This week on On Story we’ll hear from screenwriter Andrew Lanham and celebrated character actor Tim Blake Nelson on their new film JUST MERCY and later we’ll hear from screenwriters Guinevere Turner and Michael Werwie for a discussion on adapting true crime events into feature films.

First up we’ll hear from screenwriter Andrew Lanham and actor Tim Blake Nelson discussing their new film JUST MERCY. JUST MERCY  tells the true story of Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer and social justice activist, who has devoted his life to defending wrongly convicted inmates. Tim Blake Nelson, an actor with over 80 credits to his name, is best known for his role as Delmar O’Donnell in O BROTHER WHERE ART THOUGH, and is a current lead in HBO’s WATCHMEN series. Andrew Lanham co-wrote JUST MERCY with director Destin Daniel Cretton. In 2010 Lanham broke into the industry when his script THE JUMPER OF MAIN won Austin Film Festival’s Drama Screenplay Award. I spoke with Nelson and Lanham after the Closing Night screening of JUST MERCY at the 2019 Austin Film Festival.

Clips of Just Mercy courtesy of Warner Bros.

The True Crime genre has recently dominated entertainment but crafting narratives based on actual crime can be a tricky path to navigate. I spoke with screenwriters Michael Werwie, who wrote the Ted Bundy Netflix film EXTEMELY WICKED, SHOCKINGLY EVIL AND VILE and Guinevere Turner who wrote the Manson Family movie CHARLIE SAYS, about crafting compelling entertainment while respecting the human stories at the heart of the horror.

Clips of Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile courtesy of Netflix.

Clips of Charlie Says courtesy of IFC Films and Shout! Factory.