Slackery News Tidbits

In New Orleans, January 6 is the first day you can buy a king cake before Mardi Gras ... it's the Feast of Epiphany, or Three Kings' Day. So all I can think about today is cake. Fortunately, I'm distracting myself with a lot of local film news, some of which is really good.

• My favorite news this week: Local filmmaker Kristoffer Aaron Morgan's upcoming film production The Home has been picked up by Dimension Films (the Weinsteins' horror-movie company). Morgan and Eric Vespe wrote the script for this horror movie. Morgan is someone I always see at Alamo Drafthouse movies and film fests (I took the photo of him at right at Fantastic Fest 2009), and lots of you probably know Vespe under his pen name of Quint at Ain't It Cool News. The Home will be shooting in Austin soon, and will star Cloris Leachman, Louise Fletcher, Brian Cox and Ed Asner. Elizabeth Avellan and Elijah Wood are among the film's producers.
• Speaking of Avellan, the Austin American-Statesman has more news on Machete and the state's denial of tax breaks for the film. Apparently the governor's office and Texas Film Commission received more than 500 letters demanding the incentives be denied. Maybe those who want to support incentives for a specific movie need to start bugging the TFC about it?
• Over at Austin 360's Out and About blog, Michael Barnes has been keeping track of a recent spate of movie celebrity sightings in Austin. You may want to keep your eyes open for Johnny Depp, Scarlett Johansson, Ryan Reynolds and Drew Barrymore, among others. Somehow I don't think they're hanging out in my neighborhood.

Here's a roundup of all the Austin film news you might have missed during the recent holidays:

• The Texas Tribune has a sneak peek of about 8 minutes of footage from Incendiary, the upcoming documentary about Cameron Todd Willingham from local filmmakers Steve Mims and Joe Bailey Jr. Along with the footage, Evan Smith interviews Mims and Bailey about the film.
• In the Dallas Morning News, Joe O'Connell's column focuses on the state of the Texas film incentives law and how it might affect film and TV productions next year.
• Speaking of film incentives, the Austin American-Statesman reports that state comptroller Susan Coombs released a report about Texas incentive and tax-break programs, which included the film-incentives law, with notes on the program's weaknesses and suggestions for improvement.
• And while we're thinking about productions that did not receive film incentives from Texas -- Cinematical has posted a deleted scene online from Machete. The locally shot movie from Troublemaker Studios will be available on DVD and Blu-ray on January 4.

I've already mentioned the Austin films that will be part of the Sundance 2011 lineup, but that's not the only Austin-related movie news this week. Here's a summary of other things going on in town:

• "The Alamo Drafthouse is not responsible for any Santa-induced psychological trauma." Fantastic Fest 2010 favorite Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is opening Friday for a weeklong run at Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar. Tickets are on sale now -- look for our review tomorrow. On Friday and Saturday nights, you can have your picture taken with a "feral Santa" in a cage in the Drafthouse lobby. I think I may have just found our holiday card for 2011 ... 
• Over at Austin360, Matthew Odam profiles local filmmaker (Lovers of Hate) and Austin Film Society staffer Bryan Poyser. Want to know why you probably won't see Poyser in town for the next few months? Read this article and find out. And then you can read Poyser's blog for more details.
• Speaking of AFS, they're hosting a special preview screening of True Grit at the Paramount next Wednesday, Dec. 15, with an after-party at The Belmont. The Coen brothers' latest film was shot primarily around Central Texas, including at Austin Studios. AFS members can get tickets until 5:30 today with none of the annoying extra fees; the Paramount will start selling tickets to the general public tomorrow at noon. Ticket proceeds will go to the Texas Filmmakers Production Fund.
• IndieWIRE has posted a great article called "Meet the SXSW Film Programmers." Check it out for profiles on the people who put together the largest film festival in the city. (Helpful hint: the article is two pages long, you just have to scroll a bit to find the Next link.)

This is a great week for Austin movie-related news. Here's the latest:

• Congratulations to local filmmaker and Austin Film Society staffer Bryan Poyser, whose film Lovers of Hate (my review) has received a Spirit Award nomination. The movie is up for the John Cassavetes Award, for indie films with a budget of less than $500K. I am also pleased to see Houston documentary Thunder Soul (Jenn's review) up for Best Documentary. Many of the independent films nominated for awards played either SXSW or Austin Film Festival this year -- check out the above link for a full list.
• UT instructor (among other things) John Pierson has an article in The New York Times this week about the latest film from Austin filmmaker Steve Mims, which is now called Incendiary: The Willingham Case. (Under the title Dead to Rights: The Willingham Case, it won a Texas Filmmakers Production Fund grant this year.) Mims and Joe Bailey, Jr. are co-directing the documentary about Cameron Todd Willingham, convicted and executed for murder by arson in a case that has become quite controversial. Can't wait to see this movie, which is still being completed.
• Speaking of Mims, we just got word that the filmmaker will be teaching his Production One class at Austin FilmWorks in the spring. Registration has just opened for this introductory filmmaking class. I hear nothing but good things about Austin FilmWorks classes, so if you want to learn more about filmmaking, sign up now.

If you've been too busy thinking about turkey and football to pay attention to Austin film news, here's a roundup:

• The Austin American-Statesman reports that before Texas Film Commission head Bob Hudgins turned in his resignation earlier this month, he had been disciplined for sexual harassment. Hudgins cannot speak on these matters until he officially leaves his job Nov. 30. So keep an eye out later this week for potential comments from him on the situation.
• Over at the Dallas Morning News, Joe O'Connell enjoys a set visit on the latest film written by Kim Henkel, Boneboys, which has been filming around Austin. Directors Duane Graves and Justin Meeks previously brought us The Wild Man of the Navidad. O'Connell also posted some photos from the Boneboys production to his blog. (My neighbor has a role in the film. I think I saw a set photo of him in drag.)
• Alamo Drafthouse staffer Caitlin Stevens has posted a really cool behind-the-scenes look at an Alamo feast: the Harry Potter feast, to be precise, which I'm now sorry I missed. There's also a video interview with the new Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar executive chef, Chris Kincaid.

Here's what's going on in Austin film news this week:

• Austin Film Festival announced its audience awards yesterday, and many are for movies with local connections (yay!). The narrative feature award went to Dig, from local filmmaker/instructor Stephen Belyeu. There was a tie for narrative short award -- locally shot (and very funny) Sleep Study, from John Merriman and Kerri Lendo; and Blind Date, directed by Joe Rosen. The narrative student short award went to A Lone Star State from Joseph Saito. Visit the AFF site for a full list of the awards.
• Are you suffering from film-fest withdrawal? The Austin Polish Film Festival starts tomorrow night and runs through next weekend. The fest shows features on the first weekend, then shorts and documentaries on the second weekend. The fest takes place at the Texas Spirit Theatre in the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum. If you need a fest rest, at least check out the finalists from the fest's student poster contest.
• Sunday, November 14 is going to be a big day for documentary filmmakers in Austin. First of all, at 2 pm, Spike Lee will screen and discuss parts of his latest documentary about New Orleans, If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise. Tickets are free, but you need to get them in advance from The University of Texas. I plan to be there, with a big box of tissues (I went through nearly a whole box during When the Levees Broke).

Let's see what's going on in Austin film news this week.

• Predators, which was shot partially in Austin by Troublemaker Studios, is out on Blu-ray this week. Over at the Austin Chronicle, Richard Whittaker reports from a junket for the Blu-ray release at Troublemaker (yes, I'm envious) and Austin Studios. Check out my review of Predators from its theatrical release this summer.
• SXSW 2010 documentary Marwencol is getting a theatrical release from Cinema Guild, and will have several screenings at Alamo Drafthouse at the Ritz starting November 10. I'm looking forward to seeing this film again (here's my review), especially in a theater. I do love the photos of the 1/6 scale red carpet at the film's NYC premiere.
• aGLIFF 2010 Narrative Feature Award winner Undertow (Contracorriente) will return to the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar for a screening on Friday night, Oct. 22.
• We've got another free movie opportunity in the next week to join Monday's list from Jenn: SXSW 2010 documentary Haynesville will screen at The University of Texas next Tuesday, Oct. 26. For more details, check out the official invite. The movie about  Louisiana's largest natural gas field and its effects was directed by former Austin American-Statesman reporter Gregory Kallenberg.

Here's an update on the latest Austin-related movie news:

• The latest production from Troublemaker Studios, Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World, was shooting in downtown Austin this weekend, which apparently only increased the traffic frustration caused by ACL Fest. Still, it's always nice to hear about films shooting downtown, especially when you are not downtown.
• Speaking of Troublemaker, Robert Rodriguez has said that his next film project will be Sin City 2 ... if the script is ready. And the stars align. And he isn't offered something else way cooler in the meantime. Perhaps we'll find out more details at Austin Film Festival, where he'll be receiving the Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award. Speaking of which, I'm wondering if one of those TBAs at AFF won't be a Rodriguez film, since award winners usually do one retrospective. Which movie do you think they'd show? At this time of year, I'm hoping for From Dusk Til Dawn.
• Have you seen locally shot comedy The Overbrook Brothers, which played SXSW 2009? Another chance is on the horizon. Producer Chris Ohlson tells us that the movie, directed by John Bryant, will be broadcast on the Sundance Channel four times next month, starting on Nov. 10. Some of those times are in the middle of the night so you may want to set your DVR. (If you are like me and have no cable or DVR, start bribing your friends to help.)

The big news is that I can't believe it's actually October. When did this happen? One day I was at Alamo getting my Fantastic Fest badge, the next thing you know, it's October and all kinds of Austin film news is popping up. Here's the latest, along with some of the not-so-recent news in case you were sucked into the film-fest vortex last week, too.

• South by Southwest has announced 20 panels for the Film Conference in 2011. The one with the obvious Austin connection is right at the top: Alamo Drafthouse programmer Henri Mazza has put together a session on "How Interactive Screenings Will Save Cinema." I won't argue with that. The SXSW panels have a good range both in content and in the people organizing them -- it's always nice when women aren't relegated only to panels about women, for example. Topics range from war movies to sex in film to film criticism and blogging to marketing and distribution.
• Speaking of film festivals, Austin Film Festival has selected this year's Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award recipient right from our own backyard: Robert Rodriguez. Rodriguez will take a break from shooting Spy Kids 4 to speak at the conference and to receive his award during AFF's award luncheon.
• Some local casting news while we were away: Matthew McConaughey joins Richard Linklater's current film production, Bernie, which stars Jack Black and Shirley MacLaine. He'll be playing the lawyer prosecuting Black's character for murdering MacLaine. Rip Torn has also been cast in the dark comedy. It's scheduled to shoot in East Texas in November.

This should probably be subtitled "Mostly Fantastic Fest News" because with the festival starting Thursday, we're getting more news and info every day. We've also got some AFF news (and have heard that we may hear more on that front later this week), as well as actual non-fest items.

• Fantastic Fest has just published its ticket procedure for badgeholders to use this year, which fortunately has an online reservation component. Very good news indeed for those of us who can't always drive down to Alamo first thing in the morning, every single morning.
• In addition, the fest has announced its competition films and the members of each jury.
• Fantastic Arcade, the new videogame component of Fantastic Fest, also starts in a few days. To honor the event, you'll be able to play a new map in Left 4 Dead 2 called Fan Feast that is based on the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar and The Highball. The Fantastic Fest blog has a video and more info for people who actually know something about videogames (i.e., not me).
• No word yet on who will be/was buried to watch the movie Buried, but I do love this photo.