275 | How Holiday Movies Get Made (ft. Screenwriter Maggie Lane & Producer Eric Jarboe)

This week we’re celebrating one of our favorite genres: holiday movies! 

Screenwriter Maggie Lane (HOTEL FOR THE HOLIDAYS) and producer Eric Jarboe (FALLING FOR CHRISTMAS, THE PRINCESS SWITCH) join us to pull back the curtain on how Christmas films are conceived, pitched, developed, budgeted, and shot - sometimes in as little as 13 days.

We dig into what networks actually want, how to craft a great rom-com holiday premise, what makes a title irresistible, how to build producible scripts, and why collaboration (and quick rewrites!) are everything. It’s a warm, funny, highly practical episode full of insider intel and festive filmmaking stories.

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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:

• Writing the Romantic Comedy by Billy Mernit
• JHRTS (Junior Hollywood Radio & Television Society)
• Film Independent
• AFI Directing Workshop for Women
• Hotel for the Holidays (on Prime Video)
• WGA Minimums Schedule
• Check out the ⁠⁠⁠TSL merch shop⁠⁠⁠
• TSL on ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠

The Screenwriting Life is produced by ⁠⁠⁠Jonathan Hurwitz⁠⁠⁠ and edited by ⁠⁠⁠Kate Mishkin⁠⁠⁠.

Email us at ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠.

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