This week, The Glass Castle co-writer Andrew Lanham discusses adapting the New York Times Best Seller memoir of the same name followed by Life of Pi and Finding Neverland writer David Magee discusses writing for imaginative worlds, and using language to translate stories to the screen.

Andrew Lanham received his MFA in screenwriting from The University of Texas at Austin. In 2010, he won the Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting, as well as the Drama and Latitude screenwriting awards at the Austin Film Festival, for his script The Jumper of Maine. Lanham co-write Jeannette Walls memoir and New York Times Best Seller, The Glass Castle which is currently in theaters. The film stars Brie Larson as Walls, Naomi Watts and Woody Harrelson.

I spoke with Lanham on the phone ahead of the film’s release. Clips from this episode copyright: Lionsgate, Netter Productions and GC Productions USA, Inc.

David Magee is an Academy Award nominated screenwriter known for adapting the beloved novel by Yann Martel, Life of Pi. He also co-wrote the screenplay for Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and Finding Neverland. His screen adaptation of Yann Martel’s Life of Pi earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay and earned director Ang Lee an Oscar for Best Director.

Magee is also the screenwriter for the next Chronicles of Narnia film, The Silver Chair and is currently writing the screenplay for the Disney musical Mary Poppins Returns.

David Magee spoke with me during a special year-round event held in the Harry Ransom Center in 2013. Clips from this episode copyright: Dune Entertainment III LLC, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, and Miramax Film Corporation.

This week, writer-director Ric Roman Waugh and producer Jonathan King discuss their new film, Shot Caller, followed by Oscar nominated writer Frank Darabont detailing the process behind adapting Stephen King’s novel turned award-winning iconic film, The Shawshank Redemption.

Ric Roman Waugh has written numerous studio-based feature film screenplays for producers such as: Jerry Bruckheimer, Barry Josephson, Jim Sheridan just to name a few. This includes his latest screenplay, Currency, which Ric will direct next for producer Steve Golin and Participant Media. Ric also wrote and directed the critically acclaimed film, Felon, for Sony. The prison-based drama starred Val Kilmer. He followed that film with the dramatic-thriller, Snitch, which he also co-wrote and directed. He also recently produced and directed the documentary, That Which I Love Destroys Me. His upcoming film, Shot Caller, which Waugh produced and directed from his own screenplay for Bold Films and Participant Media, is currently out in theaters.

Three-time Oscar® nominee Frank Darabont has made a name for himself as a screenplay writer, most famously for his adaptations of horror novelist Stephen King’s books The Green Mile, Shawshank Redemption, and The Mist. Darabont is also credited with creating the wildly popular AMC television series, The Walking Dead. Darabont’s accolades include Oscar® nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay in both, The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption.

This week, we talk with actor and filmmaker James Franco on the cult sensation Freaks and Geeks, 127 Hours and many more of his unforgettable roles in films both large and small. We follow with Chris Cooper, the Academy Award® winning Best Supporting Actor, behind his role in the comedy-drama Adaptation and how he managed to navigate through his roles in iconic films and television.

Actor and filmmaker James Franco first rose to prominence on the cult sensation Freaks and Geeks and has since followed with unforgettable roles in films both large and small. He won a Golden Globe early in his career for his portrayal of film icon, James Dean and was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Actor category for his role in 127 Hours. James Franco is currently slated to star in the HBO original miniseries The Deuce created by AFF Awardee David Simon and author, George Pelecanos. The series is set in 1970’s New York during the rise of the porn industry and premieres in September. Producer Barry Josephson spoke with James Franco at the 19th annual Austin Film Festival in 2012.  

Chris Cooper is known for a board range of work in supporting roles from July Johnson in TV’s Lonesome Dove to Robert Hanssen in Breach, Colonel Fitts in American Beauty to Al Templeton in this year’s Hulu original mini-series 11.23.63. Chris Cooper won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe in 2003 for his portrayal of John Laroche in the film Adaptation and his other film credits include August: Osage Country, Syriana, Jarhead, and Capote. Writer Michael Noll spoke with Cooper at the 22nd Austin Film Festival in 2015.

This week, Oscar-nominated writer Randall Wallace reflects on his iconic and Academy Award-winning film, Braveheart followed by screenwriter, Jeb Stuart who dissects the screenplay for his classic thriller The Fugitive, and fills us in on the story's journey from script to screen.

Randall Wallace is the Oscar-nominated creative force behind many box-office hits such as Braveheart, We Were Soldiers, Pearl Harbor, Secretariat, and The Man in the Iron Mask. After drawing the interest of director and star Mel Gibson Braveheart became Wallace’s first produced screenplay and ended up the film success story of 1995, winning the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director, Writers Guild Award for Best Screenplay, as well as garnering Oscar and Golden Globe nominations.

Barbara Morgan spoke with Wallace at a retrospective screening of the film during the 21st annual Austin Film Festival in 2014. Clips from this episode copyright: B.H. Finance, CV, Icon Productions and Ladd Company.

Jeb Stuart is the writer/producer responsible for the screenplays of several blockbuster films including Die Hard, The Fugitive, Fire Down Below, Another 48 Hours and Switchback which he also produced. Stuart spoke with No Film School contributor, Christopher Boone at the 22nd annual Austin Film Festival in 2015. Clips from this episode copyright Warner Brothers, a division of Time Warner Entertainment Company, LP.

This week, Dale Launer discusses writing and producing the acclaimed film My Cousin Vinny, and actress Parker Posey talks about her background as an artist, working on Waiting for Guffman, and what it’s like working with renowned comedic writer/director, Christopher Guest.

Dale Launer is the screenwriter of Ruthless People and the remake of 1965 Bedtime Story, which he optioned, re-wrote and executive-produced as Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. After that, he wrote, directed and produced Love Potion #9, and then wrote and produced My Cousin Vinny, both at 20th Century Fox.

In 2016, Launer was honored to have 2 movies placed in the WGA's 101 Funniest Movies of All Time. 

Dale Launer spoke with Barbara Morgan, at an Austin Film Festival year-round event and retrospective screening of My Cousin Vinny in 2017.

Parker Posey is an American actress and musician. Following her role in Richard Linklater's 1993 cult hit Dazed and Confused, she became known during the 1990s after a series of roles in independent films such as Party Girl and The House of Yes that gained her the nickname "Queen of the Indies". She later played improvisational roles in Christopher Guest mockumentaries, including Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration. Her other film appearances include You've Got Mail, Scream 3, Superman Returns, and the Woody Allen films Irrational Man and Café Society. On television, Posey has guest-starred in series such as Will & Grace, Boston Legal, The Good Wife, Louie, Parks and Recreation, and Search Party.

Barbara Morgan spoke with Parker Posey at a 2016 Austin Film Festival year-round event and retrospective screening of Christopher Guest’s Waiting for Guffman.

This week, Academy Award winning screenwriter Brian Helgeland looks back on his favorite projects. First, Helgeland discusses adapting LA Confidential and working with late director Curtis Hanson. Then, Helgeland reflects on his experience writing and directing A Knight’s Tale. 

Among the films Brian Helgeland has written and directed are Legend, 42, A Knight’s Tale and Payback. As a screenwriter, his credits include Man on Fire, The Taking of Pelham, Conspiracy Theory, Green Zone, Blood Work and Mystic River for which he received an Academy Award nomination.

Helgeland won the Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award for his work on L.A Confidential. He is also the recipient of the Writers Guild of America Award, the Edgar Alan Poe Award, and the Sidney Lumet Award for Integrity in Entertainment.

Helgeland spoke with Barbara Morgan at the 22nd Annual Austin Film Festival and on the phone this year.

This episode of On Story from Austin Film Festival and PRI, Mozart in the Jungle executive producer Paul Weitz discusses the arc of the show's three season run on Amazon and actor Tony Hale describes his work from Arrested Development to HBO's Veep. Get a look inside the creative process with On Story on your local public radio station.

The Amazon original series Mozart in the Jungle was inspired by Blair Tindall’s 2005 memoir about life in orchestral music scene in New York City. The show stars Gael García Bernal as the eccentric rock star conductor of the New York symphony, and co stars Lola Kirke, Malcolm McDowell, Saffron Burrows and Bernadette Peters. The pilot was developed by Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman and Alex Timbers and was directed by our first guest, Paul Weitz. Paul Weitz is best known for collaborations with his brother Chris Weitz on the films American Pie and About a Boy. The latter of which saw the co-directing brothers nominated for Academy Award. We caught up with Paul Weitz over the phone to discuss Mozart in the Jungle. 

Actor and comedian Tony Hale is best known for his role as Buster Bluth on Arrested Development. Tony Hale has had numerous roles in film and on television, most recently as Gary Walsh in a HBO series Veep for which he’s won 2 prime time Emmy's for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series. I spoke with Tony Hale at the 23rd Austin Film Festival in 2016. 

This week, we talk with filmmaker David Lowery about his new film, A Ghost Story. Lowery then joins the screenwriter behind 500 Days of Summer and The Spectacular Now Scott Neustadter to discuss writing time and temporal elements such as flashbacks, flashforwards, dreams, and montages in both Neustadter’s 500 Days of Summer and Lowery’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints. 

David Lowery is a filmmaker from Texas. His films include Pioneer, St. Nick, Pete's Dragon and A Ghost Story which is currently in theaters and stars Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara. Both Affleck and Mara first starred in Lowery’s second feature film, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints which garnered numerous critical awards and nominations. David Lowery spoke with me ahead of the release of his new film, A Ghost Story.

Up next, screenwriter Scott Neustadter and filmmaker David Lowery discuss writing time and temporal elements such as flashbacks, flashforwards, dreams, and montages in both Neustadter’s 500 Days of Summer and Lowery’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints. David Lowery and Scott Neustadter spoke with writer and contributor of No Film School, Christopher Boone at the 20th annual Austin Film Festival in 2013.

This week’s On Story, two modern family adventure films. First we hear from The Jungle Book screenwriter Justin Marks discussing the 2016 Disney film based on the Rudyard Kipling classic and inspired by the 1967 animated film of the same name. The Jungle Book features an all-star cast including Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, and Idris Elba as well as new comer, Neel Sethi and was directed by Jon Favreau. Later, Hook screenwriter Jim Hart and the actor who played one of the film’s beloved Lost Boys, Rufio, Dante Basco.

This episode features two modern family adventure films: the 2016 Disney reboot of The Jungle Book and the 1991 classic, Hook. The Jungle Book is based on the work of Rudyard Kipling and inspired by the 1967 Disney animated feature. The film incorporates live action star, young new comer Neel Sethi and an all-star cast of jungle animals voiced by the likes of Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Lupita Nyong’o, Giancarlo Esposito, Christopher Walken and Idris Elba. The Jungle Book is also the final appearance of comedy great Garry Shandling and was released less than one month after his death. In our next segment, screenwriter Justin Marks, describes the combination of CGI and artists renderings that resulted in the films compelling characters.

The 1991 fantasy adventure, Hook depicts an adult Peter Pan who forgot Neverland and grew up. The film stars the late Robin Williams as Peter, Dustin Hoffman as the title character Captain Hook and co-stars Julia Roberts, Maggie Smith, the late Bob Hoskins, and one of our next guests, Dante Basco as Lost Boy, Rufio. AFF film competition director, Harrison Glaser spoke with Dante Basco and Hook screenwriter, James V. Hart at a special screening of Hook in 2014 at the Texas Spirit Theater in Austin.

This week, we talk with Ed Solomon, the comedic screenwriter behind Hollywood classics Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Men in Black, and Now You See Me. Solomon looks back on his long journey working on Men in Black, and discusses working with industry icons such as Barry Sonnenfeld, Tommy Lee Jones, and Will Smith.

Ed Solomon is the co-writer for the screenplays Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure and its sequel, Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey, and also wrote on It’s Garry Shandling’s Show for its first three seasons.  He then penned the screenplay for Men in Black, and many others, including the first X-Men (uncredited).  Since then he’s worked on all sorts of films, including Levity, which he also directed. He wrote the Lion’s Gate film Now You See Me, Now You See Me 2, Sony Picture’s How to Disappear Completely, and Colossus for Universal Studios.

Ed Solomon spoke with Barbara Morgan at the 2014 On Story Release Party, held at the KLRU Studios in Austin Texas.