The Nice Guys, Shane Black, Sydney Pollack and David Milch

On today’s episode, we catch up with writer-director Shane Black the soon to be released summer blockbuster The Nice Guys starring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling, and later in our program, Shane Black is joined by actor-producer-director Sydney Pollack and Deadwood, Luck and NYPD Blue creator David Milch.

Writer-director Shane Black redefined the buddy movie genre in the late 1980’s with the screenplay for Lethal Weapon. He later became known for creating memorable and complex characters not usually associated with the action genre and in his own distinct cinematic voice, gave us the screenplays to The Last Boyscout, and The Long Kiss Goodnight, as well as Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Iron Man 3, both of which he also directed. Shane Black’s latest film, The Nice Guys stars Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling. We recently caught up with Shane Black over the phone and discussed the creation of his new movie.

Writer-producer David Milch is best known as the screenwriter behind 69 episodes of Hill Street Blues, for creating the cop drama NYPD Blue and possibly most of all, the HBO series, Deadwood. Set in 1870’s South Dakota, Deadwood won numerous awards in its three seasons including eight Emmy’s and a Golden Globe for the show’s lead actor Ian McShane.

Actor, Producer, Director Sydney Pollack has over one hundred film credits spanning six decades. Before his passing in 2008, Sydney Pollack was one of the most influential and highly respected filmmakers in the world. He directed a number of memorable films including Tootsie, Michael Clayton, The Firm and Out Of Africa, which won him the Academy Award for Best Director.

Barry Josephson spoke with Shane Black, David Milch and Sydney Pollack at the Paramount theatre in Austin Texas during the 13th Austin Film Festival. We’d like to extend special thanks to Rebecca and Rachel Pollack and the Pollack estate for allowing us to use this recording.