Contributors
Jette Kernion - Founder and Editor-in-Chief
- Twitter: @jettek
I'm a freelance writer who also happens to love movies. I feel very lucky to live in Austin, where you can see a free movie at a venue every day if you want, and which offers such a wonderful range of movie screenings and events. So I decided to share the news about Austin film by founding Slackerwood. I also work on a variety of other writing and editing projects.
Debbie Cerda - Senior Contributor
- Contact: debbie [at] slackerwood [dot] com
- Website: A Geek of Small Consequence
- Twitter: @snax
I studied journalism at Texas A & M University, where I volunteered as a deejay and Program Coordinator for KANM Radio. My favorite class was the "History of Film", where I learned an appreciation for Sergei Eisenstein, Fritz Lang, and other master filmmakers.
As an active member of the now defunct Austin Cinemaker Co-op, I participated in the "Make a Film in a Weekend (MAFIA") and "Splice of Life" filmmaking events. As a result, I collect Super 8 cameras and film.
I've spent a lot of time volunteering at movie premieres in Austin for South by Southwest Special Venues Crew, and enjoy being on the red carpet side of things now. Here's hoping my photojournalism class from Texas A & M stuck with me!
My favorite genre is science fiction, having grown up watching "Them" and "Forbidden Planet" every time it was on TV. The first movie I recall seeing in a movie theater as a child was a Sergio Leone flick with Clint Eastwood. As of January 2015, I am a programmer and Outreach Director for Other Worlds Austin, Austin's premiere science fiction festival.
I am the senior contributor for Slackerwood and served as the lead curator and project manager for Austin Film Society's annual SXSW ShortCase film series from its inception through 2014. I have contributed as a freelance journalist for SXSWBaby in 2014 and for Indiewire for SXSW 2015. Looking for new opportunities in film journalism as we wind down Slackerwood by May 27, 2015.
I am also a proud member of the Austin Film Critics Association, Austin Film Society and a supporter of UT's Women in Cinema organization.
Mike Saulters
- Contact: neploxo [at] hotmail [dot] com
- Twitter: @MikeSaulters
Herding programmers by day and slinging words by night, I came to Austin twenty years ago hoping to make movies. After the requisite 7 years to complete a CS degree at UT, I found I was perfectly happy watching and writing about them while working separately in a field that's much more suited to keeping bills paid. I have contributed scores of reviews for Ain't It Cool News writing under the nom-de-clavier Augustus Gloop, mostly festival coverage for AFF, SXSW and Fantastic Fest.
Matt Shiverdecker
- Contact: mattshiv [at] att [dot] net
- Website: http://letterboxd.com/mattshiv/
- Twitter: @shivvy
78704 resident who is a rabid collector of physical media, especially Criterion Collection Blu-rays. Former music director of indie rock internet radio broadcaster WOXY.com.
Don Clinchy
- Contact: dclinchy [at] austin [dot] rr [dot] com
After 23 years in a film-oriented town like Austin, I've become quite the film nerd, seeing about 80 films a year. I prefer low-budget, quirky, character-driven indie films (if a film can change one's life, Slacker changed mine). But I'll watch almost any high-quality film no matter the genre. (Note: A chick flick must be extraordinarily well reviewed, profoundly original, and boldly artistic before I'll watch it. The opposite is true for exploitation films, which I'll watch no matter how awful they are, because that's the point. I'm a film nerd -- not a film snob.)
I have a journalism degree from Trinity University and a longtime day job as a technical writer at National Instruments. Like most any good technical writer, I'm also the author of two inexplicably unpublished novels.
When not being a film nerd, I'm a political rabble-rouser, Facebook junkie and Texana nerd who collects Texas-related books and films.
Elizabeth Stoddard
- Website: http://elizs.tumblr.com/
- Twitter: @elizs
I'm a native Texan and longtime resident of Austin. I graduated from Austin College (in Sherman, Texas) with a major in English and minor in Music. My one film class there was on the movies of Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam. Otherwise my knowledge of cinema is mostly self-taught, as I grew up watching classic films (thanks to the childhood friend who first introduced me to Bringing Up Baby) and branched out from there. I enjoy spreading the word about movies that were made in Texas, and write a Lone Star Cinema review post for Slackerwood once a month.
Caitlin Moore - Assistant Editor
- Contact: caitlinmoore82 [at] gmail [dot] com
- Twitter: @caitmoore
A movie lover since I can remember (as a kid I used to watch a scratchy recorded-from-television VHS of THE WIZARD OF OZ almost daily), I've loved living in Austin for the past eight years. Responsible enough to have a dog and a real job, I also tend to stay up too late talking about movies (and sometimes other things) while sipping cocktails on various patios around town.
Marcelena Mayhorn
- Website: http://mmayhorn.blogspot.com/
- Twitter: @mmayhorn
Marcelena Mayhorn received a BFA in Filmmaking from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. A native Texan, she has worked for Austin Film Festival and is currently a freelance screenwriter, writer and copywriter here in Austin. She loves breakfast tacos, hitting up the Alamo Drafthouse as often as possible, and people who save you a seat in the movie theater (especially during festival time!).
Jordan Gass-Poore'
- Contact: jgasspoore [at] yahoo [dot] com
- Website: jgasspoore
- Twitter: @jgasspoore
Jordan Gass-Pooré is a senior English and mass communication double major at Texas State University. She will (finally) graduate in December 2015. The moment she laid hands on a newspaper and her fingers were stained with black ink that she could smear on her older cousin’s white clothes, she was hooked.
Since then, Jordan has been on a mighty crusade to prove that the pen is mightier than the sword, sharpening her writing skills through internships with the Los Angeles News Group, Austin American-Statesman and San Antonio Express-News, among others, and working with high school students as an English tutor and mentor.
Jordan lived in Canterbury, England, for six months in 2010 and looks forward to returning, hopefully as a reporter with The Guardian in London.
Chale Nafus
- Website: Austin Film Society
I'm the Director of Programming and a Founder's Circle member at the Austin Film Society.
Katy Daiger Dial
- Contact: katy [at] austinfilm [dot] org
- Website: Austin Film Society
Katy was born and raised in Houston, Texas, where she developed an eclectic love of all things film – from JURASSIC PARK to GONE WITH THE WIND. She moved to Austin to get her RTF degree from the University of Texas and never left the Bat City. She currently serves at the Community Education Manager at the Austin Film Society. Before AFS, she worked as the Video Game & Animation Industry Liaison for the Texas Film Commission, where she grew the State’s educational opportunities and economic benefits. She’s also had her hand in other aspects of filmmaking, working as Assistant Managing Director for CinemaTexas Short Film Festival and doing research and publicity for the documentary RICHARD GARRIOTT: MAN ON A MISSION. Katy has a Master’s Degree from the UT School of Information and has served on the Steering Committee for non-profit arts organization StrataTX. In those rare moments that she’s not working on, talking about or experiencing the moving image industry, Katy is indulging in her love of historical fiction and digital archives.
Lars Nilsen
- Contact: lars [at] austinfilm [dot] org
- Website: Austin Film Society
- Twitter: @thelarsnilsen
Holly Herrick
- Contact: holly [at] austinfilm [dot] org
- Website: Austin Film Society
I'm the Associate Artistic Director at the Austin Film Society.
James Christopher
- Website: http://www.twitchydolphin.com
- Twitter: @twitchydolphin
James Christopher is the President and co-founder of Twitchy Dolphin Flix.
Chip Rosenthal - Technical Director
- Contact: chip [at] unicom [dot] com
- Website: It's Just This Little Chromium Switch Here
- Twitter: @chipr
Chip Rosenthal is the Technical Director for Slackerwood. He is a software engineer and consultant. He has watched "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" more times than you have.
Natalia Ciolko
- Twitter: @nataliaciolko
Natalia Ciolko is a writer based in Austin, Texas. She has served in various editorial and production roles with The Texas Tribune, Sundance Film Festival, The Guardian, the San Antonio Current, The FADER and The Daily Texan. Born and raised in San Antonio, Natalia is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin with a degree in journalism.
Stephanie Baker
- Contact: stephanie [at] austinfilm [dot] org
- Website: Austin Film Society
Ryan Long
- Contact: ryan [at] austinfilm [dot] org
- Website: Austin Film Society
Austin Culp
- Website: Austin Film Society
Austin Culp is the Interim Artist Services Manager at the Austin Film Society.
Virginia Yapp
- Contact: news [at] austinfilm [dot] org
- Website: Austin Film Society
Reid Lansford
- Website: Austin Film Society
Reid Lansford is a Stage Manager at the Austin Film Society.