Quick Snaps: Alison Macor Chats About Austin Film

On Saturday, Jenn Brown and I headed out to the wilds of Round Rock -- or at least the former wilds -- to see local author Alison Macor discuss her new book, Chainsaws, Slackers, and Spy Kids. I noted on the drive out there that the La Frontera strip mall, where the Barnes and Noble was located, had been little more than woods back in the 1970s and is allegedly where part of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was shot. So if you think about it, it was an ideal location for the event.

Author and freelance film writer Joe O'Connell led a discussion with Macor about a wide range of local film-related topics. Appropriately, they started with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, then worked their way over to Slacker, The Whole Shootin' Match, the numerous interviews Macor held as part of her extensive research for the book, the publishing process with UT Press, and Austin movie theaters through the ages. Some of the other audience members have been living in Austin all their lives and had some great stories about downtown theaters, including one that was so old and unstable its ceiling collapsed during a film one day.

Most of what O'Connell and Macor discussed is in Chainsaws, Slackers, and Spy Kids, which you can buy and read for yourself. And if you want to read O'Connell's film stories, you might check out his blog. If that's not enough, Exploitation Cine Digest's Anne Heller videotaped Macor during part of her reading and talk at BookPeople back in March, and I've embedded it below for your enjoyment.

[Photo credit: Jenn Brown; video credit: Anne Heller]