Writer-director Jeff Nichols and actor Michael Shannon discuss their successful creative partnership, beginning with “Shotgun Stories”, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Austin and Seattle Film Festivals, and the International Jury Prize at the 2007 Viennale. The pair have since collaborated on “Take Shelter,” and “Mud”. “Take Shelter” won the Critics Week Grand Prize and the SACD Award for Best Feature at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and also earned Nichols the Austin Film Award and Shannon the Best Actor Award from the Austin Film Critics Association. “Mud” was the recipient of the Film Independent Robert Altman Spirit Award and was one of the highest grossing independent films of 2013.