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.

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 Bentley, and his writing partner Greg Kwedar, adapted the script from Denis Johnson's 2011 novella of the same name. 
Clips of Train Dreams courtesy of BBP Train Dreams, LLC

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 to run, or if anyone tried to intervene in the crime, the gun would fire, and Hall would be killed. Kiritsis' demands were clear: he wanted five million dollars, freedom from prosecution, and an apology. 

But before we travel back to 1977, we recommend you follow On Story wherever you get your podcasts. Are you under the gun trying to finish your screenplay? With a wide range of experience writing across film and television, our guests are here to help.

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.

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 in a suburban high school. He dove into the sci-fi genre in 2012, with his time-travel action epic, Looper. Next, he served as the writer-director for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the second installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. In addition to his work on film, Johnson has also directed episodes of Breaking Bad, and created the "case of the week" crime-comedy series Poker Face.
Rian Johnson sat down with AFF moderator Casey Baron for a post-screening Q&A for his newest feature, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.