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.

On this week’s On Story, writer-director Whit Stillman and his new film, Love and Friendship and filmmaker Rodrigo Garcia and his new movie Last Days In The Desert.

Writer-director Whit Stillman is known for the films Metropolitan, Barcelona, The Last Days of Disco and Damsels in Distress. He wrote and directed the pilot episode for the Amazon original The Cosmopolitans in 2014 and his new film, Love and Friendship opens in the US in May of 2016. Love and Friendship is an adaptation of the Jane Austen novella Lady Susan. This film adaptation set in the 1790s marks Whit Stillman’s first departure from original material. Love and Friendship stars Kate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny.

Writer, director and cinematographer Rodrigo Garcia is best known for the films Mother and Child, Nine Lives and Albert Knobbs. His television work as a director includes episodes of The Sopranos, Six Feet Under and Big Love as well as the HBO series In Treatment, which he adapted from the Israeli series BeTipul. Rodrigo Garcia’s latest film Last Days in the Desert stars Ewan McGregor, Tye Sheridan and Ciaran Hinds. Last Days in the Desert opens in May of 2016.

On Saturday, March 26th, Austin Film Festival presented a series of panels focusing on how writers can launch their careers through screenplay competitions, fellowships and labs and how they can navigate their way through television and new media.  Presented in partnership with the Academy Education and Nicholl Fellowships Programs, the event took place at the Linwood Dunn Theatre in Hollywood.  The panels featured various industry gatekeepers, executives, and producers who shared what they look for in a script, the anatomy of a meeting, how to respond to notes, ways to position yourself for success, and what to do once you get your foot in the door. In anticipation of the rapidly approaching late deadline for Austin Film Festival’s screenplay competition, we’ve decided to bring you the highlights.

Today’s featured panelists in order of appearance include:

1. Matt Dy – The Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition Director
2. Greg Beal – The Director of the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting
3. Ilyse McKimmie – Labs Director for the Feature Film Program at Sundance Institute
4. Angela C. Lee – Artist Development Manager at Film Independent
5. Karen Kirkland – Vice President of Talent Development and Outreach for Nickelodeon
6. Rebecca Windsor – Manager of the Warner Bros. Television Workshop
7. Amy Berg – Writer-Producer for Film and Television
8. Barry Josephson – President of Josephson Entertainment

This episode of On Story, actress and producer America Ferrera and theatre film and television actress June Squibb discuss their work in film and on television.

America Ferrera is best known for her work on the ABC comedy-drama, Ugly Betty. The role garnered her a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding lead Actress in a Comedy Series. America Ferrera’s numerous film credits include Real Women Have Curves, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, End of Watch and How to Train Your Dragon. America Ferrera returned to television in 2015 as a regular and co-producer on the NBC comedy, Superstore. Marcie Mayhorn spoke with America Ferrera in 2012 at the 19th Austin Film Festival.

Actress June Squibb got her start in musical theatre in the 1950’s. She made her Broadway debut as Electra in the original 1960 production of Gypsy starring Ethel Merman. June Squibb made her transition to film in the late 1980’s with Woody Allen’s Alice and went on to roles in Scent of a Woman, The Age of Innocence, Meet Joe Black, and Far From Heaven. She’s since worked twice with director Alexander Payne, first on the film About Schmidt, and later, co-starring with Bruce Dern in Nebraska, which earned her the Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Her recent credits include the critically acclaimed film I’ll See You in my Dreams with Rhea Pearlman, Mary Kay Place and Sam Elliot as well as television appearances in Getting On, Girls, Glee, The Big bang Theory and Modern Family. June Squibb spoke with journalist Jane Sumner at the 22nd Austin Film Festival in 2015.

This episode of On Story, filmmaker Jason Reitman discusses his work from Thank You For Smoking to his Amazon original series, Casual. In the second half of our program, Emmy Award® winning television writer and producer Jack Burditt describes life in the writer’s room from Frasier and Mad About You to 30 Rock and The Mindy Project.

Jason Reitman made his feature film debut with the 2006 Sundance hit Thank You For Smoking. He earned Academy Award® nominations for best director for the films Juno and Up in the Air, the latter of which earned him a Golden Globe and a WGA Award for Best Screenplay. Jason Reitman’s other films include Young Adult, Labor Day, and Men, Women and Children as well as the Oscar® winning film, Whiplash for which her served as executive producer. Reitman co-created the Amazon original series, Casual and he’s currently slated to write and direct an adaptation of Dan Santat’s Caldecott Award wining children’s book Beekle.

Television writer and producer Jack Burditt’s credits include Mad About You, Frasier, 30 Rock, The Mindy Project, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.  He also, created the NBC sitcom Last Man Standing, starring Tim Allen and co-created NBC’s DAG, starring David Alan Greir. 

Nicole Pearlman is the co-writer behind the screenplay for Guardians of the Galaxy and is slated to write other coming titles in the Marvel Universe.

Angela Kang got her start on the FX series Terriers. She’s been on the writing staff for AMC’s The Walking Dead since the show’s second season in 2011.

Ashley Miller and his writing partner Zack Stentz have written or produced well over a hundred hours of television, from their start on Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda, The Twilight Zone revival on UPN, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Fringe. Their first feature credit was 2003′s Agent Cody Banks, and most recently Thor and X-Men: First Class. Ashley Miller is currently working on the new Power Rangers movie, as well as the Acme Looney Toons movie. 

Michael Green serves as executive producer of Starz's American Gods, based on the Hugo Award–winning novel by Neil Gaiman. Green was also the creator and executive producer of NBC’s Kings and ABC’s The River. He has written and produced other television shows, including Heroes, Everwood, Jack & Bobby, Smallville, Cupid, and Sex and the City. Green’s feature work includes co-writing the Warner Bros./DC Comics adaptation of Green Lantern.

Zak Penn is known for his work on numerous films in the Marvel universe, including two films in the X-Men franchise, The Incredible Hulk, and The Avengers. His first script was the original screenplay for The Last Action Hero, and he’s since collaborated with filmmaker Werner Herzog on the films, Incident at Loch Ness and The Grand and is credited with the screenplays for the upcoming films, Pacific Rim: Maelstrom, Transformers 5 and the much anticipated Ready Player One.

John Turman is a writer-producer and story board artist whose credits include The Hulk, Fantastic Four: The Rise of Silver Surfer and Ben 10: Alien Swarm.

This episode of On Story, Mike Judge and Jim Dauterive discuss their work in TV animation and big screen comedy.

Filmmaker Mike Judge created the MTV animated series Beavis and Butthead in the early 1990’s and went on to create King of the Hill on Fox, which ran for thirteen seasons from 1997 to 2010. His filmography includes Beavis and Butthead Do America, the cult classic Office Space and Idiocracy. Mike Judge is also the co-creator of HBO’s Silicon Valley, the third season of which, premieres in April of 2016. King of the Hill writer and producer Jim Dauterive spoke with Mike Judge way back in 2005 at the 12th Austin Film Festival.

Writer-producer Jim Dauterive worked on more than eighty episodes of King of the Hill. He went on to help develop the Fox animated series Bob’s Burgers with Loren Bouchard. The series won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program in 2014 as well as a Writer’s Guild award for Best Television Writing in Animation in 2016. Bob’s Burgers, now in its 6th year, premiered in 2011 and has been renewed for both a seventh and eighth season. Barbara Morgan spoke with Jim Dauterive at a special event at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin Texas in 2014.

This episode of On Story, actor and filmmaker James Franco describes his experiences working with Judd Apatow and Danny Boyle and Academy Award® winner Chris Cooper discusses his work in film and on 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 starring in the Hulu original mini-series 11.22.63 along with today’s other guest, Chris Cooper. The series is adapted from a Stephen King novel of the same name and centers around a time traveler who attempts to prevent the assassination of John F Kennedy. Producer Barry Josephson spoke with James Franco at the 19th annual Austin Film Festival in 2012.

Chris Cooper is known for his broad range of work in supporting roles from July Johnson in TV’s Lonesome Dove to Robert Hanson in Breach, Colonel Fitts in American Beauty to Al Templeton in this year’s Hulu original miniseries 11.22.63. 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 County, Syriana, Jarhead and Capote. Writer Michael Noll spoke with Chris Cooper at the 22nd Austin Film Festival in 2015.

In honor of women’s history month, this week’s On Story features Callie Khouri, (Thelma and Louise, Nashville) Michelle Ashford, (Masters of Sex) and Caroline Thompson (Edward Scissorhands).

Filmmaker Callie Khouri won the Academy Award in 1992 for her first screenplay, Thelma & Louise. The film, starring Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis in the title roles, was directed by Ridley Scott and included performances by Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen and Brad Pitt in one of his earliest appearances on the big screen. Thelma & Louise was once considered controversial for its feminist overtones, but has since achieved classic status even inspiring songs by Tori Amos (Me and a Gun) and Argentinean Fito Paez (Dos Dias En La Vida) as well as countless parodies of it’s final scene on television and even video games. Callie Khouri’s other films include Something To Talk About, Divine Secrets of the Ya-YA Sisterhood and the series, Nashville.

Screenwriter Michelle Ashford is best known for her work on the 2010 miniseries, The Pacific. Her current series, Masters Of Sex is based on Thomas Maier’s biography of legendary sex researchers Dr William Masters and Virginia Johnson. The Showtime drama set in the 1950’s and 60’s stars Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan, and has been renewed for a fourth season to air in later in 2016. Michelle Ashford spoke with New York Times Magazine contributor Robert Draper on October 24th 2014 at the 21st Austin Film Festival. A word of warning, the next segment may not be appropriate for some of our younger listeners.

Novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer Caroline Thompson is credited with the screenplays for films Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and The Addams Family as well as adaptations of The Secret Garden and Black Beauty, which she also directed. Caroline Thompson’s other credits include the films Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, and Snow White: The Fairest of Them All.

Actor-writer-director Tom McCarthy is known for his performances in the films Meet the Parents and Goodnight and Good Luck, and on the television series Boston Public, Law and Order and The Wire. As a writer-director, he’s given us the films The Station Agent, The Visitor, Win Win, Up, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award® and of course, Spotlight which got him nominated in this year’s category for Best Director and for which he just won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. To celebrate his win, we dug into the Austin Film Festival archives for this discussion from way back in 2004, shortly after the release of his film The Station Agent, starring a very pre-Game of Thrones Peter Dinklage. Journalist Robert Draper spoke with Tom McCarthy on October 15th 2004 at the 11th Austin Film Festival.

Austin Film Festival's On Story Podcast is made possible by

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City Of Austin Cultural Arts Division

Texas Commission on the Arts

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Texas Library and Archives Commission

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