
72 episodes

Script Lock Max Folkman, Nick Folkman
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- Leisure
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4.9 • 34 Ratings
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Writers Max and Nick Folkman sit down with other writers and developers to discuss storytelling in video games.
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Jennifer Hale & Debra Wilson
Everyone said it’d be impossible, but we managed to find another pair of twins to come onto this podcast. That’s right. The incredible Jennifer Hale and Debra Wilson have joined us to talk about improv, how they manage to stay positive and not become cynical in this industry, the kinds of direction they enjoy most, favorite/least favorite piece of direction they’ve ever gotten, what acting jobs they learned the most from, are there any roles they’ve never done or want to do more of, and oh man you should just listen to this.
This episode was brought to you by Backlight Gem. If you're a narrative designer or writer in the world of video games, Gem is a powerful tool that empowers you to bring your stories to life by streamlining the narrative design process from ideation to release. Learn more at https://bit.ly/Gem-Script-Lock -
Chris Garbutt & Rikke Asbjoern
Apologies for the wait, but we're back! We don't often do episodes focused around one specific thing, but we're making an exception to talk about Netflix's newest interactive special: We Lost Our Human, and we're joined by its two co-creators, Chris and Rikke!
Together they talk about how they broke into animation and got into interactive narrative, what they thought the hardest part of making We Lost Our Human would be, getting advice from the Bandersnatch folks, making media for kids vs adults, whether it was difficult for the actors to keep the branching story in their heads, unexpected learnings, the new production pipeline they had to build, Netflix’s branch manager tool, James Baxter, whether they had to adjust WLOH based on Netflix data, and what advice they’d give to someone making an interactive special now. -
George Lockett & Mary Goodden
It's the end of the year, which means it's time for us to put out a new episode and feel guilty for not releasing more this year! (We were busy, but we got lots more planned for next year!) Our guests this month are George Lockett and Mary Goodden, and they join us to discuss how their marketing backgrounds have helped with their writing, how to make a writer’s room work, advice for thinking in terms of design, what's helped maintain their writing output, what they’ve learned from the other writers they’ve worked with, giving feedback, tips for writing themselves out of problems, the best ways we can diversify the voices in the industry, how they approach working with other departments to get their needs taken care of, what their favorite narrative tools are, favorite thesauruses, what their ghosts are, and more, more, MORE!
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Rob Forman & Andrew Walsh
We've got a unionization-heavy episode for y'all as we've got Rob and Andrew in to talk about fate meeting preparation with getting that first job, finding your voice as a writer, changing your voice for the market and work-for-hire, living in fear of “no notes,” likable characters, taking notes, the Writer’s Guild (of America & Great Britain), the differences between the two with representing game writing, the similarities to the struggles of the Animation Guild writers, the growing appetite for unions in the west, why unions are necessary, favorite side characters, and creative authenticity.
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Sarah Baylus & Mike Laidlaw
Somehow we're over halfway through the year, but this podcast is still going! Our guests this month are Sarah Baylus and Mike Laidlaw, and they join us to discuss why Dragon Age’s storytelling has struck such a chord with people (especially in game development), what they look for in a creative director, what makes a good game writer, the best ways to keep teams updated on a game’s ever-evolving story, favorite software for collaboration, what’s one thing they wished games delved into more often, whether their definitions of good writing and narrative design have changed over time, common mistakes they see writers making these days, favorite game writing/design experiences they’ve had, writing/directing nightmares, localization notes, resources they go back to a lot, things they would've changed to their favorite game narratives, the most effective narrative-based techniques they like to see being used in games to immerse the audience, and more more MORE!
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Corey Brotherson & Kelsie Mhoon
Back in the throes of summer, we've got Corey and Kelsie here to talk about writing tests, barriers, common motifs & themes in their writing, games they wish they wrote, unexpected pieces of media that inspired them, games where they felt the most invested in the player characters, silent protagonists, things they wished game narratives delved into more often, character tropes, building characters from scratch, and more!
*The views and opinions expressed by Corey do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Silver Rain Games*
Customer Reviews
A Top Resource for Game writers & Narrative Designers of all Stages
I just got caught up on Scriptlock’s backlog, and it’s been an incredible resource. As someone who’s studying game writing and narrative design on their own, this show has widened my perspective and taught me things about games I’d never considered before. As I continue to learn more about game writing and narrative design, I’ll keep coming back to this incredible resource. Keep up the good work guys!
I’m a game designer and this is still a fabulous podcast!
Out of all the gamedev podcasts I’ve listened to, I’ve learned the most from this one. I’m not even a writer! The focus is on storytelling In videogames, but it’s more than that. Nick and Max are fantastic hosts that ask the best questions with even better guests. A+ 10/10 Don’t Miss!
Fantastic behind the scenes look at gaming
Just discovered this show. Love the look specifically at games writing. Very insightful and entertaining. Can't wait to dig deeper into the episodes I missed.