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Journal of Screenwriting - Online First

Online First articles will be assigned issues in due course.

4 results

    • One viable protagonist, one viable choice: Resisting contradictory character change while writing an interactive film

      https://doi.org/10.1386/josc_00184_1
      Available online: 28 December 2025

      Narrative conventions draw the screenwriter repeatedly to singular and permanent character change as an essential component of a dramatic film. When writing an interactive film with a multi-linear branching narrative, the concept of character change was problematized. Opportunities emerged for the protagonist of the resultant interactive film to change in contradictory ways depending on the choices the audience made at key intervals. These contradictions led to a dilemma: if the protagonist of a film is effectively realized, then how can multiple character choices and consequential character changes remain viable? Using screenwriting as a mode of inquiry, I reflect on the process of writing multiple drafts of an interactive film and consider how the protagonist of a dramatic narrative might change in ways not usually prescribed by narrative conventions – especially when one considers how the protagonist often weathers a crisis which leaves them vulnerable to unauthorized impulses. However, in the process of writing an interactive film, I continually resisted this possibility, removed the protagonist from the story altogether and embraced an ill-fitting meta-narrative rather than face this potential plurality. This suggests that screenwriting pedagogy might account for the power of internalized narrative conventions which could misdirect creativity when one is deliberately experimenting with the form.

    • Beyond textual fidelity: Creator interactions, professional boundaries and cultural hierarchies in Israel’s youth media adaptation system

      https://doi.org/10.1386/josc_00183_1
      Available online: 15 December 2025

      This study provides a new perspective on adaptation processes by examining the interactions amongst television screenwriters and book authors within Israel’s youth media system. It explores the relationships and dialogues between these content creators during the adaptation process using polysystem theory and a media systems integration model as theoretical frameworks in specific contexts. Through semi-structured interviews with fifteen youth content creators (seven screenwriters and eight authors), this study reveals how adaptations are shaped by professional norms and interpersonal dynamics in this marginal media system. The findings identify three key dynamics: creative autonomy for practitioners, which enables content creators to exercise their expertise whilst maintaining collaborative respect; interpersonal adaptability in navigating personal relationships and professional egos; and adherence to core narrative principles that preserve essential story elements. Additionally, the research exposes a status distinction within adaptation practices: literary-to-screen adaptations are regarded as culturally valuable and pedagogically beneficial, whereas screen-to-literature adaptations are considered primarily commercial ventures with minimal artistic merit. These findings demonstrate how adaptation outcomes emerge from production contexts and professional relationships rather than being determined exclusively by source material analysis. The present work contributes to adaptation theory by highlighting the significance of production environment and creator collaboration in shaping adaptation processes and their cultural reception.

    • Comedy screenwriting and mental health

      https://doi.org/10.1386/josc_00182_1
      Available online: 08 September 2025

      This article examines how comedy screenwriting offers a distinctive, though under-analysed, lens for representing mental health with nuance, empathy and authenticity. While dominant screen genres, particularly drama, often frame mental illness as an individual obstacle to be overcome, comedy’s tonal flexibility, structural playfulness and character-driven humour create opportunities to challenge stigma, normalize psychological complexity and foster audience identification. Drawing on humour theory, screenwriting research and mental health scholarship, this article explores how specific comedic strategies – including narrative fragmentation, unreliable narration, meta-commentary and the integration of humour as a coping mechanism – expand the possibilities for portraying psychological struggle in long-form television. Through close analysis of five contemporary series – , , , and it demonstrates how comedy can destabilize reductive portrayals, resist simplistic recovery narratives and promote more compassionate, socially embedded engagement with mental health. Particular attention is given to how screenwriting structures shape audience alignment and how intersectional, culturally specific narratives challenge exclusionary models of well-being. The article also addresses the ethical complexities of humorous mental health representation, arguing that comedy’s potential to reduce stigma depends not on its presence alone, but on deliberate creative choices grounded in psychological nuance and ethical care.

    • Script development: Writing beyond Hollywood

      https://doi.org/10.1386/josc_00177_1
      Available online: 16 August 2025

      Leading scholar, Ian Macdonald believes students must learn the orthodox rules of screenwriting first, or risk being called incompetent. This article looks at the consequences of learning the orthodox rules first in script development training. It critiques the nexus between industrial Hollywood and universities and argues that training students to write scripts according to the classic Hollywood narrative model intended for production in the industrial mainstream represents a narrow and inadequate pedagogy. The article takes a writer-centric view of script development drawn from a case study of the feature film (2014) written by Natasha Pincus. Pincus’s industry-free development methodology is used as the context for examining current script development theory and teaching practice, the heavily disparaged concept of the individual writer’s authorship and the unequal balance between imagination and creativity/craft and rules that occurs in teaching students how to apply the classic Hollywood narrative rubric. The article argues for greater diversity in teaching script development and screenwriting, including a recalibration of the position of screenwriters so that their contribution is valued and respected.

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