The Bear Season 3 and Furiosa: The Past is Prologue

“This week, we are going to be looking at The Bear, Season 3, and comparing it with potentially the most unlikely movie: Mad Max: Furiosa.This might seem like an odd pairing, but actually both of these sequels are struggling with the same problem. Both of these sequels are living in the past. Screenplays for the most successful movies and TV shows don’t live in the past. They live in the present.That’s what made Mad Max, Fury Road so successful, and that’s what made The Bear, Seasons 1 & 2 so successful.When movies and TV shows spend their focus thinking about what happened up till now or what happened before, rather than what the characters want now and what's driving the story forward now, we lose the narrative drive that makes us so compelled.And of course that’s true in your life too.When you don't have clear, strong wants and clear, strong obstacles, when you don't have dream and love and desire at the center of the piece that you are writing, then you are a hundred percent dependent upon your craft as a writer to hide what is missing. And there are moments where the writers of The Bear, Season 3 and Mad Max: Furiosa are just so good that they transcend the incredible challenge that they've created for themselves.  But it’s widely agreed that both The Bear, Season 3 and Mad Max: Furiosa fall short of the stories that preceded them.In this podcast, you’ll learn why, and how to apply those lessons to your own writing, as well as: * The Series Engine of both The Bear and the Mad Max franchise and why both recent installments BREAK that engine. * How to build clear wants and obstacles for your characters * How to write sequels and prequels * How to balance internal character development with external dramatic conflict to keep your screenplay engaging. * How to maintain narrative momentum in later seasons of a TV show or sequels of a Feature Film. * How to find your character motivation * How to evolve a story engine after the “best thing” has already happened * How to adapt character arcs across multiple seasons or sequels * How to balance character introspection and plot progression * How to create fresh narrative drives in established universes * How to build emotional transactions between characters * And much more… Join Jake for free every Thursday night at Thursday Night Writes, RSVP here and check all of our classes!