Back in October, shortly after I interviewed Oscar-winning screenwriter Tom Schulman for Austin Film Festival's Script-to-Screen: Dead Poets Society panel, I posted a few lessons learned from our conversation.

Now AFF's OnStory provides a full 27-minute episode dedicated to our conversation including clips from the film to illustrate Schulman's talking points. Schulman describes the challenges of selling a script with the title Dead Poets Society, his relationship with director Peter Weir, and Robin Williams' ability to add subtle touches to the character of John Keating to make him even more dynamic.

Oh, and you can watch my attentive listening skills as I do my best to keep my mouth shut as Schulman talks to make life easier for OnStory editors.

You can check out the full episode below:

One of the things that stood out to me the most during my preparation for this panel conversation and during the panel itself was how well Dead Poets Society stands up as a film over 25 years later. Part of that may be that the film was a period piece, so it never felt tied to the late '80s when it was released and therefore couldn't become dated. For me, though, the story of Todd and Neil each finding their unique voices through the encouragement of an unorthodox teacher and the paths they choose is what really resonates with me. Plus, the final scene of the film gets me every time.

Our thanks to AFF's OnStory for sharing this panel conversation. You can watch all of the previous OnStory episodes on their website.

Source: Austin Film Festival's On Story

Austin Film FestivalonstoryTom SchulmanDead Poets Societyscreenplay
Screenwriting