10 Feb Griffin Dunne in Conversation with Martha Frankel
Already known and loved for his work as a film actor (Scorcese’s After Hours, An American Werewolf in London), director (Addicted to Love, Practical Magic), documentary filmmaker (The Center Will Not Hold, about his aunt, Joan Didion), and TV star (he wowed us as for 6 seasons as Uncle Nicky in This is Us), Griffin Dunne proved himself as adept with words as his father, the writer Dominick Dunne, his uncle, the writer John Dunne, and his aunt, literary behemoth Joan Didion, with his 2024 powerhouse bestselling memoir, The Friday Afternoon Club. The book describes growing up in affluent Los Angeles, even when money was tight and the aftermath of his sister’s murder by a jealous boyfriend.
We are over the moon to have Dunne as our keynote speaker this year. He will be joined on stage by Bookfest director Martha Frankel, who’s already thought of a hundred things she’d like to talk with him about!
Martha Frankel is the executive director of Woodstock Bookfest, an avid cook, a good pen-pal, the diarist for The Mountains magazine, and Fluffy Frankel’s mom.
While known for starring in such iconic films like An American Werewolf in London and Martin Scorsese’s After Hours, Golden Globe Award nominee Griffin Dunne continues to charm audiences and critics alike almost 30 years later. He was in the hit NBC series This Is Us, opposite Mandy Moore and Sterling K. Brown. Other credits include the Oscar-winning Dallas Buyers Club, as well as a starring role in Joey Soloway’s provocative Amazon Studios dramedy I Love Dick opposite Kevin Bacon and Kathryn Hahn. He can currently be seen in the HBO MAX series The Girls on the Bus. Griffin debuted as a director with his Oscar nominated short film Duke of Groove and has since directed Addicted to Love with Meg Ryan, Practical Magic with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, and the critically acclaimed Netflix documentary The Center Will Not Hold about his aunt Joan Didion. His New York Times best-selling family memoir, The Friday Afternoon Club, was released in the summer of 2024.
Get a Full Festival pass and you’ll get to take in the Story Slam on Thursday night. Then sail into the weekend: attending all the wonderful panels, both parties, and both evening events. And share the bounty from our always-stuffed goody bag.