In this special live episode of The Screenwriting Life from the Austin Film Festival, Meg LeFauve, Lorien McKenna, and Joe Forte invite brave writers from the audience to bring their stories to the stage for an honest, inspiring, and often hilarious deep dive into the craft of storytelling.
Through two very different projects—a coming-of-age romance about a teenage boy desperate to grow up and a heartfelt drama about a nine-year-old navigating grief through origami—the conversation uncovers some of the most essential questions every screenwriter must answer: What does your character actually want? What are the stakes? How do you turn an emotional journey into a compelling, cinematic plot? And how do you make an audience fall in love with your protagonist?
Along the way, Meg, Lorien, and Joe explore the difference between a character's internal needs and external goals, why passive protagonists can derail even the most beautiful stories, how to create satisfying character transformations, and the importance of finding the personal emotional truth—or "lava"—at the heart of your screenplay.
Using examples from Lady Bird, Get Out, Rocky, Up, Billy Elliot, and more, the trio demonstrates how asking the right questions can unlock an entirely new way of looking at a story.
Whether you're struggling with your first draft, rewriting your tenth, or simply trying to understand what makes a great movie work, this live workshop is a masterclass in finding the story beneath the story.
You are not alone. Keep writing.
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