282 | In Your Dreams Writer/Directors Alex Woo & Erik Benson on Writing Animated Features

The Screenwriting Life with Meg LeFauve and Lorien McKenna

Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna

Tv & Film

4.9 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 22 January 2026

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

IN YOUR DREAMS writer/directors Alex Woo and Erik Benson join us to talk about writing animated features - from storyboarding as a form of rewriting to building emotional stakes in fantastical worlds. Alex and Erik break down collaboration in animation, adapting personal experiences for family storytelling, and why animated characters must be treated as real, complex people. --- Looking for more support on your writing journey? Join Meg and Lorien inside ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TSL Workshops⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠- use code HOLIDAY25 for 50% off your first month. Episode Links: "In Your Dreams" on Netflix Kuku Studios Check out the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TSL merch shop⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TSL on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Screenwriting Life is produced by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jonathan Hurwitz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, edited by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Kate Mishkin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and audio engineered and mixed by ⁠Urban Olsson⁠. Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thescreenwritinglife@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. --- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Get closer to the magic this summer and step aboard our three or four-night Disney Cruise Line
0:05.8	sailings from Southampton. Dance with some of your favorite characters. Be enchanted by West End
0:12.5	style shows. Become immersed in imaginative dining experiences and more. Create magical family memories that will last a lifetime.
0:23.4	Book now at Disneycruise.com.uk.
0:26.6	Subject to availability and conditions, see more on Disneycruise.com.
0:30.1	Hey, everyone.
0:30.9	Welcome back to the screenwriting life.
0:32.2	I'm Meg Lofoe.
0:33.2	And I'm Lori Ann McKenna.
0:34.3	And today we're so happy and giddy, I will say, to welcome two old friends from our Pixar days, Alex Wu and Eric Benson.
0:42.0	We're here to talk about their new Netflix animated feature in Your Dreams, which they co-wrote and co-directed.
0:48.1	Alex Wu is the founder and CEO of Kuku Studios.
0:50.5	He's the creator and executive producer of the Emmy winning series Go Go-Go-Go Cory Carson. Prior to Kuku,
0:55.9	Alex was a director in development at Lucas Film and story lead at Pixar, contributing to beloved films like
1:01.6	Redatooie, Wally, Finding Dory, and The Good Dinosaur. He began his career with the Student Academy Award-winning
1:07.8	short Rex Steele, Nazi Smasher, and a graduate of NYU's Tish School of the Arts.
1:14.0	Eric Benson is a writer and director whose career spans some of the most acclaimed animated films of the past two decades.
1:20.4	He's currently developing an original film for Sony Animation.
1:23.5	And previously, Eric worked in story development at Pixar on The Good Dinosaur and Cars 2,
1:28.1	in addition to serving as the story supervisor on the Academy Award-winning Toy Story 4.
1:32.9	Eric studied character animation at CalArx, where he developed a distinctive style that fuses comedy with the strong visual storytelling and rich character arcs.
1:41.0	Welcome to the show, Alex Wu.
	...

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