Bringing together a motley assortment of misfits in a complex comedy-drama that affirms our shared humanity across ostensibly insurmountable differences, AS GOOD AS IT GETS (1997) was brought to the screen by producer/writer/director James L. Brooks – who also helps guide the next generation of storytellers as Artistic Director of the AFI Conservatory – and...

Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (2006) follows an eccentric family who take an epic cross-country road trip in support of their daughter’s beauty pageant dreams. Starring Abigail Breslin, Toni Collette, Alan Arkin, Steve Carell and Paul Dano, the film was honored with an AFI AWARD in 2006 and, according to...

From co-writer/director – and AFI Honorary Degree recipient – Nora Ephron comes YOU’VE GOT MAIL (1998), the quintessential romantic comedy that pits an independent bookseller against a juggernaut superstore – both in business and in romance, when the key principals of each connect across the anonymity of the burgeoning internet. The film features the iconic...