This post in our Oscar series covers the writer and director of “Manchester by the Sea,” Kenneth Lonergan. Kenneth, amazingly started off his writing career with one of my favorite childhood shows, “Doug.” After that, he went on to write a few major hits, including “Analyze This,” “Gangs of New York,” and “You Can Count on Me.” He’s also a playwright.

A few questions from the interview:

“The idea for Manchester By The Sea came from Matt Damon and John Krasinski. How did you approach it and make it your own? How do you build off something like that?”

“You’re from New York originally, but this is so specific to place, to Massachusetts, to this one town. Were you familiar with it at all? How important was it for it to be set there?”

“Matt had the final cut on the film. What was your reaction to that? How did you feel about it being in Matt’s hands?”

You can find the full article here: A.V. Club: Kenneth Lonergan on the happy accidents behind one of the year’s saddest (and best) films