Write Your Screenplay Podcast

In Part 1 of this two-part exploration of Steven Conrad’s pilots, Jacob Krueger breaks down DTF St. Louis to explore what a great TV pilot needs to accomplish – not just as a compelling story, but as a blueprint for an entire series.

You’ll discover:
• What your TV pilot needs to accomplish beyond telling a great story
• Why established writers have more latitude for a slow burn
• How specificity can give even a “normal” opening a little kink
• Why you can’t sacrifice what’s working now for a payoff that comes later
• How a strong hook establishes the engine of your TV series
• How recurring images and callbacks can accumulate meaning through recontextualization
• How a midpoint genre shift can deepen rather than derail your story
• How “form is function” can turn theme into structure
• Why the real mystery in a whodunnit is often the relationships

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey becomes most powerful when its monsters reveal the film's hidden structure. Jacob Krueger explains Circe, Scylla, xenia, the Trojan Horse and why Odysseus must leave Ithaca after saving it.

Christopher Nolan's Odyssey keeps the monsters and loses the gods. Jake breaks down what the adaptation sacrifices, what it protects, and how to know which god your own adaptation is really serving.

Emmy-winning showrunner John Strauss (Arcane, Mozart in the Jungle) on how TV writers get hired, survive notes, and pitch. Watch the full interview.

As writer, actor, and Sundance-winning creator Kathreen Khavari joins the Jacob Krueger Studio faculty, Jake sits down with her for a candid conversation about voice, character, creative audacity, and the art of paying attention.
From overheard subway conversations to guerrilla filmmaking, Kat shares how she created her breakout viral short Brain of Terror by paying close attention to the strange, specific rhythms of real people – encouraging writers and actors to stop waiting for permission to create. Together, Jake and Kat explore the relationship between acting and writing, why compelling characters emerge from strong points of view, how dialogue becomes believable through embodiment and rhythm, and why the artist’s job is not to “know,” but to remain curious. Along the way, they unpack the emotional realities of building a creative career: rejection, collaboration, trusting your instincts, and learning how to advocate for your work before anyone else believes in it.
The result is both an introduction to Kat’s perspective as a mentor and artist, and a deeply practical conversation about how curiosity, specificity, and audacity can help you create the work – and career – that feel genuinely your own.