Filmmakers

Barry Levinson

Bill Thompson

Barry Levinson is an Oscar-winning film director and screenwriter. But it also turns out he’s a pretty good novelist.

The man famous for such films as Diner, Rain Man, and Good Morning, Vietnam wrote a novel in 2003 called Sixty-Six.

Like his Baltimore-based movies, Sixty-Six was the story of young men dealing with momentous changes in their lives and in the society around them.

When his book was published, Levinson went on an author tour, and that’s when I had the chance to meet him.

So here now, from 2003, Barry Levinson.

Barry Levinson will be 80 years old next month. His most recent project: he was co-executive producer of last year’s Hulu mini-series “Dopesick.”

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John Waters

Bill Thompson

Hairspray. Cry-Baby. Serial Mom. Pink Flamingos.

Photo: PEN American Center

Filmmaker John Waters has a long, illustrious, and unique body of work.

He started making movies in the early 1960s, but only rose to prominence in the ’70s, and by the ’80s was a cultural icon.

I first met him in the fall of 1986. He had just published a by collection of his writings, a slender little book called “Crackpot.”

So here now, from 1986, John Waters.

That movie he John Waters was talking about, near the end there — yes,. that was Hairspray.

John Waters celebrated his 74th birthday this spring. While he hasn’t made a movie in several years, he was seen earlier this year in an episode of “Law & Order SVU.”