Train Dreams Talk with Director Clint Bentley and Actor Joel Edgerton

Zibby's Bookshop is thrilled to partner with Netflix to celebrate the release of Train Dreams, a new film based on Denis Johnson’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated book. Join us for a conversation with director/co-writer Clint Bentley and lead actor Joel Edgerton, moderated by producer Teddy Schwarzman! Netflix will be generously gifting copies of the novella to event attendees!

About the Speakers:

Academy Award nominee Clint Bentley is a writer-director-producer whose debut directorial feature, JOCKEY (Song Pictures Classics), premiered In Competition at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, where Clifton Collins Jr. was awarded the Special Jury Prize for Best Actor for his role. Bentley and his long-time collaborator Greg Kwedar co-wrote and produced the film which went on to enjoy further global festival success with screenings at TIFF, AFI and over 30 festivals worldwide, winning the Audience Award at the AFI Film Festival. JOCKEY also received awards recognition, including two Independent Spirit Award nominations, plus The National Board of Review named it one of the Top 10 Independent Films of 2021.

Bentley and his producing partner Kwedar recently launched their production company ETHOS to develop their own original, individual and joint projects, and to champion artists under the innovative and equitable financing model that they pioneered on JOCKEY and further developed with SING SING (A24). Bentley co-wrote and produced SING SING with Kwedar, which earned them an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. SING SING received a further two Academy Awards nominations with one for lead actor Colman Domingo, as well as numerous Golden Globe, Independent Spirt Award, BAFTA and Critics Choice Awards nominations. Both AFI and the National Board of Review named SING SING in their top films of the year lists.

Bentley’s previous work includes co-writing and producing TRANSPECOS, which won the Audience Award at the 2016 SXSW Film Festival, while Moviemaker Magazine named Bentley (and Kwedar) on their ‘Screenwriters to Watch’ list. Most recently, Bentley directed TRAIN DREAMS (Netflix), an adaptation of Denis Johnson’s Pulitzer Prize finalist novella of the same name. Co-written by Bentley and Kwedar, the film premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, and stars Joel Edgerton, Felicity Jones, William H. Macy and Kerry Condon.

In addition to his film work, Bentley received a 2026 Pushcart Prize for his short story “Cairn” that first appeared in The Iowa Review. His fiction has also appeared in The Baltimore Review.

Joel Edgerton is an acclaimed Australian actor, writer, and filmmaker, born in Blacktown, New South Wales. A graduate of the Nepean Drama School, he began his career in stage and screen before gaining international attention as Owen Lars in Star Wars: Episode II and Episode III. Over the years, he has starred in a wide range of films including The Great Gatsby, Zero Dark Thirty, Warrior, Black Mass, Loving—for which he earned a Golden Globe nomination—and The Gift, which also marked his directorial debut. Edgerton’s versatility extends to voice work, stage performances, and co-writing Netflix’s The King.

Most recently, Edgerton starred in AppleTV+’s Dark Matter and Charlie Polinger’s The Plague, which premiered at Cannes. He also produced the award-winning Sundance documentary Daughters and appeared in The Boys in the Boat, directed by George Clooney. Upcoming, he will star opposite Felicity Jones in Train Dreams, directed by Clint Bentley and adapted from Denis Johnson’s novella. He has also wrapped production on Netflix’s Australian limited series Boy Swallows Universe and continues to take on projects as both actor and producer.

Edgerton’s filmography is marked by collaborations with top-tier directors including Ridley Scott, Ron Howard, David Lowery, and Jeff Nichols. Notable past roles include Thirteen Lives, The Stranger, Master Gardener, and the Emmy-winning Amazon series The Underground Railroad. A frequent contributor to Australian cinema and theater, he continues to split his time between Australia and London, maintaining a dynamic presence across film, television, and stage.

As Black Bear’s CEO, Academy Award nominee Teddy Schwarzman oversees all aspects of the globally renowned independent studio founded in 2011. He has been the driving creative force behind more than 40 feature films, including such acclaimed titles as The Imitation Game, Sing Sing, Nyad, and Mudbound — with 17 Academy Award nominations among them, including a Best Picture nod for The Imitation Game. Schwarzman also recently produced Clint’s Bentley’s Train Dreams, starring Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones, for Netflix; David Mackenzie’s Relay, starring Riz Ahmed and Lily James; David Michôd’s Christy, starring Sydney Sweeney, Merritt Wever, and Ben Foster; and The Rivals of Amziah King, starring Matthew McConaughey, Angelina LookingGlass, and Kurt Russell. Schwarzman also recently served as Executive Producer on David Ayer's action hit A Working Man, starring Jason Statham, and Osgood Perkins’ horror sensation Longlegs.

Schwarzman is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and the Producers Guild of America. He sits on the Board of Directors of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, the Gotham Film Institute, and the Pacific Council on International Policy, as well as the Leadership Committee of Cedar-Sinai’s Board of Governors. He is an honorary member of the Board of Visitors for the Duke University School of Law.