Skip to Content
Talkhouse home
Talkhouse home
Podcast

49 | Michael Arndt’s Act 1 Masterclass

By The Screenwriting Life

5:06 AM EDT on June 13, 2021

Little Miss Sunshine's script, penned by our guest Michael Arndt, won almost every major industry award, and for good reason. Its warmth, humor, and surefooted commitment to its themes makes it one of the finest scripts written this century. And SO many of those themes show up in Act 1. Michael has become a bit "obsessed" with act 1's lately, because it's our chance to maximize the "rooting interest" around our hero so that our audience has no choice but to keep watching. FOR MICHAEL'S (AMAZING) WEBSITE: https://www.pandemoniuminc.com/Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Podcast

Explore Podcast

The Way Back with Alex Ross Perry

June 7, 2026

Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk” w/ Hanif Abdurraqib

June 5, 2026

Linda Perry

June 5, 2026

953. – Shaad D’Souza

June 5, 2026

Sook-Yin Lee Talks with John Cameron Mitchell on the Talkhouse Podcast

 "People in the same room is a balm and a medicine and an antidepressant and an understanding that we are still fucking human."

June 4, 2026