Bowling for Slackery News Tidbits

Austin StudiosIt's Monday morning and we've got your hot exciting local film-related news for you! It's also too damn early for exclamation points and excitement. But, you know, some of this news is almost as energizing as coffee.

  • Austin Chronicle writer Marc Savlov asked Tim League exactly what in the world is going on with Alamo Drafthouse these days, and got some happy news. The Leagues are turning the old Salvation Army space near Alamo South into a bowling alley/private karaoke/fun space where you can wait to see a movie at Alamo or chat about one afterwards. I admit I got a little misty when I read that the bowling lanes are from the old Rock'n'Bowl in New Orleans. I assume this space will be ready in time for Fantastic Fest. Yay!
  • Austin Film Society has announced plans to lease one of the Austin Studios stages long-term to Soundcheck Austin. Some people are concerned that this will knock out availability of one of the Austin Studios facilities just as Texas may get more film productions due to the new film-incentives law. To discuss these concerns, AFS is holding a public forum at Austin Studios on Thursday, June 25, from 11 am to noon.
  • Hey, did you know that San Antonio has a film festival coming up? Because I didn't, until I saw an ad in the background of a friend's photo. The San Antonio Film Festival runs from June 25-28 at the Instituto Cultural de Mexico. The festival focuses on indie films -- no studio movies here -- and includes a number of shorts and features from Central Texas filmmakers. A number of the events also include live music.

    Austin-related films playing the fest include the doc The Other Side of Immigration, which played Cine Las Americas; Trust Us, This is All Made Up, the improv "concert film" by new-to-Austin filmmaker Alex Karpovsky, which played SXSW this year; the doc Art from the Streets ; Under the Bridge, a doc shot in Austin about a man who poses as homeless for 30 days; and the feature Fifth Form.

  • And a quick congrats to local film producer/Villa Muse vice-president Paul Alvarado-Dykstra, who was elected Central Region representative to the Texas Motion Picture Alliance last week.

Wi-fi!

I can't imagine that it would be otherwise, but wi-fi connectivity at the new place would kick some serious ass.