Slackery News Tidbits: June 23, 2014

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Here's the latest Austin film news.

  • Austin will be the setting of two upcoming TV series. KUT reports that HBO is developing God Save Texas, about a freshman Texas legislator wooed by energy lobbyists. Writer/co-producer Lawrence Wright is basing the show on his play Sonny's Last Shot. No word yet on whether it will actually be shot in Austin. And per Austin Business Journal, Amazon is producing Hysteria, a series starring Mena Suvari as a psychiatrist at The University of Texas at Austin who's investigating a teen epidemic related to the title. This series might actually shoot locally, considering a recent casting call.
  • Local screenwriter/author/former film critic C. Robert Cargill has his next project lined up: He's co-scripting The Outer Limits with Scott Derrickson, who co-wrote the horror feature Sinister with him too. The movie will be based primarily on an episode of the 1960s anthology show titled "Demon with a Glass Hand," originally written by Harlan Ellison. (via Hollywood Reporter)
  • Cinema Eye Honors, which recognizes documentary filmmaking, announced its shortlist last week for the Nonfiction Film for Television Award. The ten candidates include All About Ann: Governor Richards of the Lone Star State, the HBO documentary about the Texas governor that screened in an earlier incarnation as Ann Richards' Texas at Austin Film Festival 2012 (Debbie's review). Anyone out there seen both, and can comment on the differences?
  • What are you doing tonight? The Austin Asian American Film Festival is sponsoring a special screening of PJ Raval's documentary Before You Know It (Don's review) at Violet Crown at 6:30 pm. Raval will participate in a Q&A via Skype after the screening.
  • In other news, it looks like the Austin Asian American Film Festival may be returning in November... keep an eye out here for updates.
  • Austin Web Festival kicks off Thursday night, June 26, and runs through Saturday night at Alamo Drafthouse Ritz, The Hideout and the Omni Hotel. The fest will screen an international selection of web series episodes, as well as hosting panels about creating and promoting your own web series.