The Conference was the first event of its kind, bringing professional and amateur screenwriters together to celebrate the role of screenplays in filmmaking and host conversations focusing on craft and on particular films and television series.

Films showcase the art and craft of strong narrative storytelling and screenings are often accompanied by question and answer sessions with cast members and filmmakers.

Past guests of the Festival include Joel and Ethan Coen, Ron Howard, Luke Wilson,[1] Owen Wilson, Steven Zaillian, David Milch, Wes Anderson, Robert Duvall, Buck Henry, Dennis Hopper, Shane Black, Robert Altman, Caroline Thompson, David Chase, James Franco, Johnny Depp, John Landis, Garry Shandling, Bryan Singer, Oliver Stone, James L. Brooks, Harold Ramis, Mitchell Hurwitz, Lawrence Kasdan, Claire Danes, Barry Levinson, Russell Crowe, Sydney Pollack, Mike Judge, Buck Henry, John Lasseter, Robert Rodriguez, Jeff Daniels, and David Simon.

[6] The film slate, programmed by Bears Fonte and Stephen Jannise, featured more World and U.S. Premieres than in any prior year of the festival including the world premieres of Ambush at Dark Canyon (as To Kill a Memory), Come Morning, Congratulations, Ex-Girlfriends, Flatland 2: Sphereland, Idol Is Dead, Junk, Last Man(s) on Earth, Mar Del Plata, Murt Ramirez Wants to Kick My..., The Muslims Are Coming!, Pictures of Superheroes, The Rep, Sample This, Spinning Plates, and Spring Eddy, which was produced by Executive Director Barbara Morgan and written and directed by George Anson, one of the first AFF programmers.

Sarandon presented a retrospective screening of John Turturro's Romance and Cigarettes, and joined a conversation on the art and craft of storytelling with the other 2013 awardees, Vince Gilligan (Outstanding Television Writer), Jonathan Demme (Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking), Callie Khouri (Distinguished Screenwriter), and Barry Josephson (Heart of Film Award).

Coffee, Kill Boss stars Eddie Jemison (Ocean's 11-13, Hung), Noureen DeWulf (Anger Management) and Robert Forster (Jackie Brown, Mulholland Drive).

[8][9] Overall, the 2013 festival included 28 world premiere features: Cavemen, Finding Neighbors, Jack, Jules, Esther and Me, The Odd Way Home, Siren, Dog Days, Living Dolls, Political Bodies, Take Away One, 120 Days, La Navaja de Don Juan, Brightest Star, Coffee, Kill Boss, Mop King, Blood Punch, Dark Mountain, Innocence, Dug Up, Dear Sidewalk, The Road to Livingston, Sombras de Azul, Always Learning, The Bloc, The Fable of Shannon Cable, Handy, Not Safe For Work, Speak Now, and 3 References, as well as another 8 US premieres.

Sheridan presented his 1993 film In the Name of the Father, followed by a conversation with other 2014 awardees, Matthew Weiner (Outstanding Television Writer), and Edward Zwick (Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking).

Austin Film Festival's Opening Night featured a screening of Richard Lagravenese's The Last Five Years starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan.

Rosewater, based on the New York Times best-selling memoir Then They Came for Me: A Family's Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival, stars Gael Garcia Bernal.

Notable films screened at AFF included Shoplifters, Boy Erased, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, The Front Runner, Little Woods, The Dancing Dogs of Dombrova and Roger Corman's Rock All Night (1957), The Black String.

Writer-Director Paul Kowalski won the Narrative Feature Audience Award and a Jury mention for his film Paper Tiger, which made its world premiere.

The conference sessions cover basics like researching and editing your story, pitching and marketing your script or film, finding and working with a writing partner or director, facing a blank page on a bad day, or risking a new direction after establishing success.

2021 Scott Frank (The Queen's Gambit) 2019 Ronald Bass (Rain Man) 2018 Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton (film) 2017 Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea) 2016 Nancy Meyers (The Intern), (The Holiday) 2015 Brian Helgeland (42), (A Knight's Tale) 2014 Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot), (In the Name of the Father) 2013 Callie Khouri (Thelma & Louise), Nashville 2012 Eric Roth (Forrest Gump, The Insider, Munich) 2011 Caroline Thompson (Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas) 2010 David Peoples (Blade Runner, Unforgiven) 2009 Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) 2007 John Milius (Apocalypse Now, Conan the Barbarian) 2006 Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) 2005 Harold Ramis (Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day) 2004 Barry Levinson (Sleepers, Toys) 2003 Frank Pierson (Dog Day Afternoon, Cool Hand Luke) 2002 Richard LaGravenese (P.S.

I Love You, The Fisher King) 2001 Lawrence Kasdan (Return of the Jedi, Raiders of the Lost Ark) 2000 Paul Mazursky (Down and Out in Beverly Hills, An Unmarried Woman) 1999 James L. Brooks (The Simpsons, As Good as It Gets) 1998 Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull) 1997 Buck Henry (The Graduate, Catch-22) 1996 Bill Wittliff (Legends of the Fall, The Perfect Storm) 1995 Horton Foote (To Kill a Mockingbird, Tender Mercies) 2022 Stephen Merchant (The Outlaws) 2021 Michael Schur (Parks and Recreation) 2019 David Benioff & D. B. Weiss (Game of Thrones) 2018 Larry Wilmore (The Bernie Mac Show) 2017 Keenen Ivory Wayans (In Living Color) 2016 Marta Kauffman (Grace and Frankie), (Friends) 2015 Norman Lear (All in the Family), (The Jeffersons) 2014 Matthew Weiner (Mad Men), (The Sopranos) 2013 Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad), (The Lone Gunmen) 2012 Chris Carter (The X-Files), (Millennium) 2011 Hart Hanson (Bones, The Finder) 2010 David Simon (Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, The Wire) 2009 Mitchell Hurwitz (The Ellen Show, Arrested Development) 2008 Greg Daniels (King of the Hill, The Office) 2007 Glenn Gordon Caron (Now and Again, Medium) 2006 David Milch (NYPD Blue, Deadwood) 2005 Mike Judge (Beavis and Butt-Head, Office Space) 2004 Garry Shandling (It's Garry Shandling's Show, The Larry Sanders Show) 2003 Tom Fontana (The Jury, Oz) 2002 Darren Star (Sex and the City, Beverly Hills, 90210) 2001 Gary David Goldberg (Family Ties, Spin City) 2000 David Chase (Northern Exposure, The Sopranos) 2022 Darren Aronofsky (The Whale) 2018 Roger Corman (The Wild Angels), (The Pit and the Pendulum (1961 film) 2017 Walter Hill (Alien), (The Warriors) 2016 Paul Feig (Ghostbusters), (The Heat) 2015 John Singleton (Four Brothers), (2 Fast 2 Furious), (Shaft) 2014 Edward Zwick (Glory), (Legends of the Fall) 2013 Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs),(Philadelphia) 2012 Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption, The Walking Dead, The Green Mile) 2011 John Lasseter (Up, Tangled, Toy Story) 2010 Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Grindhouse) 2009 Ron Howard (The Da Vinci Code, A Beautiful Mind) 2008 Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours) 2007 Oliver Stone (Platoon, Wall Street) 2006 Sydney Pollack (Out of Africa, Tootsie) 2015 Chris Cooper (The Bourne Identity), (American Beauty) 2013 Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking), (Atlantic City), (Thelma & Louise) 2011 Johnny Depp (Edward Scissorhands, Alice In Wonderland, Pirates of the Caribbean) 2019 Daniel Petrie Jr. (Beverly Hills Cop) 2013 Barry Josephson (Columbia Pictures), (Enchanted), (Bones) Polly Platt Award for Producing 2021 Stephanie Allain (Hustle & Flow) 2019 Sarah Green (film producer) (The Tree of Life (film)), (Loving (2016 film)) New Voice Award Nikyatu Jusu (Nanny) 2021 Channing Godfrey Peoples (Miss Juneteenth) 2019 Catherine Reitman (Workin' Moms) Since 1994, Austin Film Festival has been recognizing the work of the writer through the Screenplay and Teleplay Competitions.

With representatives from agencies and production companies participating in the judging process, advancing writers and their scripts gain industry attention, networking opportunities and workshops.

In past years, judges have included representatives from Warner Bros., Nickelodeon Movies, ABC Studios, Fortis Films, Pixar, Escape Artists at Sony, Oasis Media, United Talent Agency and many others.

This book presents the advice of award-winning screenwriters who have appeared on the show On Story, including John Lee Hancock, Peter Hedges, Lawrence Kasdan, Whit Stillman, Robin Swicord and Randall Wallace.