A Conversation with Kemp Powers

Hello podcast listeners, I’m Barbara Morgan and you’re listening to Austin Film Festival’s On Story. This week on On Story we’ll hear from award-winning screenwriter, playwright, producer and director, Kemp Powers. Kemp Powers is a Golden Globe-award winning, playwright, producer and director. In 2020 he co-directed and wrote the Academy Award Winning Pixar animated feature, Soul. He later wrote the critically acclaimed Amazon feature, One Night In Miami, which he adapted from his 2013 award-winning stage play. He was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 2021 Academy Awards. The film is a fictional account of one incredible night where icons Muhammad Ali, Malcom X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown gathered to discuss their roles in the Civil Rights Movment of the 60s. I spoke with Kemp Powers about his journey as a writer at a year round Austin Film Festival event that was co-presented with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Educational Initiatives.

Clips of One Night in Miami courtesy of Amazon Studios.

Clips of Soul courtesy of  Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios.