Episode 98: ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ with ‘The Office’ and ‘Maniac’ Writer Caroline Williams

Episode notes

Caroline Williams is a screenwriter originally from Atlanta, Georgia. In 2008 she created the ABC series Miss Guided starring Judy Greer and Chris Parnell, about a high school guidance counselor who must relive her unpopular high school days when another old classmate joins the faculty and staff. From there, Caroline went on to write for The Office, Modern Family, Up All Night, BoJack Horseman and others including, most recently, Arrested Development and Maniac for Netflix. In addition to television, Ms. Williams has written on studio features and directed short films, and she’s currently setting up her feature directorial debut. She is also married to fellow filmmaker Drew Goddard, Oscar nominated writer of The Martian and director of Cabin in the Woods and Bad Times at the El Royale.

The movie that Caroline chose to discuss can be found in the video store under “dreamy” – that would be Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock. She and April explore the makings of a good mystery and how sometimes things are better left unexplained. Caroline elaborates on the importance of writing structure – by both knowing when to follow it and when to stray. And she also talks about the joy of being able to direct something she has written.

You can see Caroline’s work all over the place.

And if you haven’t seen Picnic at Hanging Rock, you simply must!

With April Wolfe and Caroline Williams.

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Produced by Casey O’Brien and Laura Swisher for MaximumFun.org.