Gary Ross and Steven Zaillian

This episode of On Story, we hear from Gary Ross on his new film Free State of Jones and his career as a storyteller. Later, Academy Award® winner Steve Zaillian discusses his work from The Falcon and the Snowman to Schindler’s List to American Gangster.

Free State of Jones is the new film from writer-director Gary Ross. The film is inspired by events surrounding an armed rebellion against the confederacy in Mississippi during the American Civil War. Free State of Jones stars Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mahershala Ali, Keri Russell and Brendan Gleeson. We recently spoke with Gary Ross over the phone about his new film. Ross is a four-time Academy Award® nominee and his other film credits include Big, Pleasantville, Seabiscuit and The Hunger Games, which he co-write and directed. Barbara Morgan spoke with Gary Ross at the 22nd Austin Film Festival in 2015.

Academy Award® winning filmmaker Steven Zaillian’s vast filmography includes the screenplays to The Falcon and the Snowman, Awakenings, Schindler’s List, and Moneyball. He wrote and directed Searching for Bobby Fischer, A Civil Action and All the King’s Men and he wrote and produced American Gangster, and the American version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Steven Zaillian received the Distinguished Screenwriter Award at the 16th Austin Film Festival in 2009 where filmmaker and journalist Sacha Gervasi moderated this conversation.