On this week’s episode of our podcast, we’re featuring two more highlights from the 53rd New York Film Festival. First, you’ll hear a conversation with the team behind the new film Brooklyn, which opens in select theaters next week. After that, you’ll hear a presentation from screenwriter/journalist Mike Jones about the highs and lows of professional screenwriting. Subscribe to The Close-Up on iTunes, and, if you like what you hear, leave us a review!

Brooklyn stars Saoirse Ronan as an Irish immigrant in the 1950s torn between her new life in New York and her roots in Ireland. The film was adapted from Colm Tóibín’s novel by Nick Hornby, whose powerful script is elevated by director John Crowley’s vivid re-creation of mid-century America and Ireland. After the press screening of the film, festival selection committee member Marian Masone joined Crowley, Ronan, Hornby, Tóibín, and producer Finola Dwyer on stage for a Q&A. During the discussion, they talked about why they take issue with the word “sentimental,” how they approached the film’s meticulous set and costume design, and the process of adapting Tóibín’s novel.

In part two of the episode, you’ll hear Mike Jones’s keynote discussion from the festival’s immersive media program, Convergence, entitled “The Working Screenwriter.” Jones has been a professional screenwriter for 15 years, working with independent producers, big studios, and now Pixar. He draws on this wealth of experience to give an honest and humble portrait of what it’s really like to work in the industry today. Through stories of rejection, failure, and disappointment, Jones ultimately offers an encouraging and empowering message: no matter what, a writer must stay true to one’s self.