Austin Film Festival's On Story

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.

Direct download: James_Franco_and_Chris_Cooper.mp3
Category:Film and Television -- posted at: 2:54pm CDT

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.

Direct download: KHOURI_ASHFORD_THOMPSON.mp3
Category:Film and Television -- posted at: 3:29pm CDT

Tom McCarthy

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

Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation

City Of Austin Cultural Arts Division

Texas Commission on the Arts

U.S.Institute of Museum and Library Services

Texas Library and Archives Commission

Applied Materials

Humanities Texas

Direct download: TOM_MCCARTHY.mp3
Category:Film and Television -- posted at: 6:42pm CDT

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