'W.' marks spot for Austin fest

October 19, 2008 The Austin fest, now in its 15th year, is the only film festival to focus primarily on the writers of TV and film. In addition to film screenings, the first four days are crammed with wide-ranging panels and Q&As, where hundreds of aspiring writers can get face time with screenwriting professionals like John Lee Hancock ("The Rookie"), Kirsten Smith ("The House Bunny"), Shane Black ("Kiss Kiss Bang Bang"), Jake Kasdan ("Walk Hard"), John August ("Corpse Bride") and Jeff Nathanson ("Catch Me If You Can"). On opening night, many of those attendees lined up around the block to get a look at Stone's biopic of our embattled 43rd president, who began his political career as governor of Texas 13 years ago.

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