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 clips ..read more

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 ..read more

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 mastercla ..read more

This week on On Story, we're joined by writing partners Noah Harpster and Micah Fitzerman-Blue, known for their collaboration on projects such as the award-winning film based on the life of Mr. Rogers, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, their work writing and producing the Amazon series, Transparent, and co-creating and co-showrunning their upcoming Netflix series, Painkiller. Known for their talents writing stories based on true events, Painkiller is no different, as it's an honest exploration of the birth of the opioid crisis in the United States, starring Matthew Broderick and Uzo Abuda ..read more

This week on On Story, we're joined by the comedic genius Stephen Merchant for a conversation on his impressive career in television. Perhaps best known for co-creating (with Ricky Gervais) BBC's The Office, Merchant's work writing and directing the critically acclaimed show attributed to the series earning multiple comedy awards, including three BAFTA awards, two British Comedy awards, two Golden Globe awards, a Primetime Emmy, and a Peabody Award, all before Merchant served as the executive producer on the immensely successful adaptation. The US series was a long-running hit, receiving five ..read more

This week on On Story, a conversation with acclaimed writer, director, and producer James Gray to discuss not only his artistic process, but how he established himself as one the industry’s most talented writer-directors.  A true visionary, Gray made his directorial debut with his celebrated film Little Odessa, which earned him nominations for both Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay at the 1994 Independent Spirit Awards. Other esteemed features in Gray’s canon include The Yards, starring Joaquin Phoenix, who is in fact a frequent collaborator of Gray’s, and We Own the Night, sta ..read more

This week on On Story we're joined by director Ric Roman Waugh for a post-screening deep dive into his newest action thriller, Kandahar. Formerly an actor and stuntman who appeared in countless films, including Universal Soldier, The Last of the Mohicans, and Lethal Weapon 2, Waugh is certainly no stranger to action. Now known for his work as a writer, producer, and director, Waugh utilizes his background in stunt work to create many of today's leading thrillers, such as Felon, Snitch, Shot Caller, and Angel Has Fallen, serving on all as writer and director. Recently in 2020, Waugh direct ..read more

This week on On Story, it's all about Women Talking, and I'm not just referencing our powerhouse guests, Academy Award-winning producer Dede Gardner and Oscar-nominated writer-director Sarah Polley, but also their newest film collaboration and adaptation, Women Talking. Women Talking is a drama feature based on Miriam Toews' critically acclaimed novel of the same name. Inspired by true events from a sequestered community in Bolivia, the film follows a group of women in an isolated religious colony as they struggle to reconcile their faith amidst a series of assaults committed by the colony's m ..read more

Austin Film Festival was proud to recognize Nikyatu Jusu during our annual Awards Luncheon as the 2022 New Voice Award recipient, an award intended to spotlight unique and captivating new voices in film, television, and new media. Nanny is a psychologically complex horror-thriller which follows Aisha, a recently-emigrated woman from Senegal who is hired to care for the daughter of an unbalanced white couple living in New York's Tribeca neighborhood. Through her work, Aisha begins to unravel, begging the question: When does the American Dream look more like a nightmare? Barbara Morgan sat down ..read more

This week on On Story we’re joined by writer & showrunner Glen Mazzara as he discusses the ins and outs of the industry, and how his experiences developed him into a versatile writer.  Glen Mazzara is a writer and producer whose work includes AMC’s The Walking Dead, The Shield, and Damien. Damien, a TV Drama based on the classic horror film, “The Omen”, follows the film’s protagonist, Damien as he copes with his life after finding out he is the prophesied Antichrist. The Shield, a Primetime Emmy Award-winning Drama series following the lives and cases of dirty cop Vic Mackey and the L ..read more