On Wicked, with Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox

This week on On Story, a conversation with screenwriters Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox , on the years-long labor of love that brought Wicked from the stage to the big screen. Wicked takes us back in time to before the events of the classic film The Wonderful Wizard of Oz . The story follows Elphaba Thropp, played by Cynthia Erivo, a misunderstood outcast who was born with green skin, and magical powers that she can't always control. While escorting her younger sister to her first day at university, Elphaba accidentally uses her powers in an emotional outburst. The university's Dean of Sorcery sees this display and decides to take Elphaba under her wing and privately tutor her. Elphaba accepts in the hope that she can fulfil her lifelong dream of working with The Wizard of Oz, who she believes will see past her unusual exterior and value her for her magical talents. Elphaba finds herself reluctantly sharing a room with the popular and wealthy Galinda, played by Ariana Granda. The pair clash and compete for academic attention, before forming an unlikely friendship. But, when Elphaba learns about the mounting oppression of Oz's population of anthropomorphic animals, she is forced to make a choice between being accepted into Oz's ruling class, or standing up for what she believes in. Wicked was the first in a two-film series, followed by Wicked: For Good . Winnie Holzman has been writing in the world of Oz since the late 90s, when she wrote the book for the stage musical Wicked , alongside composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz. The stage musical was inspired by the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , written by Gregory Maguire. Holzman has been drafting the film adaptation for the last decade, with the process moving into hyper-speed once her co-writer Dana Fox, and director Jon M. Chu joined the project. She also created the edgy 90s teen drama My So Called Life . Her other TV writing credits include Thirtysomething , and Huge, and she has appeared as an actor in Jerry Maguire, Curb Your Enthusiasm , and more. Co-writer Dana Fox broke into the industry writing romantic comedy films including T he Wedding Date, What Happens in Vegas , and Isn't it Romantic . More recently, Fox co-wrote the script for the 2021 film Cruella , starring Emma Stone as Cruella de Vil. Dana Fox and Winnie Holzman sat down with AFF moderator Erin Hallagan Clare to talk about worldbuilding, the process of adaptation, and writing an emotionally grounded story in the movie-musical Wicked . Clips of Wicked courtesy of Universal City Studios Productions LLLP

You can listen to On Wicked, with Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

On Wicked, with Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox is an episode from AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL'S ON STORY PODCAST by Austin Film Festival.

This episode is 25:20 long.

This episode was published on Apr 8, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL'S ON STORY PODCAST when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.