John welcomes writer-directors Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Singh (Two People Exchanging Saliva) to ask, what happens when your short film is nominated for an Oscar? They look at each step from their initial idea to awards season to see how they positioned their short to be considered for an Academy Award.

We also reflect on the lessons learned from short films, and answer listener questions on how to give actors your script and finding representation after your Oscar heat has cooled.

In our bonus segment for premium members, we turn up the contrast on the many reasons for shooting in black and white.

Links:

• Two People Exchanging Saliva
• Taika Waititi's Two Cars One Night
• Andrea Arnold's Wasp
• Martin McDonagh's Six Shooter
• Damien Chazelle's Whiplash short film
• Jim Cummings' Thunder Road short film
• David F. Sandberg's Lights Out short
• Troy by Mike Donahue
• The New York Public Library's Picture Collection
• ReMarkable tablet
• Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book!
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• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
• Become a Scriptnotes Premium member, or gift a subscription
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• John August on Bluesky and Instagram
• Outro by Nick Moore (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli. Our Director of Photography is Jonathan Pope.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.