Austin Film Festival's On Story

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 ShowA Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration. Her other film appearances include You've Got Mail, Scream 3Superman Returns, and the Woody Allen films Irrational Man and Café Society. On television, Posey has guest-starred in series such as Will & GraceBoston LegalThe Good WifeLouieParks 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.

Direct download: MY_COUSIN_VINNY_AND_PARKER_POSEY.mp3
Category:Film and Television -- posted at: 12:42pm CDT

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.

Direct download: BRIAN_HELGELAND.mp3
Category:Film and Television -- posted at: 11:24am CDT

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. 

Direct download: OSR_PaulWeitz_TonyHale.mp3
Category:Film and Television -- posted at: 4:05pm CDT

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.

 

Direct download: LOWERY_NEUSTADTER.mp3
Category:Film and Television -- posted at: 5:01pm CDT

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.

Direct download: OnStory_JungleBookRefeed.mp3
Category:Film and Television -- posted at: 4:19pm CDT

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.

Direct download: OnStory_EdSolomon_062617.mp3
Category:Film and Television -- posted at: 12:10pm CDT

This week, in honor of our new Fiction Podcast Scipt Competition, we explore the world of Fiction Podcasts, talking with the writers of hit podcasts Limetown and Homecoming, Skip Bronkie, Zach Akers and Micah Bloomberg. 

Direct download: OS_Special_-_Fiction_Podcast_Podcast.mp3
Category:Film and Television -- posted at: 2:39pm CDT

This week, screenwriter Scott Frank looks back on his career writing some of the most inspired adaptations of our time, including Get Shorty, Out of Sight, and Minority Report. But first, Frank discusses his work on The Wolverine and Logan, and his unique experience writing within the Marvel Universe.

In 2008, Scott Frank’s directorial debut, The Lookout, won the Independent Spirit award for “Best First Feature.” Along with The Lookout, Mr. Frank’s other screenplays include Little Man Tate, Dead Again, Malice, Heaven’s Prisoners, Get Shorty, Out of Sight, Minority Report The Interpreter, Marley & MeThe Wolverine, Logan and A Walk Among the Tombstones, the latter which he also directed. Mr. Frank created and directed the Netflix western series Godless.

Scott Frank spoke with Austin Film Festival Executive Director, Barbara Morgan, at 2015 year-round event in Austin, Texas, as well as directly after the release of the 20th Century Fox release of Logan in 2017.

 

Direct download: OnStory_Scott_Frank_062017.mp3
Category:Film and Television -- posted at: 2:16pm CDT

This week, Oren Uziel, the screenwriter behind 22 Jump Street and Freaks of Nature looks back on how he got his start in the film industry and his first experience directing his own screenplay, Shimmer Lake. Then, Uziel joins The Hunger Games: Mockingjay screenwriter Peter Craig and Rise of the Planet of the Apes writing duo Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver for a discussion on sequels and trilogies.

Oren Uziel wrote and directed the feature film Shimmer Lake which previously won an award at the Austin Film Festival Screenwriting Competition. His other credits include 22 Jump Street, Freaks of Nature, and The God Particle.

Uziel spoke with Austin Film Festival’s Executive Director Barbara Morgan following the release of Netflix’s Shimmer Lake in 2017.

Oren Uziel joins fellow screenwriters Peter Craig, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver for a discussion on writing sequels and trilogies.

Peter Craig’s writing credits include The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Parts I and II, as well as The Town and Blood Father. Writing partners Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver are known for their work on Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, as well as collaborating on Jurassic World, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, Eye for an Eye, and The Relic.

Uziel, Craig, Jaffa and Silver spoke at the 21st annual Austin Film Festival with moderator Allen Odom in 2014.

 

Direct download: OnStory_Sequels_and_Trilogies_061217.mp3
Category:Film and Television -- posted at: 10:00am CDT

On this special edition of the On Story Podcast, Oren Uziel discusses how he leveraged his success after winning AFF’s Screenplay Competition for his script Shimmer Lake to make a career change from being a lawyer in New York to a screenwriter in LA. He also shares his journey writing, developing, and eventually directing Shimmer Lake which debuts June 9th on Netflix. Uziel’s credits also include 22 Jump Street, Freaks of Nature, and the upcoming Cloverfield film The God Particle.

Direct download: OS_SPECIAL_OREN_UZIEL.mp3
Category:Film and Television -- posted at: 7:31am CDT