AFF

Badgeholders at Austin Film Festival usually have a clear idea what panels they want to go to in the four days of panels, pitches, mentoring sessions, and more. Whether you're a professional, still aspiring for pro status, or just a fan, there is something for everyone among the panels. If you're a first-time badgeholder or don't have any set plan, here are some of the panels of interest, particularly those with an Austin twist.

I should point out for AFF newbies that not every panel is open to everyone. AFF has strong teaching ties, as well as the script competitions, so some are restricted to those specific groups, but they are clearly marked.  But don't worry, the conference includes plenty of panels left over for the rest of us, and some even run twice. 

Thursday

Going to the Opening Remarks may seem unnecessary, but it's a good way to find out last-minute changes, additions and special guests. Following that, AFF Conference: How to Work it just may help you strategize your time and maximize your badge. You can follow that with A Conversation with Edward Burns moderated by James Faust of the Dallas International Film Festival. I haven't heard Burns talk, but Faust should keep the conversation moving.

In a little more than a week, ten screens around town will fill up with some of the best films of the year -- including potential Oscar contenders -- at Austin Film Festival, which runs from October 21-28.

If you haven't heard, AFF is one of the qualifying festivals that help films along the road to the Oscars, such as last year's selections An Education and Precious. You could say that AFF is the kick-off to "for your consideration" season, when studios start releasing and screening the films they hope will bring home at least one little gold statue.

Now, those films usually play just once at Austin Film Festival, and usually at the Paramount, the biggest venue in town. But this year, Austin Film Festival is also using Austin Convention Center to show movies, and while their seats are no more comfortable than the Paramount, it means more people can see them. So hopefully there won't be so many disappointed people who couldn't see An Education because it screened at the smaller theater in Alamo Drafthouse at the Ritz.

Austin Film Festival has announced the bulk of its films for the 2010 festival, including marquee screenings and locally made films. The fest still has yet to announce its opening-night, closing-night and centerpiece movies, but I'm sure we'll find that out soon. In the meantime, we've got a lot to look forward to seeing in October. AFF announced its conference schedule last week.

"Marquee screenings" are the big-name films, many of which might be Oscar contenders. One of the nice things about AFF is that it is late enough in the year to give Austin audiences a sneak preview of these end-of-year prestige films, which often don't open here until January or February. Some of these films are from filmmakers who have brought their movies to AFF in previous years.

For example, one of the marquee films is 127 Hours, the latest from Danny Boyle, who was at AFF 2008 with Slumdog Millionaire. Kelly Reichardt's film Wendy and Lucy was the centerpiece film at SXSW 2008 and now AFF brings us her new film, Meek's Cutoff.

Austin Film Festival has just announced the first films in its lineup for the October festival and conference, and several are from Austin and Texas filmmakers. The "Early 10" also includes some movies from Hollywood filmmakers and actors.

Fair Game, directed by Doug Liman (Mr. and Mrs. Smith), will have its regional premiere at the fest. The action thriller based on Valerie Plame's autobiography stars Sean Penn and Naomi Watts ... and also San Antonio native Bruce McGill, who was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame this year. Actor Dax Shepard (who was in the Austin-shot comedy Idiocracy) makes his feature filmmaking debut as the writer and co-director of Brother's Justice, in which he plays an actor named Dax who decides to become a martial-arts action star.

Texas-connected films include Rainbows End, I Didn't Come Here to Die and Dig, all of which are having their world premieres at AFF this year. I Didn't Come Here to Die was shot locally; Dig was shot partially in Austin as well as in South Texas.

Full details on all of these films after the jump. Austin Film Festival runs from October 21-28 this year. We're looking forward to finding out AFF's complete lineup, which should be announced in mid-September.

Last week, Austin Film Festival (AFF) announced confirmed panelists from the film and television industries, including David Simon, this year’s recipient of the 2010 Outstanding Television Writer award. Simon is the creator of HBO’s The Wire, where he served as executive producer, head writer and showrunner for the duration of the series. Simon brought in local musical favorite and former Texan Steve Earle to play a struggling street musician in his new HBO series Treme. Earle's song "The City" was used in the season finale. I've not seen either series personally, but I'm intrigued enough to watch Treme after reading reviews by residents of New Orleans. General consensus is that Simon has painted a lifelike portrait of what New Orleans life was like post-Katrina -- and a plus is one of my favorite actors, John Goodman, stars.

The AFF Screenwriters Conference offers over 65 panels, craft sessions and roundtable discussions led by more than 100 industry professionals. As I mentioned in my wrap-up of AFF 2009, I enjoy attending panels and gaining insight into the creative processes of film and television writing and production. I think AFF has the most to offer for anyone wanting screenwriting content at a local conference.

The confirmed screenwriter and filmmaker speakers for the 2010 Austin Film Festival will include several writers who've worked on some films connected to Central Texas. John Lee Hancock wrote and directed A Perfect World and The Rookie, which were both filmed in and around Austin. Peter Hedges wrote the screenplay based on the original novel for What's Eating Gilbert Grape. Machete co-writer Alvaro Rodriguez will also speak at this year's conference -- whether co-writer and cousin Robert Rodriguez will make a surprise appearance is anyone's guess at this time. He unexpectedly popped into an AFF screening of Spy Kids yesterday. However, I'm sure Machete  will generate a lively discussion due to recent controversy as reported in a recent Slackery News Tidbits.

We have two winners from last week's Simmons on Vinyl contest. Each winner will be able to pick up two pairs of tickets before the Austin Film Festival-sponsored screening at Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek on Thursday night. Winners, I will be emailing you today with the details.

Congratulations to Cecy Correa and Zack Teibloom. Zack's favorite album on vinyl is Led Zeppelin I, and Cecy's is Saturday Night Fever.

For everyone else, you can still buy tickets for Thursday night's screening and they are quite affordable ($4), so check it out. Here's my review again if you need a refresher on what the movie is about.

Summer is almost officially here with plenty of free summer movies, and there's still time to register for kids' summertime filmmaking camps and workshops in Austin. A few of last summer's offerings are either full or are no longer taking place -- Dougherty Arts Center has no film classes this year -- but kids still have plenty of camps and sessions to choose from.

These affordable camps and workshops provide unique experiences for local youth in various aspects of filmmaking including acting, screenwriting, editing and animation. At the end of many of them, friends and family are invited to attend a screening of the movie campers helped make, or bring home a DVD to hold their own private screening party.

Here's a list of all the summer movie-related camps and classes in the Austin area that we could find. Some of the descriptions are pretty much verbatim from press releases or websites -- although I was the Sierra Cubs Camp director for several years, sadly I've yet to be involved in any kids' film camps. Although they're for kids and not adults, don't be too disappointed -- you'll find a couple of options for grownups at the end of the list.

If I've missed anything, let me know in the comments and I'll add the info to the list.

[Editor's Note: Why yes, I did swap out of the photo accompanying this entry -- apparently some people think a bare butt is NSFW. They are probably correct.]

Last year, I caught the low-budget comedy Simmons on Vinyl at Austin Film Festival. I liked it so much that when I heard AFF was bringing the movie back for an encore screening at Alamo Drafthouse at Lake Creek this month, I asked if Slackerwood could give away a couple of pairs of tickets. The nice AFF folks agreed, so now you have a chance to see this very funny indie for absolutely free.

The film screens on Thursday, May 27 at 7:30 pm at Alamo Lake Creek. Mark Potts, Cole Selix and Brand Rackley -- who between them wrote, directed and acted the three main roles in the film -- will be at the screening. They'll also preview a bit of their new film S&M Lawn Care. They run a pretty funny Q&A, as I recall.

Slackerwood is giving away two pairs of tickets to the May 27 screening. You have two ways to enter the contest -- the fun extroverted way and the easy introverted way:

• The fun way: Post a comment on this entry that tells us what your favorite record (on vinyl) is or was, and why.
• The easy way: Use the Slackerwood content form to send me a message that includes your name, with the subject line "Simmons on Vinyl." I know some of you are shy about posting comments or publicly admitting your favorite record (or that you are too young to have ever owned something on vinyl).

You may recall that in my 2009 in Review article, I named the Austin Film Festival's "Made in Texas" monthly screenings as "Film Series I Most Want to Return in 2010." I'm happy to report that Made in Texas is returning this month -- I'm sure my article had everything to do with it -- and will run through September.

The series kicks off on Wednesday, March 10 with Roadie, the 1980 Alan Rudolph film that was shot on location around Austin. The movie stars Meat Loaf and Art Carney, but the cast also includes Sonny Carl Davis (The Whole Shootin' Match), Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel, and a number of other musicians.

The films will be shown monthly on Wednesdays at 7:30 pm in the Texas Spirit Theater at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. Admission is free for AFF and Texas State History Museum members, and $5 for everyone else.

Last year, Slackerwood featured a Guide to Austin Summer Film Camps that listed local day camps for kids interested in making movies. Although Tuesday's snowfall might make you think that summer's far away, it's never too soon to enroll in these highly sought-after programs.

Here are a couple of Austin summer film camps that have already opened registration for this year ... for kids a bit older than the budding filmmaker pictured at right.

Austin Film Festival Summer Film Camp 

Austin Film Festival's Young Filmmakers Program is proud to present the eighth annual Summer Film Camp. The camp offers students unparalleled access to in-depth, personal instruction on screenwriting, filmmaking and claymation from local industry professionals. This year, the camp's workshops and panels will take place at Austin High School.