Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 23 hours ago
This week on On Story, a conversation with screenwriter Michael Arndt. Arndt began his screenwriting career on a high when he wrote the script for the family road trip dramedy Little Miss Sunshine. That script earned Arndt the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Next, Arndt wrote the script for Toy Story 3, which was nominated for the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, making Arndt the first ever writer to be nominated in both of the Academy’s screenplay categories for his first two scripts. Arndt wrote the script for the second installment in the Hunger Games series, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. A decade later, he co-wrote the script for the prequel film The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. Arndt also co-wrote the script for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Arndt’s website, pandemonium inc. dot com, hosts educational tools for writers, including the full scripts for Little Miss Sunshine and Toy Story 3, and his video-seminars on “Beginnings: Setting a Story in Motion”, and “Endings: the Good, the Bad, and the Insanely Great”. AFF moderator Erin Hallagan Clare sat down with Michael Arndt for a conversation on story structure, beginning with his advice for creating high stakes, and writing great endings.
This week on On Story, a conversation with screenwriter Michael Arndt. Arndt began his screenwriting career on a high when he wrote the script for the family road trip dramedy Little Miss Sunshine. That script earned Arndt the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Next, Arndt wrote the script for Toy Story 3, which was nominated for the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, making Arndt the first ever writer to be nominated in both of the Academy’s screenplay categories for his first two scripts. Arndt wrote the script for the second installment in the Hunger Games series, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. A decade later, he co-wrote the script for the prequel film The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. Arndt also co-wrote the script for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Arndt’s website, pandemonium inc. dot com, hosts educational tools for writers, including the full scripts for Little Miss Sunshine and Toy Story 3, and his video-seminars on “Beginnings: Setting a Story in Motion”, and “Endings: the Good, the Bad, and the Insanely Great”. AFF moderator Erin Hallagan Clare sat down with Michael Arndt for a conversation on story structure, beginning with his advice for creating high stakes, and writing great endings.
