Well, what do you know? It's our Sweet 16. Howdy. I'm Jeff Goldsmith and this is the Q&A. My agenda is simple.

Each week I plan to bring you in-depth insight into the creative process of storytelling. And folks,

it's true. It is our Sweet 16. Yes, this is our 16th annual screenwriting nominees' Q&A.

And we have an amazing panel today that includes seven out of the

10 Oscar nominated films for screenwriting. So that means an alphabetical order by film. We have

American fiction with Cord Jefferson, Anatomy of a Fall with Arthur Harare, The Holdovers

with David Hemingson, Maestro with Josh Singer, past lives with

Celine's song, and Poor Things with Tony McNamara. So yeah, a virtual dream team, and they're

all here to discuss what it took to get their Oscar-nominated screenplay written. I always love

these panels because it's just great to see the way the writers interact with

each other, and it really gives you the feeling of a writing community because they all respect

each other's work so much. And as it turns out, these panelists were also forthcoming about their

creative process and what it took to get their films made. So I know you'll dig this episode. But before

we go any further, I want to thank

today's sponsor, Final Draft. They've been with us from the start. And in case you did not know,

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along with screenwriting pros like Aaron Sorkin, Germo Del Toro, James Cameron, and Sophia

Coppola, just to name a few. New and improved features in Final Draft 13 include character

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And folks, I have great news for you.

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