Austin Film Festival's On Story

• On Writing YA, with Julie Plec

  This week on On Story, a conversation with Julie Plec on her love of YA storytelling, and her experience co-creating and co-showrunning The Vampire Diaries. The Vampire Diaries is a supernatural, romantic teen-drama which ran for 8 seasons from 2009 to 2017. The show follows the life of a mortal teen girl, Elena Gilbert, as she navigates grief, love triangles, small town politics, and supernatural threats from ghosts, to werewolves, to evil doppelgängers. The success of The Vampire Diaries allowed Plec to expand this magical world into two spinoff shows, The Originals, and Legacies.  Plec began her career as a co-producer and personal assistant to Wes Craven while he directed the first three installments of the Scream franchise. She did rewrites for Scream and Scream 2, and in that process she befriended legendary horror screenwriter Kevin Williamson, who would later become her co-creator and co-showrunner on The Vampire Diaries. Plec has gone on to serve as co-creator and co-showrunner of Peacock’s Vampire Academy, and direct episodes of Roswell, New Mexico, and Riverdale. In 2020, her production company, My So-Called Company, signed an overall deal with Universal Television, which included the production of her new show for Amazon Prime, We Were Liars. AFF moderator Fabienne Harford spoke with Plec about how she responds to pressure from fans while writing, and her insistence on writing YA content that respects its audience.  Clips of Vampire Diaries courtesy of CBS Studios and Warner Brothers Clips of the Originals courtesy of CBS Studios and Warner Brothers Clips of Riverdale courtesy of CBS Studios and Warner Brothers

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• The Last Showgirl Q&A with Gia Coppola

  This week on On Story, a conversation with Gia Coppola on her process directing The Last Showgirl. This dazzling drama follows the sunset years of Shelly Gardner, a middle-aged Las Vegas showgirl, played by Pamela Anderson. Shelly faces an uncertain future after the iconic revue she’s been starring in for decades stages its final performance. At the same time, Shelly must navigate her relationships with her fellow dancers, and her estranged daughter, played by Billie Lourd. The film had its Texas premier at the 2024 Austin Film Festival, and went on to receive nominations at the Golden Globes and the SAG Awards.  Gia Coppola is a director and screenwriter who made her directorial debut in 2013 with Palo Alto, a coming-of-age drama following a group of self-destructive teenagers in a California suburb.  I sat down with Coppola to talk about her collaborations with her star–studded cast including Jamie Lee Curtis, and John Bautista, and her process bringing the glitz and glam of The Las Vegas Strip to the big screen.  Clips of The Last Showgirl provided by Roadside Attractions. 

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• Script to Screen: Twisters

  This week on On Story, a conversation with screenwriter Mark L. Smith on writing Twisters – the 2024 summer film that took audiences by storm…literally! The action-packed, thrilling adventure directed by Lee Isaac Chung is a standalone sequel to the 1996 film Twister starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton and produced by Austin Film Festival awardee Kathleen Kennedy. Yet, as the plurality suggests, stakes are raised in Twisters as meteorologist Kate Copper, played by Daisy Edgar Jones, tests a groundbreaking storm tracking system. Copper’s world spirals when she crosses paths with cowboy, social media superstar Tyler Owens, played by Glen Powell as the two storm chasers fight for their lives in the plains of Oklahoma.    Mark L. Smith is best known for writing the screenplays The Revenant, starring Leonardi Di Caprio whose performance in the film earned him the Academy award for Best actor, The Midnight Sky, directed and starring George Clooney, and The Boys in the Boat, produced and directed by Clooney. Simply put, Smith is a mastermind at crafting stories that are sure to keep audiences at the edge of their seats.    I sat down with Smith at our annual Writers Conference to discuss writing captivating action sequences and his process of writing a script which both honors and builds off the original 90s blockbuster.  Twisters clips courtesy of Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures.

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• On Writing Vida, with Tanya Saracho

  This week on On Story,  a conversation with the creator and showrunner Tanya Saracho on her process crafting the hit Starz television series Vida. Saracho is a critically-acclaimed playwright and television writer known for featuring authentic latine storylines. In fact, Saracho co-founded the Untitled Latinx Project (ULP), whose mission is to increase Latine representation in television through content created by Latine writers and directors. Further, Saracho also launched the Ojalá Ignition Lab, an incubator program aimed to nurture, amplify, guide, and empower intersectional Latine voices.  With her roots in Theatre, Saracho formed Chicago's Teatro Luna in June 2000. This ensemble of all latina women helped establish Saracho as a theater artist before she ultimately co-founded The Alliance of Latinx Theater Artists (ALTA) of Chicago. Saracho’s dedication to diverse stories carried over to her television work as she wrote on popular female-driven shows such as Devious Maids, Girls, and How to Get Away with Murder before Saracho created Vida for Starz.   Vida, the heartwarming family drama, quickly became a critical success upon its release, charming critics and audiences alike with its tale of two mexican-american sisters who return home to Boyle Heights, Los Angeles after the death of their mother. The show, which aired for three seasons, artfully tackled gentrification in LA, fraught family dynamics, and sexuality from an authentic latine point of view. AFF moderator and writer herself Marcelena Campos Mayhorn sat down with Saracho to discuss creating the pioneering series.  Vida clips courtesy of Starz Entertainment. 

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• A Conversation with Meg LeFauve: Inside Out of Pixar

  This week on On Story, a conversation with screenwriter Meg LeFauve on her career as a writer at Pixar, where she co-wrote Inside Out and Inside Out 2, as well as The Good Dinosaur. Inside Out follows the personified emotions of Riley, a young girl who struggles to fit in after her family relocates from Minnesota to San Francisco. Riley’s emotions are stored as memories, and her most impactful experiences become core memories, which each define a central part of her personality. The story follows the chaos that ensues after Joy and Sadness go missing in the depths of Riley’s mind, leaving Fear, Anger, and Disgust in control of Riley’s emotional reactions. Inside Out 2 picks up when Riley is entering high school and follows the clash between Riley’s original emotions, and four new additions: Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment, and Ennui. Both films were Oscar nominated, including a nomination for LeFauve for Best Original Screenplay for her work on Inside Out.  LeFauve began her film career as a producer and president of Jodie Foster’s production company Egg Pictures. LeFauve produced The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, which won the 2003 Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. I spoke with LeFauve about her experience taking the leap and moving from her stable producing career into the chaotic world of writing for Pixar. After Inside Out she went on to work as a writer on Captain Marvel, Onward, and My Father’s Dragon. LeFauve also co-hosts the Podcast, The Screenwriting Life, which is dedicated to the craft and profession of screenwriting.  I sat down with Meg LeFauve to discuss her journey from producer to Oscar nominated writer.  Clips for Inside Out courtesy of Disney Plus and Disney Enterprises, Inc

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