Audio Sessions
MIKE JUDGE
HARVEY WEINSTEIN
MORGAN SPURLOCK
BAUMGARTEN
DAVID SIMON
MATT STONE
STEVE BUSCEMI
SPIKE LEE
KEVIN SMITH
MARK CUBAN
GUS VAN SANT
JOE DANTE
CHARLES BURNETT
ELLEN KURAS
John Pierson’s Master Class brings in renowned guests from the film and television industry to visit with RTF students, the University community, and select members of the Austin Film Society. Members of the Master Class do extensive background research on several of the film industry guests and help instructor John Pierson prepare for the interviews.
2009 GUESTS
MIKE JUDGE, Director, Office Space; creator “Beavis and Butthead” and “King of the Hill.”
TIM McCANLIES, Austin filmmaker whose broad body of work includes writing the acclaimed animated feature The Iron Giant as well as both writing and directing Secondhand Lions, starring Robert Duvall and Michael Caine.
MARJORIE BAUMGARTEN & CHRIS GARCIA, Film critics with the Austin Chronicle and Austin American Statesman, respectively.
ELLEN KURAS, Award-winning cinematographer who has worked with numerous acclaimed directors, including Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese, Michel Gondry, and Jim Jarmusch
MARK WOOLLEN, Award-winning creator of a long list of memorable movie trailers, including Traffic, Lost In Translation, Milk, and The Wrestler.
MIKE SIMPSON, Co-Head of Motion Pictures Worldwide, William Morris Agency, agent for Mike Judge, Quentin Tarantino, PT Anderson, Tim Burton, Tommy Lee Jones, Wes Craven, and many others.
MORGAN SPURLOCK, Award-winning filmmaker, producer, and screenwriter whose credits include Super Size Me, Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden, and the FX show “30 Days.”
TOM PERROTTA, Screenwriter/novelist whose works include, Election, Little Children, and Abstinence Teacher.
RICHARD LINKLATER, Austin director of Slacker, Dazed and Confused, Waking Life, The School of Rock, Fast Food Nation, among others including the upcoming Me and Orson Welles.
HARVEY WEINSTEIN, Co-chairman of The Weinstein Company, and co-founder of Miramax Films, which has produced Pulp Fiction, Clerks and the Best Picture Academy Award-winning The English Patient, among many other well-known titles.
LISTEN TO PREVIOUS MASTER CLASS SESSIONS
The Master Class sessions are recorded by the Master Class audio team, which then goes on to produce and edit radio-friendly 30-minute versions for a monthly Sunday morning broadcast on KUT-FM. A selection of those interviews is available at right, including recent guests Matt Stone, Steve Buscemi, David Simon, and Charles Burnett.
Past guests of the RTF Master Class include Werner Herzog, Richard Linklater, Chris Smith, Lauren Zalaznick, Frederick Wiseman, Ross McElwee, Geoff Gilmore, and many more.
