San Antonio Film Festival Co-Sponsors TFPF Workshop

Now that we're in mid-April, the deadline for the Texas Filmmaker's Production Fund is getting closer and closer. But that doesn't mean we've stopped hitting the road for more workshops. This past Tuesday (April 10), I made my first foray into the workshop world by presenting one in San Antonio in the Longwith Radio-Television-Film building at San Antonio College.

San Antonio College lives just a few blocks off of I-35 near the heart of downtown San Antonio. San Antonio Film Festival director Adam Rocha met me at the RTF building and took me on a tour. After checking out the luxurious lecture hall, we went to see the rest of the building. Adam showed off the school's radio station, KSYM 90.1 FM, where their Hot Mustard morning radio show goes on. Just within the past few years, the RTF department moved out of a nearby house into the Longwith RTF building, which also houses two TV studios and a music production facility.

San Antonio Film Festival cosponsored this TFPF workshop. SAFF is quickly approaching, with dates running from June 18 to June 24. The festival will occur in film venues around San Antonio and should prove to be another great year for it. The lineup hasn't been revealed yet, but stay tuned to their website for upcoming announcements.

Several successful TFPF filmmakers have come from the San Antonio area over the past few years. Ya'Ke Smith (Wolf, Katrina's Son) has received a few TFPF grants. His most recent, Wolf, premiered at this year's SXSW to exceptional response (Mike's review). Also, Wilfred Shipley's Mentiroso received funding in 2010 and was screened as part of our AFS ShortCase this year at SXSW.

Austin Film Society will be retuning to the San Antonio area next week for a screening of An Ordinary Family on April 24. The film was one of my favorites from this past year's Austin Film Festival and to this day I still recommend director Mike Akel's other film, Chalk, as one of my favorite films from Austin. Texas Independent Film Network will be presenting this screening, cosponsored by San Antonio Film Festival, at the Santikos Bijou Cinema Bistro. Mentrioso will be screening before the film.

Thanks to Adam Rocha, San Antonio College and all the San Antonio filmmakers who came out to the workshop. Over a month remains before the TFPF deadline, so make sure to apply for your projects.