Giant Love Author Julie Gilbert In Conversation with William Broyles + GIANT (1956) screening
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Austin Film Festival + Texas Book Festival Present
Giant Love Author Julie Gilbert
In Conversation with William Broyles + GIANT screening
The Paramount Theatre
Sunday, August 24, 2025
Doors: 1pm
Film: 2pm
Discussion: 5:30pm
Join us for a conversation with Pulitzer Prize-nominated author Julie Gilbert in celebration of her latest book, Giant Love: Edna Ferber, Her Best-selling Novel of Texas, and the Making of a Classic American Film! Julie will be in conversation with Oscar-nominated screenwriter William Broyles (APOLLO 13), preceded by a screening of the epic screen adaptation of GIANT.
Signed books will be available for purchase at the event, courtesy of our friends at First Light Books.
Giant
1956, 198min/color, DCP
Directed by: George Stevens
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean
A marvelous cinematic epic made to the measurements of Texas’ grandeur, this film proved to be the last of James Dean’s short career. He certainly goes out with a bang as Jett Rink, a constant thorn in the sides of Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson’s married ranchers. If you ever plan on making a 200-minute-long movie, take note: this is how you do it right.
Julie GilbertAbout Julie Gilbert:
Julie Gilbert is a published novelist and biographer, a produced playwright and a teacher of creative writing. She attended The Dalton School and Boston University’s School of Fine Arts and studied acting with Uta Hagen. Her great aunt was the novelist and playwright, Edna Ferber, about whom Julie wrote the biography: "Edna Ferber and Her Circle," published by Doubleday in 1978 and nominated for a Book Critic’s Circle Award. Her second biography, "Opposite Attraction: The Lives of Erich Maria Remarque and Paulette Goddard," was published by Pantheon in 1995 and nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in biography. Her first book, "Umbrella Steps," a novel, was published by Random House when she was twenty-five. Her latest book, "Giant Love," was published by Pantheon, a division of Penguin Random House, in December of 2024. It tells the story of the research and writing of Ferber’s novel, GIANT, and the subsequent preparation and filming of George Stevens’ classic movie.
William BroylesAbout William Broyles:
William Broyles is the founding editor of Texas Monthly and was editor-in-chief of Newsweek in the 1980s. He wrote the book Brothers In Arms about his return to Vietnam after the war, he created the television series China Beach, and he wrote the screenplays for, among others, Cast Away, Polar Express, Unfaithful, Jarhead and Apollo 13--for which he received an Academy Award nomination. He used to visit Marfa back in the early 1970s when the Reata set from GIANT was still visible. His story on the King Ranch, "The Last Kingdom," won several awards and is the longest ever published in Texas Monthly.
Get Tickets
Giant Love Author Julie Gilbert
In Conversation with William Broyles + GIANT screening
The Paramount Theatre
Sunday, August 24, 2025
Doors: 1pm
Film: 2pm
Discussion: 5:30pm
Join us for a conversation with Pulitzer Prize-nominated author Julie Gilbert in celebration of her latest book, Giant Love: Edna Ferber, Her Best-selling Novel of Texas, and the Making of a Classic American Film! Julie will be in conversation with Oscar-nominated screenwriter William Broyles (APOLLO 13), preceded by a screening of the epic screen adaptation of GIANT.
Signed books will be available for purchase at the event, courtesy of our friends at First Light Books.
Giant
1956, 198min/color, DCP
Directed by: George Stevens
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean
A marvelous cinematic epic made to the measurements of Texas’ grandeur, this film proved to be the last of James Dean’s short career. He certainly goes out with a bang as Jett Rink, a constant thorn in the sides of Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson’s married ranchers. If you ever plan on making a 200-minute-long movie, take note: this is how you do it right.
Julie GilbertAbout Julie Gilbert:
Julie Gilbert is a published novelist and biographer, a produced playwright and a teacher of creative writing. She attended The Dalton School and Boston University’s School of Fine Arts and studied acting with Uta Hagen. Her great aunt was the novelist and playwright, Edna Ferber, about whom Julie wrote the biography: "Edna Ferber and Her Circle," published by Doubleday in 1978 and nominated for a Book Critic’s Circle Award. Her second biography, "Opposite Attraction: The Lives of Erich Maria Remarque and Paulette Goddard," was published by Pantheon in 1995 and nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in biography. Her first book, "Umbrella Steps," a novel, was published by Random House when she was twenty-five. Her latest book, "Giant Love," was published by Pantheon, a division of Penguin Random House, in December of 2024. It tells the story of the research and writing of Ferber’s novel, GIANT, and the subsequent preparation and filming of George Stevens’ classic movie.
William BroylesAbout William Broyles:
William Broyles is the founding editor of Texas Monthly and was editor-in-chief of Newsweek in the 1980s. He wrote the book Brothers In Arms about his return to Vietnam after the war, he created the television series China Beach, and he wrote the screenplays for, among others, Cast Away, Polar Express, Unfaithful, Jarhead and Apollo 13--for which he received an Academy Award nomination. He used to visit Marfa back in the early 1970s when the Reata set from GIANT was still visible. His story on the King Ranch, "The Last Kingdom," won several awards and is the longest ever published in Texas Monthly.
Get Tickets
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