AFF 2010 Daily Dispatch: Day Three

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Some people really know how to work a festival, including Slackerwood contributor Chris Holland, who also happens to be the author of Film Festival Secrets.  Another person is Mark Potts, whose film S&M Lawn Care is one of several of his films that have played AFF. Mark was on the "The $2 or the $200,000 Film: What You Need to Know" panel, which I was planning on seeing and missed, but thanks to Chris's tweets, it was almost like I was there. Check out the hashtag for #lowbudgetfilm that Chris used to get the gist of the panel, at least Mark's comments.

I made it to the Showrunner panel with Noah Hawley and Peter Murrieta, which was moderated by Andy Langer. I loved the analogy that a Showrunner is like a writer who's also a manager of a 7-11.  Sounds a lot like being a *gasp* manager. Only with assistants helping to avoid the other minions when you need a breather.

I made the mistake of grabbing a bit to eat with Jette over at the Driskill Grill. I had the much recommend cheese soup, but the other food we ordered took forever to arrive (like, more than a half hour when there were only three indoor tables seated). The waitress was great, but unfortunately either the warm OJ or the otherwise wonderful cheese soup did not agree with me, badly. Instead of helping settle my post-tequila tummy, well... I'm hoping to recover by tomorrow's Hair of the Dog brunch.

Thankfully that was after running into Clay Liford (Earthling, My Mom Smokes Weed), who's not only a juror this year, but is about to return to Austin to live. Clay graciously let me take his picture, above, so if you see him around, say hi.

New Low played today, and Elizabeth's review is going live soon, so keep an eye out for it. And I'm really glad that Dog Sweat won an honorable mention award; it's going to play again, and my review is going live Monday, so keep an eye out for it. Hopefully more folks made it up to I Didn't Come Here to Die, because it's a good little horror flick. And point of trivia: The gas station featured in an early seen just happens to be the same one used in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane

So tomorrow, I'm gonna go see Kyle Killen presents ...  Lone Star, because I really want to hear that Q&A. Lone Star, if you remember, was a quickly cancelled Fox show, one that showed promise, and also happens to be filmed in Texas.  Kyle also happens to be an Austinite, so go support him. Prior to that, the Hair of the Dog brunch, because I'm feeling the need for such, followed by the The Art of Storytelling with the 2010 Awardees panel.  The award winners were announced today, and the films are so different, it seems like a great opportunity to learn more from and about these filmmakers.

Then it's back to the Cinemin Swivel Theater at ACC for Miss Nobody followed by S&M Lawn Care.  Finally. I want to see how it changed in the last year, and I'm looking forward to the comedy short Sleep Study starring Austinite and former AFF staffer John Merriman. Anyone who knows me knows that's a focal point in my life right now, so I'm the prime audience for that, although anyone spending any time at a film festival can relate. Then, I think I may be seeing The Last Lovecraft.  It's hard to believe I've yet to be at the Alamo even after three days at a festival.

I realize I'm talking a lot about Mark and his film. I'm not crushing, honest.  But I will be talking more about them, because they're savvy filmmakers, and all-around nice guys.