Past Lives, with Celine Song
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, AFF moderator Harrison Glaser speaks with Celine Song about her feature debut, Past Lives. Inspired by Song’s own experiences, Past Lives tells the story of two childhood friends who reunite as adults and reckon with the nature of the enduring bond between them. This multi-language film is a deeply personal exploration of the modern immigrant experience, unflinchingly confronting the “what-ifs” that plague lost love and paths not taken. Celine Song began her writing career as a playwright in New York City, and joined fantasy series The Wheel of...
info_outline
American Fiction, with Cord Jefferson
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, a conversation with Cord Jefferson on adapting the novel Erasure into his strikingly sharp debut feature American Fiction. Cord Jefferson is an Emmy-winning writer who earned his chops on some of television’s most formative shows in recent years: Master of None, The Good Place, Succession, and Watchmen. His debut feature, American Fiction, won the Audience Award at the 30th annual Austin Film Festival. American Fiction is an adaptation of Percival Everett’s novel Erasure. The film introduces us to Thelonius Monk, played by Jeffrey Wright, a weary writer...
info_outline
The Bear, with Joanna Calo
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, a conversation with Joanna Calo, showrunner of the character-driven dramedy The Bear. Joanna delves into her experience sharing showrunning duties with creator Christopher Storer, and discusses their approach to incorporating real life events into the show’s deeply grounded characters and high stakes world. As a television veteran, Joanna’s writing credits include Bojack Horseman, Hacks, Beef, and today’s subject, The Bear. The Bear tells the story of Carmy Berzatto, played by Jeremy Allen White, an award-winning chef who returns...
info_outline
Contact, with James V. Hart
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on the On Story Podcast a conversation with James V. Hart, writer of the science fiction drama Contact directed by Robert Zemeckis. In his decades-long career, Hart has written beloved films including Hook, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Tuck Everlasting, and August Rush. Hart discusses the process of adapting Contact from Carl Sagan’s novel about a scientist who discovers definitive proof of extraterrestrial life. From working with the author to discern his original intent and establishing a thematic purpose, to embedding a story with high stakes and...
info_outline
Iron Man 3 w/Shane Black
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, a conversation with writer-director Shane Black about the making of Iron Man 3. Shane Black, the original creator of the Lethal Weapon franchise, is well-known for his irreverent comedic style and witty dialogue, as well as turning established genre tropes on their head. Black does just that in Iron Man 3, a superhero film that sets aside hero's bravado to dissect the man inside the suit. Barbara Morgan sat down with Black to discuss finding larger-than-life characters' interiority, navigating fan expectations, and working within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Clips of...
info_outline
Dolemite is My Name w/Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski, and Craig Brewer
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, a conversation with celebrated writing team Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, alongside filmmaker Craig Brewer, to discuss their collaboration on the hilarious, outrageous film Dolemite Is My Name. Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski are an accomplished duo best known for the “anti-biopic” - postmodern movies that defy genre expectations by focusing on lesser known people, like in their films Ed Wood, The People Vs. Larry Flynt, and Big Eyes. The pair have also earned critical and commercial success by fictionalizing well-known true stories in their hit...
info_outline
Lawmen: Bass Reeves w/Chad Feehan, Christina Voros, and Damian Marcano
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, a conversation with the creative team behind Lawmen: Bass Reeves, a show based on the incredible real life of Bass Reeves, a man who was born into slavery and later became a Deputy U.S. Marshal. He was the first black man west of the Mississippi River to hold that title, and according to creator and showrunner of the series Chad Feehan, he was “arguably the greatest lawman in the history of this country.” Taylor Sheridan is responsible for making it all happen, and this limited series is the latest installment in his television universe. Creator Chad Feehan has...
info_outline
Justified, with VJ Boyd and Chris Provenzano
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, a conversation with two of the writers on Justified: City Primeval. VJ Boyd is a writer and producer. He did both on hits like Justified and S.W.A.T. He co-created and co-showran the crime drama Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector, and he’s currently showrunning The Madness, expected to release next year. Chris Provenzano was a writer on the first season of Mad Men. Since then, he’s written on an incredibly diverse number of hits, from Archer to Justified to Silicon Valley. Barbara Morgan spoke with the two at the Austin Film Festival. Justified...
info_outline
A Conversation with Edward Neumeier
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, writer Edward Neumeier discusses his creative process behind the sci-fi cult classics RoboCop and Starship Troopers. Neumeier explores the particulars of writing for the genre, as well as his knack for disguising deep issues within expansive and captivating stories. Clips of RoboCop courtesy of Orion Pictures. Clips of Starship Troopers courtesy of TriStar Pictures.
info_outline
'Never Have I Ever' with Lang Fisher
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, we're joined by Lang Fisher for a conversation on her process of co-creating, writing, and showrunning Netflix’s hit series, Never Have I Ever. Fisher has a long history of writing and producing funny yet intelligent television, and Never Have I Ever is no exception. This fresh, coming-of-age series follows Indian-American teen, Davy Vishwakumar, who after a difficult year, is determined to heighten her social status at Sherman Oaks High Schools. Both co-created with and inspired by Mindy Kaling’s own childhood, the show's current three seasons are a remarkable...
info_outlineThis week we’ll hear from David Kessler, writer & producer of the docu-drama Minamata starring Johnny Depp.
David Kessler began his career as a stand-up comedian in the early 2000s before quickly deciding to focus on writing. After penning a spec script for Will & Grace, he switched over to drama, and optioned the life rights and book titled Minamata, written by Aileen Mioko Smith and W. Eugene Smith.
The film stars Johnny Depp as W. Eugene Smith, an American photographer who documented the effects of mercury poisoning on the citizens of Minamata, Kumamoto, Japan in the early 1970s.
The film went through various stages of development over many years before finally getting picked up by Johnny Depp’s production company.
I recently had the pleasure of speaking with David about the film’s journey to the big screen following it’s US release.
Clips of Minamata courtesy of Minamata Film, LLC