The Writer's Toolkit: Inspiration
Austin Film Festival's On Story
Next Up, we’re joined by three accomplished writers, Virgil Williams, Nicole Perlman, and Scott Rosenberg, for a conversation on finding and maintaining inspiration. Virgil Williams began his career in television, writing on 24 and ER. In 2011 Williams joined the writing staff of the grisly FBI procedural Criminal Minds, and stayed on for a six-season run as a writer and producer. Williams earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for his work writing the script for the 2017 historical drama Mudbound, following the clash between two Southern families as they...
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On Wicked, with Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, a conversation with screenwriters Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, on the years-long labor of love that brought Wicked from the stage to the big screen. Wicked takes us back in time to before the events of the classic film The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The story follows Elphaba Thropp, played by Cynthia Erivo, a misunderstood outcast who was born with green skin, and magical powers that she can’t always control. While escorting her younger sister to her first day at university, Elphaba accidentally uses her powers in an emotional outburst. The university’s Dean of...
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Refeed: On Dark Winds
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, we’re taking a trip back in time to an interview with writer, creator, and showrunner Graham Roland, as he discusses developing his AMC series Dark Winds. Roland joined us to share the origins of the project, the creative challenges behind adapting Tony Hillerman’s iconic novels, and what excited him most about bringing these characters to the screen. Let’s dive into his conversation and hear his thoughts on crafting Dark Winds.
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On Train Dreams, with Clint Bentley
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, Clint Bentley will talk to us about his work writing and directing Train Dreams. Train Dreams recounts the life of Robert Granier, an early 20th century logger and railway construction worker played by Joel Edgerton. Granier works in seasons, and his work keeps him separated from his family for months at a time. Throughout the story, Granier is haunted by the violence he’s witnessed in the course of his work, and he spends his life searching for meaning in the face of a world that seems to destroy and reconstruct itself around him at breakneck speed. Clint...
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Dead Man's Wire Q&A with Austin Kolodney
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, we’re joined by screenwriter Austin Kolodney for a conversation on the historical crime thriller Dead Man’s Wire. The film is based on the true story of a 1977 kidnapping carried out by Tony Kiritsis. Kiritsis believed that his mortgage broker, Richard O. Hall, was conspiring to unjustly seize Kiritsis’ property for himself. On a cold February morning in 1977, Kiritsis went to Hall’s office and wired the muzzle of a sawed-off shotgun to Hall’s neck. The trigger of the gun was connected to Hall by a “dead man’s wire” meaning that if Hall tried...
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Dissecting Top Gun, with Christopher McQuarrie
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, we’re joined by a titan of the action genre, Christopher McQuarrie, for a behind the scenes deep dive into Top Gun: Maverick. But before we ride into the sunset, we recommend you follow On Story wherever you get your podcasts. Sometimes finishing your screenplay can feel like trying to land an F-14 Tomcat with a blown out engine and an empty gas tank, but, armed with a wide range of experience writing across film and television, our amazing guests are here to bring you home.
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Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery Q&A, with Rian Johnson
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, we’re talking to Rian Johnson about his process writing and directing Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. This third installment of the Knives Out series follows an ambitious young Catholic priest, and former boxer, named Jud Duplencity. Jud teams up with detective Benoit Blanc after the divisive Monsignor of his small, rural parish is murdered mid-sermon. Outside of the Knives Out series, Johnson has two decades of experience writing and directing in the mystery and sci-fi genres. He made his directorial debut in 2005 with Brick, a neo-noir mystery set...
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The Prestige Miniseries, with Craig Mazin and Marissa Jo Cerar
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, a conversation on the prestige miniseries with Craig Mazin and Marissa Jo Cerar. Craig Mazin is the creator, writer, and executive producer of HBO’s Emmy-winning limited series Chernobyl. Chernobyl is a five-episode historical drama following the events leading up to the Chernobyl disaster and the cleanup efforts that followed. Mazin is also known for co-creating and co-writing HBO’s The Last of Us, and for his work on comedy films such as Scary Movie 3, and Identity Thief. Marissa Jo Cerar is the creator of the NAACP Image Award-winning...
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Succession, with Susan Soon He Stanton
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, we’re joined by Susan Soon He Stanton for a look inside the writers room of the hit HBO drama, Succession. Succession centers on the Roy family, the ultra-rich owners of a global media conglomerate called Waystar RoyCo. The family business is spearheaded by aging patriarch, Logan Roy. As Logan’s ability to lead the company becomes more and more uncertain, his adult children fight to out-maneuver their Father, and each other, to seize control. Each of the Roy children enters this fight for power carrying baggage from their bizarre upbringings within this cold,...
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Bojack Horseman, with Allison Flierl and Joe Lawson
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, a conversation on the animated tragicomedy series Bojack Horseman with two of its writers, Alison Flierl and Joe Lawson. The series follows Bojack, a washed-up former sitcom star who’s trying to stage a comeback in Hollywood, while fighting against his own addiction and self-destructive tendencies. Bojack is also an anthropomorphic horse inhabiting a world where humans and animals live side-by side. The series, which ran for six seasons on Netflix, features the voice acting talents of Will Arnett, Amy Sedaris, Aaron Paul, and a rotating cast of celebrity...
info_outlineThis week on On Story, a covnersation with writer-director Rian Johnson on his love of genre media from noir to sci-fi, and the long process of outlining which allows him to craft intricate stories without getting lost in the second act.
Johnson made his directorial debut in 2005 with the neo-noir mystery, Brick. Set against the backdrop of a suburban high school, Brick draws inspiration from classic noir mysteries while adding a coming-of-age twist. Johnson dove into the sci-fi genre with his time-travel action-thriller Looper, released in 2012. Starring Bruce Willis, Looper follows the work of contract killers who are tasked with executing targets who have been sent backwards through time by crime syndicates from the future. Next, Johnson served as writer-director for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, an installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Most recently, Johnson has been busy writing, directing and producing his murder-mystery film franchise Knives Out.
After earning Johnson an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, Knives Out was followed by its first sequel, Glass Onion. The third film in the series, Wake Up Dead Man, will be coming to select theaters this November before streaming on Netflix. The series is known for its star-studded ensemble cast, led by Daniel Craig, as the eccentric, gentlemanly detective, Benoit Blanc. In addition to his work in film, Johnson has also directed episodes of Breaking Bad and created the case-of-the-week crime-comedy series Poker Face, starring Natasha Lyonne.
Barbara Morgan sat down with Rian Johnson for a conversation on his expansive career and his intricate writing process.
Clips of Brick courtesy of Focus Features.
Clips of Looper courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing.
Clips of Knives Out courtesy of Lionsgate.
Clips of Poker Face courtesy of Peacock.