Stu Willis

Host

"Sometimes it’s great to have a piece of music where you’re like holy shit, I’m in a completely different part of the song. How the hell did they do that?"

— Stu Willis | DZ-122: Escalating Antagonism Across Genres

Escalating Antagonism Across Genres

⏱ 1h 44m

OCT 2025

DZ-121

Escalating Antagonism in SINNERS

⏱ 1h 24m

AUG 2025

DZ-120

Subtext is Overrated!

⏱ 1h 54m

AUG 2025

DZ-119

Final Character Choices & Great Endings

⏱ 1h 52m

JUN 2025

DZ-118

ADOLESCENCE and Tension Through Questions

⏱ 2h 0m

MAY 2025

DZ-115

A Christmas Special - Rewatching & Rituals

⏱ 1h 56m

DEC 2024

DZ-113

Tools For Filmmakers To Talk To The Audience

⏱ 2h 3m

SEP 2024

DZ-112

Breaking the 4th wall

⏱ 1h 52m

JUL 2024

DZ-111

Unreliable Narrators and FIGHT CLUB

Talking DIRECTLY to your audience

⏱ 1h 20m

MAY 2024

DZ-108

The Emotional Event with Judith Weston

⏱ 1h 37m

MAR 2024

DZ-107

Establishing Tone through Character

⏱ 1h 54m

FEB 2024

DZ-106

How do you know if you have enough story?

⏱ 1h 36m

DEC 2023

DZ-105

Establishing Tone through Big Print

⏱ 2h 6m

NOV 2023

DZ-104

Characters Alone - Dramatizing the Internal

⏱ 1h 29m

NOV 2023

DZ-103

Game of the Scene 2 - Triangle of Sadness, The Favourite

⏱ 1h 42m

OCT 2023

DZ-102

Game of the Scene - Bluey, John Wick 4

⏱ 1h 23m

AUG 2023

DZ-101

Oners - Creating Immediacy & Anchoring Action on the Page

⏱ 1h 23m

JUL 2023

DZ-100

Scenes through Swords

Ensembles 3 - Character Function & Theme

⏱ 2h 2m

MAR 2023

DZ-97

Ensembles 2 - Servicing Characters

⏱ 2h 22m

FEB 2023

DZ-96

Ensembles 1 - What do we mean by an ensemble?

⏱ 1h 16m

JAN 2023

DZ-95

Backmatter - Building and Maintenance

Insightful Recognition in Powerful Endings

⏱ 1h 26m

SEP 2022

DZ-91

Raising (different kinds of) Stakes

⏱ 2h 19m

AUG 2022

DZ-90

Setups & Payoffs in Everything Everywhere All At Once

Drama in Genre clothing

Backmatter - Minimum Viable Product

⏱ 1h 29m

FEB 2022

DZ-85

Choices & Decisions 2 - The Farewell & Wrath of Man

⏱ 1h 49m

NOV 2021

DZ-84

Choices & Decisions 1 - Booksmart

⏱ 1h 12m

OCT 2021

DZ-83

A Very Thematic Stand-up Special!

⏱ 2h 31m

SEP 2021

DZ-82

Dramatising Given Circumstances in Watchmen

⏱ 2h 6m

AUG 2021

DZ-81

Pitch Decks & Look Books - Development Tools 4

⏱ 1h 13m

JUN 2021

DZ-80

Interweaving Timelines 3 - Little Women

⏱ 2h 11m

MAY 2021

DZ-79

Interweaving Timelines 2 - The Social Network

⏱ 1h 37m

APR 2021

DZ-78

Interweaving Timelines 1 - Destroyer

⏱ 1h 42m

APR 2021

DZ-77

Backmatter - Prioritising and choosing projects

⏱ 1h 36m

FEB 2021

DZ-76

Spotlight on Sofia Coppola

⏱ 1h 54m

FEB 2021

DZ-75

Fury Road & Visual Storytelling

⏱ 1h 9m

DEC 2020

DZ-74

Midsommar & Folk Horror

⏱ 2h 1m

DEC 2020

DZ-73

Selling documents - Development Tools 3

⏱ 39m

OCT 2020

DZ-72

Theme & The Story Synopsis - Development Tools 2

⏱ 1h 0m

SEP 2020

DZ-71

Treatments & Loglines - Development Tools 1

Parasite & Audience Questions

⏱ 1h 22m

JUN 2020

DZ-68

Using POV to structure KNIVES OUT

⏱ 1h 32m

MAY 2020

DZ-67

Writing Passive Protagonists & Melodrama

⏱ 2h 58m

APR 2020

DZ-66

The Mandalorian and The Rise of Skywalker - Audience Knowledge vs Character Motivation

⏱ 1h 45m

MAR 2020

DZ-65

Collaborating with a Director - The Snip

⏱ 1h 3m

FEB 2020

DZ-64

Backmatter - Controlling your Work, Treatments, and Writing Styles

⏱ 1h 42m

JAN 2020

DZ-63

Tools for Better Dialogue (Part 2) - Hook and Eye

⏱ 1h 58m

DEC 2019

DZ-62

Unfilmables 3 - As Ifs & Emotional context

⏱ 2h 17m

DEC 2019

DZ-61

Unfilmables 2 - Moments of Awe

⏱ 2h 5m

SEP 2019

DZ-60

Unfilmables 1 - Engaging imagination

⏱ 2h 25m

AUG 2019

DZ-59

Avengers Endgame & Ending Character Journeys

⏱ 1h 14m

JUL 2019

DZ-58

Game of Thrones - Character Exposition

⏱ 1h 47m

MAY 2019

DZ-57

Backmatter - Aesthetics and Forgiveness in Writing

⏱ 1h 29m

MAY 2019

DZ-56

Character Motivations (Part 2)

⏱ 2h 16m

MAR 2019

DZ-55

Character Motivations (Part 1)

Antagonists! 5 - vs Audience

⏱ 2h 26m

AUG 2018

DZ-52

Antagonists! 4 - vs Systems

⏱ 2h 16m

JUN 2018

DZ-51

Antagonists! (Part 3) - vs Nature

⏱ 1h 52m

MAY 2018

DZ-50

Antagonists! (Part 2) - vs Self

⏱ 1h 47m

APR 2018

DZ-49

Antagonists! 1 - vs Humans

⏱ 1h 20m

MAR 2018

DZ-48

One-Shot - Blade Runner 2049 - Agency vs Choice

⏱ 1h 53m

FEB 2018

DZ-47

Backmatter - A Lost Jedi, White Knighting, and Writers-On-Set

⏱ 2h 21m

JAN 2018

DZ-46

Structure & POV - Get Out, Dunkirk, & The Lives of Others

⏱ 2h 25m

DEC 2017

DZ-45

Arguments of the Scene

⏱ 2h 21m

OCT 2017

DZ-44

Marvel, First Acts and Establishing Characters

⏱ 2h 7m

SEP 2017

DZ-43

Driving Sequences - Character and Plot Intensity

⏱ 3h 16m

JUL 2017

DZ-42

One-Shot -Split, Character Worldview & Macro POV

Backmatter - Hitting LA, Receiving Feedback, and a Roguish One

⏱ 1h 29m

JAN 2017

DZ-38

Excelling at Exposition (Part 2)

⏱ 1h 52m

DEC 2016

DZ-37

Excelling at Exposition (Part 1)

⏱ 1h 46m

NOV 2016

DZ-36

Backmatter - Time Risk and Fixing Movies

⏱ 1h 7m

OCT 2016

DZ-35

Driving Characters or Character Driven?

⏱ 1h 20m

OCT 2016

DZ-34

Game of Choices - Decision Making and Character Implications

⏱ 1h 26m

AUG 2016

DZ-33

Protagonist vs Hero - Dawn of Character Function

⏱ 1h 58m

JUL 2016

DZ-32

High-Tension Sequences

⏱ 2h 23m

JUN 2016

DZ-31

Tools for Better Dialogue

⏱ 2h 5m

APR 2016

DZ-30

Oscars revisited - Spotlight and Carol

⏱ 1h 43m

FEB 2016

DZ-29

Showdowns & Scene Structure

⏱ 1h 41m

JAN 2016

DZ-28

Containing Your Script

⏱ 1h 55m

DEC 2015

DZ-27

Competing views on Screenplay Competitions

⏱ 1h 42m

NOV 2015

DZ-26

Horror and Collaboration - Wolf Creek 2

⏱ 1h 48m

OCT 2015

DZ-25

Coincidences, Contrivances & Giant Eagles

⏱ 1h 40m

SEP 2015

DZ-24

Forging story rules in TV pilots

⏱ 2h 5m

AUG 2015

DZ-23

LIVE - Starting A Career In Film And Television

⏱ 1h 45m

JUL 2015

DZ-22

Romantic Comedy, Actually

⏱ 1h 40m

JUN 2015

DZ-21

Scene Transitions and the Hook

⏱ 1h 40m

MAY 2015

DZ-20

Writing Strong Secondary Characters - Trinity, Bechdel and a Bamboo Killer

Michael Bay - F*ing the Frame and P*ing the Page

⏱ 1h 7m

JAN 2015

DZ-17

Where's my gold-plated ensuite?

⏱ 1h 14m

JAN 2015

DZ-16

Masters of Time and Whitespace

⏱ 1h 49m

DEC 2014

DZ-15

World Building Rules, Okay?

⏱ 2h 0m

NOV 2014

DZ-14

Writing For Actors with Succession's Sarah Snook

⏱ 1h 16m

OCT 2014

DZ-13

True That - Tips from Tarantino

⏱ 1h 25m

OCT 2014

DZ-12

Craft, Career and Coffins

⏱ 1h 1m

SEP 2014

DZ-11

Adventure for the MacGuffin!

⏱ 1h 49m

JUL 2014

DZ-10

Midpoint Reversals and The Ride

⏱ 1h 19m

JUL 2014

DZ-9

Characterising Introductions

On Rewriting - How much Bull is left in the Hustle?

⏱ 55m

MAY 2014

DZ-6

Key Scenes and Unlocking the Story

⏱ 1h 18m

MAY 2014

DZ-5

Shifting audience point of view and heightened emotions

⏱ 1h 29m

APR 2014

DZ-4

Catharsis and the Post-Coital Cigarette

⏱ 1h 25m

APR 2014

DZ-3

Making Unlikeable Protagonists Compelling

⏱ 1h 20m

MAR 2014

DZ-2

Do the Screenplay Gurus score big at the Box Office?

⏱ 1h 33m

MAR 2014

DZ-1

Do Screenplay Gurus win you Oscars?

⏱ 1h 40m

MAR 2014

DZ-0

Welcome to Draft Zero

⏱ 9m

FEB 2014

"We’re not here to give you a study guide. It’s not like music where it’s going to be Let’s do Grade One screenwriting. Let’s do Grade Two screenwriting. Not like that, unfortunately."

— Stu Willis | DZ-0: Welcome to Draft Zero