The film and TV talents who’ve occupied the hot seat at UT prof John Pierson’s Master Class are so famous they hardly require a last name: Linklater. Judge. Buscemi. Stone. Simon. Silent Bob. Tonight, a fresh batch of interviewees debuts on KUT’s O’Dark 30.
The radio cuts of Pierson’s sprawling interviews are disappointingly short but still give a good sense of how informative and candid the classes are. Tonight’s episode focuses on Art Linson, the prolific producer behind Car Wash, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and Fight Club, to name but a few, as well as the author of the memoir What Just Happened, which Barry Levinson turned into a film starring Robert De Niro.
Linson shares recollections of his collaborations with David Mamet, Brian De Palma, Sean Penn, and David Fincher (at whom Linson takes a very funny swipe).
O’Dark 30, which airs Sundays at midnight, hosts the Master Class interviews for the next four weeks. See below for the whole lineup.
Aug. 21: producer Art Linson
Aug. 28: Michael Barker, co-president, Sony Pictures Classics (taped the day after the Oscars)
Sept. 4: filmmaker Jay Duplass (The Puffy Chair, Cyrus)
Sept. 11: SXSW Film Producer (and wife of John) Janet Pierson
This article appears in August 19 • 2011.
