This week on On Story we’ll hear from screenwriting duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods on how the classic silent films of Charlie Chaplin and Jacques Tati and the board game Monopoly inspired 2018’s biggest horror hit A Quiet Place. Later we’ll hear from Veteran screenwriter Linda Woolverton who is responsible for writing some of Disney’s most beloved films; Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Maleficent.

Filmmakers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods first met as sixth-graders in their hometown of Bettendorf, Iowa. The two quickly began a creative collaboration that continues today.  Most recently the pair wrote the screenplay for A Quiet Place. The film stars Emily Blunt and John Krasinski as a husband and wife who are forced to raise a family in a post apocalyptic world surrounded by monsters who hunt anything that makes a noise.  The horror film was one of 2018’s biggest hits – it received critical acclaim and grossed over $300 million. Filmmaker Christopher Boone spoke with Beck and Woods about writing the genre script at the 25th Annual Austin Film Festival in 2018. Clips of A Quiet Place courtesy of Paramount Pictures Corporation.

Writer Linda Woolverton has built a career on telling family friendly stories. In 1991 she wrote her first animated feature, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. The film won a Golden Globe and became the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards®. She continued her success with Disney by contributing to the scripts for The Lion King, Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey and Mulan. More recently, Woolverton wrote the screenplays for Tim Burton’s live-action Alice in Wonderland and 2014’s Maleficent which starred Angelina Jolie. Story Bar Founder Erin Hallagan spoke with Linda Woolverton at the 25th Annual Austin Film Festival in 2018. Clips of Beauty and the Beast (1991) courtesy of the Walt Disney Company. Clips of Alice in Wonderland (2010) & Maleficent courtesy of Disney Enterprises, Inc.