover how Thunderbolts uses theme to explore depression, trauma, and healing within the structure and genre of a big budget superhero action movie—and how to bring emotional depth to your own screenwriting. Join us for a Special Thursday Night Writes! Our Happy Hour of Writing Exercises with Jake every Thursday night at 7:00 pm ET, RSVP: https://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/free-writing-classes-thursday-night-writes/

Learn how The Last of Us Season 2 resets its story engine—and what it teaches about rebuilding character dynamics, stakes, and tension in your own TV series. Join us for a Special Thursday Night Writes! Our Happy Hour of Writing Exercises with Jake every Thursday night at 7:00 pm ET, RSVP: https://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/free-writing-classes-thursday-night-writes/

Learn how Nickel Boys and Shawshank Redemption use secondary structure to shape audience expectations—and how to apply these techniques to the structure of your screenplay. Join us for a Special Thursday Night Writes! Our Happy Hour of Writing Exercises with Jake every Thursday night at 7:00 pm ET, RSVP: https://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/free-writing-classes-thursday-night-writes/

Learn how Engine and Theme function in all 3 seasons of The White Lotus and how slight changes in The White Lotus Season 3 massively affect the feeling of the series... Join us for a Special Thursday Night Writes! Our Happy Hour of Writing Exercises with Jake every Thursday night at 7:00 pm ET, RSVP: https://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/free-writing-classes-thursday-night-writes/

Discover how Sean Baker’s Anora uses a seismic mid-story twist to reshape structure, character, and theme — and how to apply it to your screenplay. Join us for a Special Thursday Night Writes! Our Happy Hour of Writing Exercises with Jake every Thursday night at 7:00 pm ET, RSVP: https://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/free-writing-classes-thursday-night-writes/

Discover why Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, rejects the idea that protagonists must drive the action and how its unconventional approach grows out of its thematic exploration of the immigrant experience. Join us for a Special Thursday Night Writes! Our Happy Hour of Writing Exercises with Jake every Thursday night at 7:00 pm ET, RSVP: https://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/free-writing-classes-thursday-night-writes/

Learn how to balance expert research and creative freedom in your screenwriting as we explore Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, starring Adrien Brody- Join us for a Special Thursday Night Writes! Our Happy Hour of Writing Exercises with Jake every Thursday night at 7:00 pm ET, RSVP: https://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/free-writing-classes-thursday-night-writes/

Learn from The Apprentice the art of writing complex antagonists by connecting to the universal emotional needs that drive character choices Join us for a Special Thursday Night Writes! Our Happy Hour of Writing Exercises with Jake every Thursday night at 7:00 pm ET, RSVP: https://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/free-writing-classes-thursday-night-writes/

Learn from Sundance 2025 genre stand-outs Together and Didn’t Die how to explore deeply human characters and questions within an elevated horror or zombie format. Join us for a Special Thursday Night Writes! Our Happy Hour of Writing Exercises with Jake every Thursday night at 7:00 pm ET, RSVP: https://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/free-writing-classes-thursday-night-writes/

From an ambitious one-shot pilot to a haunting exploration of grief, Jacob Krueger unpacks how three Sundance selections demonstrate the vital principle that "form is function" in screenwriting. Join us for a Special Thursday Night Writes! Our Happy Hour of Writing Exercises with Jake every Thursday night at 7:00 pm ET, RSVP: https://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/free-writing-classes-thursday-night-writes/

Learn from “A Real Pain” how to master the art of character vignettes - those crucial first moments that create the lens through which you can build the structure of your screenplay, hook A-list talent, and unlock your own understanding of who your characters truly are. Join us for a Special Thursday Night Writes! Our Happy Hour of Writing Exercises with Jake every Thursday night at 7:00 pm ET, RSVP: https://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/free-writing-classes-thursday-night-writes/

Learn what makes A Complete Unknown work as a biopic, and how to approach the complex relationship between truth and dramatization in the adaptation of any true life story. Join us for a Special Thursday Night Writes! Our Happy Hour of Writing Exercises with Jake every Thursday night at 7:00 pm ET, RSVP: https://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/free-writing-classes-thursday-night-writes/

Get your 3 minute pitch ready for our free online pitching event (or any other pitching opportunity) with this podcast recording of Jake’s recent Thursday Night Writes class. Join us for a Special Thursday Night Writes! Our Happy Hour of Writing Exercises with Jake every Thursday night at 7:00 pm ET, RSVP: https://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/free-writing-classes-thursday-night-writes/

Learn practical techniques for transforming your writing blocks into bridges by understanding the psychology of creative resistance and how to work with it rather than against it. Join us for Thursday Night Writes! Our Happy Hour of Writing Exercises with Jake every Thursday night at 7:00 pm ET, RSVP: https://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/free-writing-classes-thursday-night-writes/

In this interview with Erin Brown Thomas, you’ll learn how to write an effective ensemble film through deep analysis of Erin’s Sundance film, Chasers and PT Anderson’s Magnolia. Join us for Thursday Night Writes! Our Happy Hour of Writing Exercises with Jake every Thursday night at 7:00 pm ET, RSVP: https://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/free-writing-classes-thursday-night-writes/

Learn from The Penguin how to master the art of packaging complex, character-driven stories within commercial frameworks that can sell in today's Hollywood marketplace. Join us for Thursday Night Writes! Our Happy Hour of Writing Exercises with Jake every Thursday night at 7:00 pm ET, RSVP: https://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/free-writing-classes-thursday-night-writes/