This week on On Story we’ll hear Pulitzer Prize-winning author Lawrence Wright on his new book God Save Texas and the Hulu mini-series he adapted from his 2006 book The Looming Tower. And later, we’ll hear from Twin Peaks co-creator Mark Frost on the cult television series return to air after 25 years. 

Multi-talented scribe Lawrence Wright has told stories as an author, screenwriter, playwright and journalist. Last month Wright released his highly anticipated new novel God Save Texas, which explores the history, culture, and politics of ‘the most controversial state in America’.  I interviewed Wright on the day of the books release at an event cosponsored by Austin Film Festival and The Texas Book Festival.

In 2006 Wright released the Pultizer Prize-winning novel, The Looming Tower - which explored the events that led to the September 11^th terrorist attacks. Earlier this year Wright teamed with his frequent documentarian collaborator Alex Gibney and filmmaker Dan Futterman to adapt the novel into a Hulu miniseries of the same name. The show stars Jeff Daniels, Peter Sarsgaard, and Michael Stulhbarg. Clips of The Looming Tower courtesy of Legendary Television & Hulu. 

Mark Frost started his career as a staff writer on the celebrated 80’s police procedural Hill Street Blues. In 1990, Frost partnered with filmmaker David Lynch to co-create the television series, Twin Peaks. The shows mix of melodrama, surrealism, offbeat humor and horror was quickly celebrated for being unlike anything else on network television. In 2017, the series returned to air 25 years after its initial run for an 18 episode limited series on the Showtime network. I spoke with Mark Frost about revisiting old creations at the 24^th annual Austin Film Festival in 2017. Clips of Twin Peaks (1990) courtesy of Lynch/Frost Productions, Inc., American Broadcasting Company (ABC).

We’re back with Twin Peaks co-creator Mark Frost. When we left off, Frost was discussing how 25 years of reflection led to the cult television series’ return to the air. Frost co-created Twin Peaks with award-winning filmmaker David Lynch. Known for his surrealist visuals and non-linear narratives, Lynch’s feature films include Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, and Eraserhead.

On this week’s On Story we’ll hear from filmmaker Faraday Okoro, a two-time Austin Film Festival alumni and featured in Moviemaker Magazine’s Screenwriter to Watch List. His first feature film Nigerian Prince was produced for $1 million as part of AT&T’s Untold Stories initiative. And later, we’ll hear from author Christopher Vogler, whose landmark book The Writers Journey has helped countless screenwriters shape their scripts by using the writings of mythologist Joseph Campbell.

Alec Berg has written for some of television’s most acclaimed comedies including Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Silicon Valley. He co-created the new HBO show Barry with former SNL star Bill Hader. The series follows Barry, played by Hadder, who is a depressed, low-level hit man looking for a way out. I recently spoke with Berg over the phone to discuss using research to help develop a story, avoiding clichés, and the evolution television comedies. Clips of Barry courtesy of HBO.

Next we’ll hear from three screenwriters who have tackled the difficult task of adaptation. Sarah Gubbins co-created the Amazon series I Love Dick which was based on the 1997 novel of the same name, Marc Haimes wrote the 2016 animated film Kubo and the Two Strings and is currently working on adapting the graphic novel Nimona and the best selling novel The Girl Who Drank the Moon, and Eric Heisserer who adapted the novella The Story of Your Life into the 2016 Oscar Nominated film Arrival. Gubbins, Haimes, and Heisserer spoke with me at the 24^th Austin Film Festival to discuss translating themes and literary devices, collaborating with authors, and when to take creative liberties. Clips of Arrival courtesy of Xenolinguistics, LLC. and Clips of I Love Dick courtesy of Amazon Studios and Topple Productions.

In the 1990’s he wrote the Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock action hit Speed. He followed the success of that film by writing a string of action hits that included Broken Arrow, and The Last Castle. In the 2000’s Yost returned to television writing two installments of the Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning World War II series Band of Brothers and the Emmy Award winning follow up The Pacific. Most recently Yost was the showrunner of the Emmy winning FX series Justified, the Executive Producer on the Golden Globe winning series The Americans, and showrunner of the Amazon series Sneaky Pete which was co-created by actor Bryan Cranston. Clips of Justified courtesy of Sony Pictures Television Inc. & Bluebush Productions, LLC. Clips of Justified courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Corporation. 

Netflix’s original series Friends from College follows six Harvard alums living New York City in their 40s and the complicated relationships they have with each other. The series was created by husband and wife team Francesca Delbanco and Nicholas Stoller. Stoller is known for writing and directing comedy films Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Neighbors, and Get Him to the Greek. The pair spoke about creating the comedy series after the Season 2 premiere at the 25 Annual Austin Film Festival. Clips and trailers of Friends from College courtesy of Netflix, Inc.

With six novels that produced over sixty adaptations for the screen, the talents of Jane Austen have lived on long past her time on earth. On this episode, the filmmakers behind Sense and Sensibility, The Jane Austen Book Club, and YouTube’s web series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, as well as the academic behind the interactive website What Jane Saw dot org discuss how Jane Austen’s themes and stories remain so beloved and powerful today.

Producer and studio executive Lindsay Doran has worked in the movie business for more than 30 years as a studio executive and producer. Her numerous credits on film and television include The Firm, Stranger Than Fiction and the Sense and Sensibility which earned Emma Thompson an Academy Award® for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Screenwriter, director and producer Robin Swicord wrote the screenplays for such classics as Little Women, Memoirs of a Geisha and The Jane Austen Book Club which she also directed.

Janine Barchas is a Professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin and the author of Matters of Fact in Jane Austen: History, Location, and Celebrity. She’s also the creator behind the digital heritage project “What Jane Saw” (www dot whatjanesaw dot org) and most recently, she co-curated the exhibition “Will & Jane: Shakespeare, Austen, and the Cult of Celebrity,” at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC. 

Bernie Su is the two-time Emmy Award-winning producer and creator behind YouTube’s web series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Emma Approved and Vanity. Barbara Morgan spoke with this distinguished panel at the 23^rd Austin Film Festival in 2016.

This week on On Story we’ll hear from documentary storytellers Chapman and Maclain Way on their Emmy award winning Netflix documentary Wild Wild Country. The six part series tells the true story of a controversial Indian guru and his attempt to build a utopian city deep in rural Oregon in the 1980’s.

Wild Wild Country explores the true story of an Indian guru who attempted to build a Utopian community on a ranch in rural Oregon in the 1980’s and the impeding conflict that resulted with the locals. The series was created by documentary filmmakers Chapman and Maclain Way and went on to be nominated for 5 Emmys including a win for Outstanding Documentary Series. Journalist Michael MacCambridge interviewed the Way brothers at the 25^th annual Austin Film Festival.

Clips of Wild Wild Country courtesy of Duplass Brothers Productions & Netflix, Inc. 

On this week’s episode of On Story, It co-writer, Chase Palmer discusses adapting the Stephen King novel of the same name. Later, we'll hear from horror legend Wes Craven and Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Tobe Hooper on writing for horror and scare tactics. 

Chase Palmer is a filmmaker and the co-writer of the upcoming supernatural horror film It, based on Stephen King’s 1986 novel of the same name. Palmer premiered his first short film, Neo-Noir at Austin Film Festival in 2002. He went on to win the screenplay competition in 2003 for this script, Buried Underground and then came back to the festival in 2004 to screen his next short, Shock and Awe.

Film director, screenwriter and producer Tobe Hooper is best known for this work in the horror film genre. His most recognized films include The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Poltergeist and Salem’s Lot to name a few.  Hooper died of natural causes last month at the age of 74. He attended Austin Film Festival in 1996, 1997 and again in 2002. In 2013, Hooper’s final directorial effort, Djinn was released.

Wes Craven was a film director, writer, producer and actor known for his pioneering work in the genre of horror films, particularly slasher films where his impact on the genre coined him the “Master of Horror.” Craven created the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise featuring the Freddy Krueger character, directing the first installment. Craven also directed all four films in the Scream series and the two films in the Hills Have Eyes series. Some of his other films include: The Last House on the Left, The Serpent and the Rainbow, The People Under the Stairs, and Red Eye.

Hooper and Craven’s panel discussion comes from the Austin Film Festival vault dating back to the 3^rd year of the festival in 1996. 

Clips of A Nightmare on Elm Street courtesy New Line Productions, Inc.

Clips of It courtesy of Warner Brothers Pictures.

On this week’s On Story we’ll speak with the writers behind Mad Men, Westworld, and 11.22.63 to explore audiences fascination with film and television set in the past and the challenges writers face when tasked with telling stories set in a different time. We’ll also hear from some of today’s top romantic comedy writers on the lasting influence of filmmaker Nora Ephron.

From Lawrence of Arabia to The Crown, audiences have always been intrigued by stories set in the past. But what considerations do writers have to make when telling a story in a different time and what liberties can they take when they are writing about real events or real people? Screenwriter Alvarao Rodriguez spoke with 11.22.63 creator Bridget Carpenter and Mad Men writer Carly Wray to discuss research, authenticity, and the dangers of nostalgia. Both Carpenter and Wray worked on the HBO series Westworld which takes place in a science fiction amusement park that is set in the Wild West. Wray also wrote for Netflix’s Mindhunter which follows the early days of criminal profiling at the FBI and is set in 1977.

Sleepless in Seattle. When Harry Met Sally. You've Got Mail. Julie & Julia. It’s undeniable that Nora Ephron was one of the greatest romantic comedy writer/directors Hollywood has ever seen. Professor Greg Garrett spoke with Man Up writer Tess Morris and (500) Days of Summer writer Scott Neustadter to discuss how Ephron’s films continue to entertain audiences and how her writing has influenced their own work.

Clips of Westworld courtesy of Home Box Office (HBO), Warner Brothers Television, and Bad Robot

Clips of 11.22.63 courtesy of Warner Brothers Entertainment

Clips of Mad Men courtesy of Lionsgate Television & American Movie Classics (AMC)

Clips of Silkwood courtesy of American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. 

Clips of Sleepless in Seattle courtesy of TriStar Pictures, Inc 

Clips of Julie & Julia courtesy of Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc

Clips of When Harry Met Sally courtesy of Castle Rock Entertainment

Clips of You've Got Mail courtesy of Warner Brothers, a division of Time Warner Entertainment Company, LP

This week on On Story we’ll hear Pulitzer Prize-winning author Lawrence Wright on his book God Save Texas and the Hulu mini-series he adapted from his 2006 book The Looming Tower. And later, we’ll hear from Twin Peaks co-creator Mark Frost on the cult television series return to air after 25 years. 

Multi-talented scribe Lawrence Wright has told stories as an author, screenwriter, playwright and journalist. Last month Wright released his highly anticipated new novel God Save Texas, which explores the history, culture, and politics of ‘the most controversial state in America’. In 2006, Wright released the Pultizer Prize-winning novel, The Looming Tower - which explored the events that led to the September 11^th terrorist attacks. Wright teamed with his frequent documentarian collaborator Alex Gibney and filmmaker Dan Futterman to adapt the novel into a Hulu miniseries of the same name. The show stars Jeff Daniels, Peter Sarsgaard, and Michael Stulhbarg. I interviewed Wright on the day of the books release at an event cosponsored by Austin Film Festival and The Texas Book Festival.

Mark Frost started his career as a staff writer on the celebrated 80’s police procedural Hill Street Blues. In 1990, Frost partnered with filmmaker David Lynch to co-create the television series, Twin Peaks. The shows mix of melodrama, surrealism, offbeat humor and horror was quickly celebrated for being unlike anything else on network television. In 2017, the series returned to air 25 years after its initial run for an 18 episode limited series on the Showtime network. I spoke with Mark Frost about revisiting old creations at the 24^th annual Austin Film Festival in 2017.

Clips of The Looming Tower courtesy of Legendary Television &Hulu

Clips of Twin Peaks (1990) courtesy of Lynch/Frost Productions, Inc., American Broadcasting Company (ABC)

Ric Roman Waugh is a director, writer, producer, and former stuntman. As a writer/director, Waugh’s work include Felon, Snitch, and Shot Caller. In 2019, he co-wrote and directed Angel Has Fallen, the third film in the Fallen film series, with Gerard Butler reprising his role as Secret Service agent Mike Banning. In 2020, Waugh directed the apocalyptic disaster film Greenland, which also stars Butler as a family man trying to find sanctuary from a planet-killing comet that threatens to destroy Earth. I spoke with Waugh about the film after an advance screening in Austin, Texas.

Next up, a conversation with Academy Award-winning screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie. As a writer/director McQuarrie’s films include Jack Reacher, The Way of the Gun, and the two most recent Mission: Impossible films – Fallout and Rouge Nation.  His writing credits include Edge of Tomorrow, Top Gun: Maverick, and The Usual Suspects. The Usual Suspects garnered McQuarrie an Academy Award and the BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay, as well as the Edgar Allan Poe and Independent Spirit Awards. It has since been named one of the 100 greatest screenplays of all time by The Writers Guild of America. I spoke with McQuarrie at an Austin Film Festival virtual event that was co-presented by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.