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May 23, 2012
Matthew McConaughey to play John F. Kennedy in new film from director of 'Precious'
“Err, uh, awright, awright, awright …” Matthew McConaughey will portray John F. Kennedy in “Precious” director Lee Daniels’ upcoming film, “The Butler,” according to IndieWire. “Friday Night Lights” goddess Minka Kelly will play Jacqueline Kennedy in the movie about Eugen Allen, the White House butler from 1952 to 1986.
The film is based on a Washington Post article by Wil Haygood. Forest Whitaker will play Allen and Oprah Winfrey will play Allen’s wife. Other actors tied to the picture include Nicole Kidman, Lenny Kravitz, Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding Jr.
“I connected with it because it is ultimately a father-son story with a civil rights backdrop,” Daniels told ScreenDaily. “In my lifetime there were separate water fountains, pools and toilets for blacks. People forget that. This is such an exciting journey for me.”
IndieWire says production is set to start on July 16th.
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May 21, 2012
New Richard Linklater-produced show coming to Hulu this summer
“Bernie” director Richard Linklater will bring his original travel series, “Up to Speed” to Hulu.com this summer. Linklater’s program stars tour guide, historian Speed Levitch (star of Bennett Miller’s documentary, “The Cruise”), who visits “monumentally-ignored monuments of America’s cities, from the shoe gardens of San Francisco to the luckiest subway grate in New York City.”
“Speed Levitch is one of the most effusive, articulate people I know, and one of America’s funniest freethinkers,” Linklater said. “Hulu has a highly engaged and intellectually curious audience, and I’m excited to give them a glimpse of Speed’s unique and idiosyncratic worldview as we take the concept of a travel show and turn it on its head.”
“Up to Speed” premieres on Hulu and Hulu Plus in August. For more information, visit www.hulu.com/hulu-summer-series.
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May 4, 2012
Adam Yauch and the world of indie film, from Spike Jonze to Oscilloscope
The multi-armed production and distribution company has released 50 films since its inception, including “The Messenger” by Owen Moverman, Kelly Reichart’s wonderful “Wendy and Lucy” and “Meek’s Cutoff,” Banksy’s Academy Award-nominated “Exit Through the Gift Shop” and the LCD Soundsystem doc “Shut Up and Play the Hits.”
“While the bulk of the conversation over the next few days will be about the Beastie Boys, speak to films fans in the know and they’ll tell you how important Adam Yauch has been to independent film,” Austin Film Festival program director Stephen Jannise said. “(Oscilloscope) has been nothing short of heroic in its support of existing filmmaking talent and discovery of emerging filmmakers. After introducing the world to ‘Exit through the Gift Shop’ and ‘Bellflower’ and reminding it of masters like Andrea Arnold, Lynne Ramsay, and Nicholas Ray (just to name a few), Oscilloscope is already considered to be one of the great champions of the indie film scene, despite having just arrived. This may not seem all that significant, until you take a look around and see just how few distributors are willing to take risks on a long-shot these days. Adam Yauch had the guts and the foresight to do so, and for that reason alone, his loss is immeasurable.”
Though the venerable Criterion Collection admitted to feeling slightly concerned when MCA began Oscilloscope, they recognized there was enough space for everyone’s love of film, and even asked the Beastie Boy to name his 10 favorite Criterion films. That list, topped by Akira Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai” and rounded out by UT grad Wes Anderson’s “The Life Aquatic,” can be seen here.
The Beastie Boys were not strangers to the art of film, either. The band had a long history of narrative-style videos, their most famous being “Sabotage.” In a rare stunt of self-aggrandizement, Yauch, dressed as fictional filmmaker Nathaniel Hornblower, rushed the MTV Music Video Awards stage when his friend Spike Jonze, at that time a relatively unknown commodity, lost an award to R.E.M.
Jonze says he was embarrassed, but it was a classic Beastie Boys move. Relive it here. Hornblower, portrayed by David Cross, would reappear on a Beastie Boys’ DVD extra of the 2004 Yauch-directed, crowd-sourced concert documentary, “Awesome, I Shot That!”
Photo: The Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch (MCA), Mike Diamond (Mike D), and Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock), left to right, arrive at an interview panel during the SXSW Music Festival and Conference in Austin, Texas, Wednesday, March 15, 2006. (Jack Plunkett ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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May 3, 2012
Details emerge on Bryan Poyser's latest, "The Bounceback"
Award-winning Austin filmmaker Bryan Poyser (“Lovers of Hate”) recently left his role at the Austin Film Society to more actively pursue his career behind the lens. In January, Poyser told us little about his new film except that it was a romantic comedy set in Austin that featured “some of the more, shall we say, unique facets” and that it would be “a more ambitious project than anything I’ve helmed before.”
Well, some details are now coming clear. The movie is apparently called “The Bounceback” and will star Michael Stahl-David, Sara Paxton, Zach Cregger and Addison Timlin, according to Deadline. The movie will begin filming this month.
From the archives (12.16.2009): Poyser aims small, strikes big with film headed to Sundance
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May 1, 2012
Linklater's 'Bernie' enjoys a huge opening weekend
“Bernie” is currently screening at the Violet Crown in Austin and may expand soon.
Related:
- Interview: Linklater, McConaughey and Black talk ‘Bernie’
- Review: ‘Bernie’ adds fun to a murderous East Texas tale
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Austin-shot horror film to bow at Los Angeles Film Festival
Former Austinite Spencer Parsons’ latest, “Saturday Morning Massacre,” will bow at the Los Angeles Film Festival next month. The locally-shot horror parody that trades on a certain beloved Saturday morning cartoon that starred a talking dog will screen in the “Beyond” category. The festival’s website describes the section thusly: “The Beyond offers films that dare to be different. Films in this section are eligible for Audience Awards for Best International Feature or Best Narrative Feature.”
“Saturday Morning Massacre” stars Austinite Jonny Mars, Ashely Spillers and Paul Gordon and was produced in conjunction with the folks at Austin’s Arts + Labor and Glasshouse Productions.
“Saturday Morning Massacre” won’t be the only film with Austin ties screening in Los Angeles. The festival closes with Steven Soderbergh’s “Magic Mike,” the story of male strippers starring Austinite Matthew McConaughey and Channing Tatum.
The Los Angeles Film Festival runs from June 14 through June 24 and kicks off with Woody Allen’s latest, “To Rome With Love.”
Click here for the full list of films.
Photo of Josephine Decker in “Saturday Morning Massacre” by Drew Daniels.
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April 27, 2012
Duplass brothers to write new Todd Phillips film
The movie is based on Tony D’Souza’s novel about a couple who fight the recession by becoming marijuana mules. The Duplasses’ most recent success, “Jeff, Who Lives at Home” just left theaters, and their long-shelved “The Do-Deca-Pentathalon” comes out later this summer.
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April 18, 2012
Mel Gibson brings 'Get the Gringo' to Alamo Drafthouse
Well, Gibson showed at the Drafthouse South, but there were no serious fireworks to mark the occasion of the special screening starring a man who continues to make negative headlines.
Gibson skipped any formal questions on his brief jaunt down the red carpet. He did appear in a Q&A following the screening, moderated by Harry Knowles, who took questions solely from an online audience. The controlled staging, which did not allow for any questions from the live audience, helped stave off any awkward or confrontational moments, but to Knowles’ credit, he did ask one question that struck at the heart of many of Gibson’s recent negative headlines.
Knowles noted the Star of David around director Adrian Grunberg’s neck and asked the Jewish filmmaker, who served as Gibson’s first assistant director on “Apocalypto,” if he had any hesitancy in working with Gibson, whose anti-Semitic rants have made him tabloid fodder. Gibson groaned and Grunberg joked, and within 45 seconds, all of the awkwardness was a recent memory.
Gibson responded to a series of questions about his movie and gave hints that he may be back in Austin — a town he professed to love — for work. The “Braveheart” actor and director said he chatted with Robert Rodriguez at the Alamo South screening, and though he would not confirm his participation, said the idea of appearing in a sequel to “Machete” sounded like fun.
As for the actual movie, Gibson plays an American con on the run who ends up entangled in a hostile drama set inside a bizarre Mexican prison. The gritty and infrequently comedic film has elements of Rodriguez and Sam Peckinpah — referred to several times in the Q&A by both Gibson and Knowles — dabbed a bit of heart.
“Get the Gringo” will be available on DirecTV on May 1. While Gibson said the release platform spoke to the changing landscape of media consumption, it is hard to think that the actor’s recent cinematic failures and personal turmoil did not affect the film’s potential for theatrical distribution.
Gibson said he and “Braveheart” writer Randall Wallace have recently finished a third draft of their untitled film about Vikings. The “Passion of the Christ” and “Apocalypto” director said the movie will be in English, but not a form with which audiences are familiar.
Photos: Mel Gibson attends screening of “Get the Gringo” at Alamo South.
Photo: Thao Nguyen / For American-Statesman
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April 17, 2012
Bujalski's 'Computer Chess' named TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund recipient
TFI, in partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, grants funds to narrative film projects that “dramatize science and technology themes in film or that portray scientists, engineers, or mathematicians in prominent character roles.”
Bujalski’s 80s-themed movie centers on a chess tournament featuring chess players and computer programmers. The Statesman’s Omar Gallaga had a fascinating story last fall about Bujalski’s search for classic 80’s computers that were rounded up with the help of retired engineers, state workers and archivists.
Of his movie about man-versus-machine, Bujalski says on the United States Artists website, “I’m trying to make a very odd movie indeed, about computer chess programmers circa 1980, and perhaps deep down it’s my attempt to vicariously peek into the fantasy braniac life I ought to have pursued as a kid. It happens to be a fascinating era for the field. As computers were exploding into the public sphere, and regular folks were just getting used to seeing them in the workplace, or home, a group of geniuses at the vanguard of the technology were trying to teach it what seemed like an almost unimaginable skill—could these machines, these glorified calculators, ever conquer the human world champion in chess? Obviously a human being would have to be a genius to be the world chess champ, so if they could get a computer to do it, the computer would have to acquire a kind of genius, right?”
In addition to the monetary prize, Bujalski (“Mutual Appreciation,” “Beeswax”) and other grant recipients receive year-round mentoring from science experts and members of the film industry.
Bujalski raised more than $50,000 for his film via the United States Artists website and received a grant from the Texas Filmmaker Production Fund.
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April 11, 2012
The Wrap predicts Duplass brothers will 'change Hollywood' in 2012
“On the surface, they have this non-studio aesthetic,” Dustin Smith, VP acquisitions and business affairs at Roadside Attractions, told The Wrap. “But underneath, they have great commercial instincts. Great characters and fantastic humor and not really sentimentality, but emotions you connect with.”
Next up for the brothers, summer releases of “The Do-Deca Pentathalon,” a family comedy they directed and recently finished after shelving to work on their studio films, and “Safety Not Guaranteed,” the Sundance and SXSW hit produced by the brothers and co-stars Mark.
We talked to Jay and Mark last year when they premiered “Jeff, Who Lives at Home” at the Austin Film Festival. Read that story here. Read our review of “Jeff, Who Lives at Home” here.
Photo: Jay and Mark Duplass at the SXSW screening of “Cyrus” in 2010. (Kelly West AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
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April 2, 2012
'Incendiary' wins Innocence Network award
Austin directors Steve Mims and Joe Bailey Jr. have won the 2011 Innocence Network Journalism Award for their movie “Incendiary: The Willingham Case.”
The award, announced March 30 in Kansas City, Mo., is presented by the Innocence Network, an affiliation of groups that provide pro bono legal and investigative services to individuals seeking to prove innocence of crimes for which they have been convicted and working to redress the causes of wrongful convictions.
“Incendiary” tells the story the story of Cameron Todd Willingham, whose three daughters died in a Corsicana house fire. Convicted largely on faulty arson evidence, Willingham was sentenced to death for the murder of his children and was executed in 2004. The film focuses on the science available to our criminal justice system and how its interpretation is often determined by jurisdiction, politics and personalities.
“Incendiary” premiered at last year’s South by Southwest Film Festival, where it won the Louis Black Award.
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February 26, 2012
Mixed results for Austinites at Independent Spirit Awards
“The Artist” not only had a good Sunday night, it had a great Saturday afternoon, as well. Michel Hazanavicius’ love letter to black-and-white film won best picture at the Independent Spirit Awards, beating out a list of films that included Austinite Jeff Nichols’ “Take Shelter.” Nichols took backseat to Hazanavicius in the directing category, as well. “Take Shelter” stars Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain lost to Jean Dujardin (“The Artist”) and Shailene Woodley (“The Descendants”), respectively. Producer Sophia Lin represented the sole victory for “Take Shelter,” taking home the Independent Spirit’s Piaget Producer Award.
Austin filmmaker Heather Courtney won the Independent Spirit’s Truer Than Fiction Award for her documentary “Where Soldiers Come From.” The moving film follows the stories of a group of high school friends from Courtney’s hometown in the rural Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Truer Than Fiction Award was given out in January, but Courtney was acknowledged and in attendance at Saturday’s ceremonies.
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February 17, 2012
Texas Film Hall of Fame to give Danny Trejo ('Machete') honorary Texan award
“Machete” director Robert Rodriguez, who first directed Trejo in 1995’s “Desperado,” will present the grindhouse cinema veteran with the honor. The award is given to “those who have spread Texas culture, or brought culture to Texas, in a unique and indelible way.”
Tickets and sponsorships for the March 8 event are now available online, ranging from $75 balcony seats to $25,000 for a 10-person “Blockbuster table” on the floor with a cocktail hour and catered dinner from Trace at the W Hotel. Richard Linklater, and John Paul and Eloise DeJoria are event co-hosts for the 2012 awards. Comedian and native Texan Wyatt Cenac returns this year to serve as the evening’s master of ceremonies.
For tickets or sponsorship information, visit austinfilm.org or contact Ann Welch via email or by phone at 322-0145.
Photo: Danny Trejo arrives at the premiere of “Machete” in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010. (ASSOCIATED PRESS/Matt Sayles)
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January 18, 2012
'Bullhead' makes Oscar short list
Belgian director Michael Roskam’s “Bullhead” caused quite a sensation at last year’s Fantastic Fest, picking up a host of awards. Austin’s Drafthouse Films purchased distribution rights to the noir thriller soon after the fest. (Read our thoughts on “Bullhead” from Fantastic Fest here.)
It was announced today that the film, which made our top 10 year-end list from 2011, has been short-listed for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, along with eight other movies, including the critically-acclaimed “A Separation” from Iran. Official Oscar nominations will be announced Tuesday. The Oscars take place February 4 in Los Angeles.
Short list for Best Foreign Language Film Belgium, “Bullhead” by Michael R. Roskam; Canada, “Monsieur Lazhar” by Philippe Falardeau; Denmark, “Superclásico” by Ole Christian Madsen; Germany, “Pina” by Wim Wenders; Iran, “A Separation” by Asghar Farhadi; Israel, “Footnote” by Joseph Cedar; Morocco, “Omar Killed Me” by Roschdy Zem; Poland, “In Darkness” by Agnieszka Holland Taiwan, “Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale” by Wei Te-sheng
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January 11, 2012
Q&A with Bryan Poyser, outgoing Director of Artists Services at Austin Film Society
In his time at AFS, Poyser oversaw the distribution of over $500,000 in Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund grants to more than 100 artistic projects. AFS will not fill Posyer’s position, but have created a new one, Associate Artistic Director, which Poyser addresses below.
We emailed a few questions to the integral member of Austin’s film scene, asking him about his five years at AFS and his future plans.
What was the most exciting moment in your time at Austin Film Society?
That would have to be the premiere of “Slacker 2011” just this past August. It was a crazy idea, initiated by former Alamo programmer Daniel Metz, to get 24 of Austin’s most prominent filmmakers to remake Richard Linklater’s seminal “Austin” movie “Slacker” scene-by-scene. AFS helped to “recruit” the teams that made it and provided small stipends for them to pull off their segments. All throughout the spring and summer, as I saw what my fellow Austin filmmakers were doing, I was just consistently blown away by their talent, ambition and dedication to the project. We did the premiere at the Paramount and when we got all the directors up on stage —- so many people that they had to pull the movie screen up to give us enough room — I was just staggered and humbled by the group that had come together to do it. So many talented folks, many of whom I’m lucky to call my friends, pooling their resources, know-how and sweat-equity to make this amazing, bizarre tribute to the film that really gave birth to the Austin Film Society and the community that it’s fostered.
Back in August, I had already been making motions toward leaving AFS to pursue my own filmmaking full-time, my co-workers knew that — but after that SLACKER 2011 premiere, I felt like, this is a high point for my tenure at AFS, and it’s how I want to go out.
How has being so intricately involved in the Society shaped your opinion about Austin’s creative community in general and filmmaking community, specifically?
Austin is a truly unique place. People are drawn here by the creative impulse and stay here because of it and thrive on it and frankly a good chunk of our economy relies on it. And, this is true for so many art-forms —- film, music, theater, visual arts, dance, digital innovations, and on and on. When I started at AFS, I was immediately impressed by how much the organization had evolved into a strong and vibrant part of the full Austin creative community from the scrappy, DIY film club that Linklater and his cohorts started in the mid-80s. And, so much of that is due to the leadership and the long-term vision of our Executive Director Rebecca Campbell. It was a true honor to work alongside her to find the best ways to specifically support the filmmakers of Austin’s arts community while also engaging with the community as a whole.
How gratifying and stressful was it to be in charge of the Texas Filmmaker Production Fund?
Administering TFPF over the last five years has been the best, and the hardest, part of the job. I’ve been in a privileged position to see just how diverse and ambitious the Texas film community really is, by reviewing applications from hundreds of filmmakers working at every level from just-starting-out amateurs to accomplished veterans.
And I’ve loved the opportunity to share the quality and breadth of the work being done here with the wider independent film community by inviting our panelists to come to Austin during the brutally hot month of August and pore over grant applications in a dark room for three 10-hour days in a row. Each one of the panelists came out of that experience truly impressed by our state’s filmmakers and ready to spread the gospel of Texas film to their communities, in New York, LA, Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, wherever they came from. And, a lot of them came out of it inspired and invigorated to dig back into their own work, maybe even with a bit of a competitive fire in their bellies.
By far the crappiest part of the job every year was to send out about 200 messages of bad news to those hopeful filmmakers who didn’t get a grant. I got one of those “regret to inform you” letters myself when I unsuccessfully applied to TFPF the year before I got the job, so I always knew how demoralizing it could be to get that news. But, a lot of those people ended up making really successful films. For example, the Duplass brothers never got a grant from AFS, but that didn’t stop them from storming Sundance and then Hollywood.
Will you continue teaching at Texas State University? What is it about that experience that you enjoyed so much?
I sort of stumbled into the teaching gig last semester after one of Austin’s most [excellent] filmmakers, Kat Candler, had a movie she wrote go into production in Canada and had to drop out of teaching a screenwriting class. Former Texas Film Commissioner Tom Copeland, who oversees the film classes at the Theatre Department there, had faith in me to take over and I just kind of loved the experience, more so than I thought I would. I think maybe cause it’s a new challenge and I felt like I really had something to offer in terms of advising my students how to make their scripts better. So, I’m doing another screenwriting class this semester and hope to continue my gig there.
What can you tell us about the movie you are preparing to make with your new-found ‘free time’?
Unfortunately, not so much right now, as we’re still finalizing the cast and getting our ducks in a row. But, I can say that it’s a more ambitious project than anything I’ve helmed before — you know, like we’ll have more than five people on the crew, and more than three lights to work with. It’s a romantic comedy set in Austin and will feature some of the more, shall we say, unique facets of its nightlife. I collaborated on the script with a couple of other up-and-coming writers and I’m really excited to work with some very cool, talented people both in front of and behind the camera. We’re shooting it in the late spring and I hope to share some more juicy details about it soon.
I imagine there will be a line from AFS all the way to I-35 of people hoping to fill your shoes. What advice would you give the next person who takes on your job and what should they expect?
AFS is actually taking the opportunity of my departure to do some re-structuring, so instead of looking for a new Director of Artist Services, focused solely on our filmmaker-support programs, the new Associate Artistic Director will have responsibility for managing our exhibition programs, filmmaker-support and the new programs AFS will be able to take on when it gets the keys at the end of this year to the National Guard building, the big 60,000 square-foot facility right next door. So, as far as advice, I’d say applicants should understand the needs and ambitions of our filmmaking and film-loving audience today and have a vision for how those needs and ambitions may change going forward.
Photo: Bryan Poyser in 2009. (Chris Garcia AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
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December 28, 2011
Robert Rodriguez's 'El Mariachi' to be preserved as part of the National Film Registry
The movie was famously made for only $7,000, an experience Rodriguez documented in his fascinating diary-style book, “Rebel Without a Crew (Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker with $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player).” “El Mariachi” would become the first of Rodriguez’s “Mexico Trilogy,” that included “Desperado” and “Once Upon a Time in Mexico.”
“I am honored and humbled to have ‘El Mariachi’ included in the National Film Registry. I’m blown away the little movie I made 20 years ago, out of sheer will, enthusiasm and $7,000, would be curated alongside so many of the great films that inspired me to make it in the first place,” Rodriguez said. “It’s the movie I’m most proud of because it was made against the odds yet became a catalyst for the do it yourself, no-budget independent filmmaking revolution and an inspiration for countless others who have seen it, heard the story behind how it was made and decided they too had stories worth telling.”
“El Mariachi” will enter the registry with films that range from 1912 (“The Cry of the Children”) to 1994’s “Forrest Gump.” The movies join a roster of classic films that include “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “The African Queen” and “Duck Soup,” among hundreds of others.
More than 2200 movies were submitted for consideration, and Librarian of Congress James H. Billington made the final selections. The National Film Registry began in 1989 and includes 575 films.
“These films are selected because of their enduring significance to American culture,” Billington said in a statement. “Our film heritage must be protected because these cinematic treasures document our history and culture and reflect our hopes and dreams.”
View all titles in the National Film Registry here.
Below are the 25 films selected in 2011 to be included in the National Film Registry:
- “Allures” (1961)
- “Bambi” (1942)
- “The Big Heat” (1953)
- “A Computer Animated Hand” (1972)
- “Crisis: Behind A Presidential Commitment” (1963)
- “The Cry of the Children” (1912)
- “A Cure for Pokeritis” (1912)
- “El Mariachi” (1992)
- “Faces” (1968)
- “Fake Fruit Factory” (1986)
- “Forrest Gump” (1994)
- “Growing Up Female” (1971)
- “Hester Street” (1975)
- “I, an Actress” (1977)
- “The Iron Horse” (1924)
- “The Kid” (1921)
- “The Lost Weekend” (1945)
- “The Negro Soldier” (1944)
- “Nicholas Brothers Family Home Movies” (1930s-40s)
- “Norma Rae” (1979)
- “Porgy and Bess” (1959)
- “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991)
- “Stand and Deliver” (1988)
- “Twentieth Century” (1934)
- “War of the Worlds” (1953)
With additional reporting from the Associated Press.
Photo: Carlos Gallardo in scenes from “El Mariachi.” (COLUMBIA PICTURES)
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December 20, 2011
Violet Crown Cinema instituting new policy for late-comers
The movie has started. We’re 12 minutes into the first act, exposition has been set and we’re starting to get into the real meat of storytelling. Then, BAM! Somebody bumps your knee as they try and squeeze by with their popcorn on the way to their seats. Talk about a (cinematic) buzz kill.
Violet Crown Cinema has decided to put an end to any late-arriving obnoxiousness by instituting a new policy that will prohibit anyone from entering a salon more than 10 minutes after a movie starts. If you’re late, they say they will be more than happy to swap out your tickets (space allowing) for another screening or give you your money back.
We’re on board and don’t really understand why anyone would want to walk into a movie 15 minutes late to begin with. But we digress.
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December 16, 2011
Former Austinite David Lowery selected for Sundance Institute's Screenwriters Lab
The synopsis via Sundance:
Embracing the atmosphere and tone of a modern-day Western, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints tells the story of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas countryside to reunite with his wife and the daughter he never met.
Earlier this year, Lowery, who has won awards for his short film “Pioneer,” was named on of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2011 by Filmmaker Magazine.
The Screenwriters Lab runs from January 13-18 in Utah.
David Lowery at a SXSW party in 2009. (Michael Barnes AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
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December 15, 2011
Film lensed by Austinite Raval wins top honors at Dubai International Film Festival
Accoring to IndieWire, “‘Habibi’ is a story of forbidden love and is the first feature set in Gaza in over 15 years. It’s also the only Palestinian film release of 2011.”
Austinite Raval has gained acclaim previously as cinematographer of the Oscar-nominated documentary “Trouble the Water” and won best director at the 2009 Cleveland International Film Festival for his film “Trinidad.” Raval also served as cinematographer on former Austinite Kyle Henry’s “Fourplay” collection of shorts. “Fourplay: Tampa,” which premiered at Cannes earlier this year, will have its American premiere at Sundance in January.
Photo: PJ Raval, left, and Paul Soileau, right, during the red carpet arrivals for the screening of Slacker 2011 held at The Paramount in Austin, Texas on Wednesday, August 31, 2011. (Rodolfo Gonzalez AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
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Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards moving to ACL Live, will feature Grupo Fantasma as house band
The Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards, which take place right before SXSW Film kicks off each year, are moving to ACL Live in 2012. The awards ceremony is vacating their usual home of Austin Studios due to a TV show using the production space.
Tickets and sponsorships for the March 8 event are now available online, ranging from $75 balcony seats to $25,000 for a 10-person “Blockbuster table” on the floor with a cocktail hour and catered dinner from Trace at the W Hotel.
Richard Linklater, and John Paul and Eloise DeJoria are event co-hosts for the 2012 awards, which will feature Grammy winners Grupo Fantasma performing as the house band. More special guests and event details to come.
For tickets or sponsorship information, visit austinfilm.org or contact Ann Welch via email or by phone at 322-0145.
Photo: “Take Shelter” director Jeff Nichols and wife Missy attend the 2011 Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards. (Rodolfo Gonzalez AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
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December 5, 2011
Zellner and Duplass set to return to Sundance
Updated to include information about Kat Candler.
Austin filmmaker David Zellner will return to the Sundance Film Festival next month with his latest, “Kid-Thing,” a drama about a young girl who relies on shoplifting for survival and one day comes across a mysterious woman while wandering the woods. The movie, which will screen in the NEXT category, stars Zellner, his brother Nathan and fellow Austinite Susan Tyrrell (“Cry-Baby”). The Zellner brothers premiered their 2008 film “Goliath” at Sundance.
Kat Candler will make her first trip to Sundance with her short film, the Georgetown-shot “Hellion.” The family drama was one of 32 short films from the U.S. accepted from 4,083 submissions. The movie from the University of Texas lecturer stars Jonny Mars, Deke Garner, Arthur Dale and Tommy Hohl and was produced by Kelly Williams, former program director of the Austin Film Festival.
“When Kelly told me the night he got the call from Sundance, I literally fell to my knees and screamed, ‘Shut up! Shut up! Are you serious?’ and then started sobbing,” Candler said. “My husband and in laws thought something horrible had happened. And I’m all, ‘I got into Sundance. They think our film special.’
“Surrounded by friends, peers and a crazy supportive film community, Austin has been an amazing place to make movies over the years and we’re super excited to represent such a fantastic city at Sundance this year.”
Kyle Henry, a former Austinite and current professor at Northwestern University, had “Fourplay: Tampa,” the fourth in a series of sex-related shorts, accepted to the festival. Galveston resident Kelly Sears had her animated short “Once It Started It Could Not End Otherwise” accepted to Sundance, as well. Candler, Henry and Sears are all former recipients of financing from the Austin Film Society’s Texas Filmmaker Production Fund.
UT graduate Mark Duplass will be a busy man in Utah. The actor and filmmaker appears in three movies - “Safety Not Guaranteed,” “Black Rock” and “Your Sister’s Sister” - that will make their premieres at Sundance. In “Black Rock,” Duplass teams up with his wife and “The League” castmate Katie Aselton, directing her second feature film. The movie co-stars Kate Bosworth and Lake Bell. “Your Sister’s Sister” is directed by Lynn Shelton, who helmed 2009’s “Humpday,” which featured an impressive performance from Duplass. “Your Sister’s Sister,” which co-stars Kristen Bell and hilarious actresses Aubrey Plaza and Mary Lynn Rajskub, is the feature debut of director Colin Trevorrow.
Other films with Texas ties playing at Sundance include “The Surrogate,” a film from Ben Lewin that stars former Austinite John Hawkes, and “The Imposter,” a documentary story of a 13 year-old kidnapping victim who disappeared from San Antonio in 1994 and resurfaced in Spain years later.
We miss any local connections? Let us know in the comments.
Photo: (left to right) David Zellner, Jay Duplass, Nathan Zellner and Mark Duplass at Sundance in 2008. (Chris Garcia AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
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November 29, 2011
Austinite Jeff Nichols' 'Take Shelter' nabs multiple Spirit Awards nominations
Austin filmmaker Jeff Nichols and his movie ‘Take Shelter’ received multiple Independent Spirit Awards nominations, announced this morning. The Spirit Awards are the preeminent honor in the independent film world and often serve as an early indicator for small films that may compete for Oscars.
The psychological portrait of a man slowly losing his mind as he fears for the safety of his family, was nominated for Best Feature. The best feature award goes to the film’s producers, a group that includes Austin Film Society board member Sarah Green. Nichols also received a nomination for direction. Producer Sophia Lynn was one of three nominees for the Piaget Producers Award. “Take Shelter” stars Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain received nominations in acting categories.
University of Texas RTF grad Heather Courtney’s documentary “Where Soldiers Come From,” the story of a group of friends from a small town in Michigan who end up fighting in the war in Afghanistan, earned the filmmaker a nomination in the Truer Than Fiction category.
Harris County native Robbie Pickering’s Smithville-filmed family drama ‘Natural Selection,’ which made its world premiere at SXSW, earned the director a nomination in the Best First Feature category. Rachael Harris received a nomination for best actress in the film.
Former Austinite John Hawkes was nominated for best supporting actor for his incredibly creepy turn in ‘Martha Marcy May Marlene,’ which was also nominated for best feature.
All films nominated for Spirit Awards must have been made for no more than $20 million and must have played one week in a commercial theater in 2011 or been shown at one of the following six film festivals: the Los Angeles Film Festival, New Directors/New Films, New York, Sundance, Telluride, or Toronto.
The Independent Spirit Awards take place February 25 in Los Angeles and air on IFC. Click here for a complete list of nominees.
Spirit Awards-related coverage from the Statesman archives:
- Interview with best director nominee Jeff Nichols in Cannes for the world premiere of ‘Take Shelter’
- Interview with ‘Where Soldiers Come From’ director Heather Courtney, nominated for Truer Than Fiction award
- Interview with ‘Natural Selection’ director Robbie Pickering, nominated for best first feature
- Interview with John Hawkes, nominated for best supporting actor for ‘Martha Marcy May Marlene’
- Interview with ‘Another Earth’ director Mike Cahill, nomnated for best first feature and best first screenplay
- Interview with ‘Take Shelter’ and ‘The Tree of Life’ star Jessica Chastain, nominated for best supporting actress
- Interview with director Evan Glodell of ‘Bellflower’, nominated for John Cassavetes Award
- Interview with ‘Win Win’ filmmakers Tom McCarthy, nominated for best screenplay
- Interview with ‘The Descendants’ co-star Shailene Woodley, nominated for best supporting actress
- Interview with best actor nominee Ryan Gosling, star of ‘Drive,’ nominated for best feature
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November 21, 2011
Native Austinite Amber Heard lands new movie role
With her Playboy bunny ears recently moved to the closet following the cancellation of ‘The Playboy Club,’ former Austinite Amber Heard seems to have landed on her feet.
Deadline reports that the stunning actress recently seen as Johnny Depp’s love interest in ‘The Rum Diary,’ has joined the cast of director Albert Hughes’ ‘Motor City.’ Heard stars opposite Dominic Cooper, who plays a man recently released from jail seeking revenge.
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Ethan Hawke talks re-teaming with Linklater and Delpy
With their films “Before Sunrise” and “Before Sunset,” Austin director Richard Linklater and his two-person cast of Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy created a memorable pair of films that spoke to the excitement, possibility, difficulty and sentimentality of love. The first film had Hawke’s and Delpy’s characters stumbling into a chance encounter on a European train and spending the night walking and talking in Vienna, with the follow-up reuniting the characters 9 years later in Paris.
Now it seems, the trio is read to revisit the characters. As pointed out by IndieWire, in an innovative interview with French film site Allocine.Fr, Hawke discusses reuniting with Delpy and Linklater. The interview used clips of songs to incite in Hawke thoughts on his career and work. After playing a piece of Delpy’s “Je T’aime Tant,” Hawke revealed some details on the trio working together again.
“”Well, I don’t know what we’re going to do but I know the three of us have been talking a lot in the last six months,” Hawke said. “All of three of us have been having similar feelings that we’re ready to revisit those characters. There’s nine years between the first two movies and, if we made the film next summer, it would be nine years again so we’re really started thinking that would be a good thing to do. We’re going to try write it this year.”
Hawke also mentioned his ongoing work with Linklater on “Boyhood,” a movie that spans over a decade of filming, with a short film being shot each year. The director has been fairly tight-lipped about the project, but IMDB indicates that in addition to Hawke, the unique film co-stars Georgetown High School graduate and ‘The Descendants’ co-star Nick Krause.
Photo: Delpy and Hawke in a scene from ‘Before Sunset.’
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November 16, 2011
Richard Garriott doc picked up for distribution
“This is one of the most awesomely enjoyable and enthralling documentaries we’ve seen in ages,” Seymour Wishman, President of First Run Features, said. “Richard’s story is totally unique, brimming with drama and humor - and the footage is absolutely unprecedented. We’re excited to launch Man on a Mission across North America.”
From the archives (10.25.09): At home with Richard Garriott, the talk is all about space
Photo of “Man on a Mission: Richard Garriott’s Road to the Stars” from Beef and Pie Productions.
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Local food documentary gets distribution
The film shot over a two-year period, follows the global trend of sushi consumption and the toll it is taking on the ecosystem and some at-risk fish populations such as the endangered bluefin tuna. Austinites will recognize Uchi chef Tyson Cole, who makes an appearance in the documentary, along with chef Mamoru Sugiyama of Tokyo’s Sushiko, environmentalists and conservationists.
‘Sushi: The Global Catch’ will make its European premiere tomorrow at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.
Sushi: The Global Catch - Trailer from Sakana Films on Vimeo.
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November 10, 2011
Films with Austin connections win awards at AFI Fest
Two films with Austin connections have won awards at the AFI Fest in Hollywood. Austinite Clay Liford’s film “Wuss,” the story of a high school teacher who, after getting beat up, seeks revenge against a student, won the Young Americans Audience Prize. Fantastic Fest hit and recent Drafthouse Films acquisition, “Bullhead,” won the New Auteurs Audience Prize, and the film’s star Matthias Schoenaerts took home the Special Critics Acting Prize.
Read out capsule review of “Bulhead” here.
Photo of Clay Liford on the red carpet at the world premiere of ‘Slacker 2011’ on August 31 at the Paramount Theatre. (Rodolfo Gonzalez AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
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November 9, 2011
Austinite Todd Allen joins cast of new Tarantino film
‘Django’ tells the story of a freed slave (Foxx) who, with the help of a German bounty-hunter (Waltz) sets out to rescue his wife from a plantation owner (DiCaprio). Filming will be reportedly be done in New Orleans, with a scheduled release date of Christmas of 2012. The movie marks the first time Allen has worked with the famous director, though he did attend acting class with Tarantino almost 25 years ago.
In addition to his upcoming work with Tarantino, Allen, whose acting credits include ‘The Apostle’ and ‘48 Hours,’ is building an Austin-based production company, Presidio Pictures. Presidio plans ‘12 Mighty Orphans’ to be its first production. Based on Jim Dent’s best-selling book “Twelve Mighty Orphans: The Inspiring True Story of the Mighty Mites Who Ruled Texas Football,” the movie will tell the Depression-era story of a man who transformed boys at Fort Worth’s Masonic Home into a massively successful football team.
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November 7, 2011
'Ebert Presents At the Movies' leaving the air?
Roger Ebert rebooted the franchise that made him a TV legend earlier this year with ‘Ebert Presents at the Movies.’
Though the show was picked up by public television stations in the top 50 markets, and apparently draws numbers comparable to cable news, the health of the program is very much in question.
Ebert writes that he and his wife and producing partner Chaz Ebert have been funding the show in this first season. In order to continue producing the show that stars SMU alumnus Christy Lemire and cinephile Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, Ebert says the production is going to need to raise some serious money from foundations, angel investors or viewers. The Eberts underwrote the show for a year, now they need money to keep it going. The film critic has Tweeted that they may even launch a Kickstarter campaign, and says they need to come to a decision on a possible next season by month’s end. Stay tuned to Ebert’s Twitter feed and that of ‘Ebert Presents’ for updates.
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November 1, 2011
Malick reportedly to team up with Gosling, Bale and Blanchett in 2012
Terrence Malick is on a roll of epic proportions, especially for a filmmaker who took almost two decades off from making movies.
The Austin auteur is scheduled to film both “Lawless” and “Knight of Cups” in 2012, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “Lawless” will star Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett, the latter of whom will also star in “Knights of Cups,” alongside Isabel Lucas. There is no word on what the films will be about, but it is reported that Austin Film Society board member Sarah Green will serve as producer on both films. The notoriously shy filmmaker was spotted at the Austin City Limits Festival in September following Bale around with a small crew. That footage may or may not have been for “Lawless.”
Malick is reportedly in post-production on his untitled film shot earlier this year starring Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Javier Bardem and Rachel Weisz.
Photo: Christian Bale (left) and Terrence Malick talk during the Austin City Limits Festival. (Jorge Sanhueza-Lyon AMERICAN-STATEMSNA)
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October 26, 2011
Violet Crown using 'Take Shelter' screenings to raise funds for Texas Filmmaker Production Fund
The Violet Crown Cinema in downtown Austin will donate $2 to the Texas Filmmaker Production Fund for each ‘Take Shelter’ ticket purchased by Austin Film Society members. Members must present their membership card at the cinema when attending the screening. Austinite Jeff Nichols’ film about a family man suffering from crippling anxiety opens at 12:30 p.m. this Friday at the Violet Crown.
“The Austin Film Society has made a direct impact on my life as a filmmaker through the Texas Filmmakers Production Fund,” Nichols said. “It’s integral to supporting and sustaining the strong community of filmmakers in Texas. I’m proud to be a part of AFS and this program.”
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October 19, 2011
18 year-old Austinite Hagins has latest feature purchased for distribution
Most 18 year-olds are busy applying to college or looking for a job. Austin filmmaker Emily Hagins is busy making deals. The teenage filmmaker, who made her debut feature film, “Pathogen,” at the age of 12, has had her horror film “My Sucky Teen Romance” purchased by MPI Media Group, according to Variety.
The movie that made its world premiere at SXSW earlier this year will have a spring 2012 release followed by DVD release and Video on Demand.
“The buzz over ‘My Sucky Teen Romance’ started at the SXSW festival, and we feel fortunate to be a part of what is a breakthrough for Emily Hagins,” MPI VP Greg Newman told Variety. “We look forward to introducing Emily and her wonderful film to the North American audience. She has remarkable filmmaking instincts and vision, and we anticipate great things from her in the years to come.”
From the archives: Teen filmmaker Emily Hagins and her horror film are the subject of the Austin documentary ‘Zombie Girl: The Movie’
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October 12, 2011
James Franco coming to Austin Film Festival
Hold onto your hats, ladies (and gentlemen), James Franco will be visiting Austin for the screening of his film “Sal” at the Austin Film Festival on Sunday, October 23.
Maybe the uber-active artist, scholar, actor and filmmaker will also find time to take some classes at UT or direct a play.
Franco will introduce the film he co-wrote and directed and participate in a Q&A following the screening. The film details the final hours of actor Sal Mineo (“Rebel Without a Cause”). Franco’s film eschews the traditional biopic narrative for a close look of the last day’s of the actor’s life in 1976.
The film co-stars Val Lauren, Jim Parrack, Brian Goodman, Eva Lauren, Vince Jolivette and Stacey Miller.
The festival also announced today that “Bones” star David Boreanaz will present the award for Outstanding Television Writer to the show’s creator, Hart Hanson, and participate in a special presentation of an episode of the Fox show on October 22.
As previously noted, this year’s script reading, always at AFF, will be Shane Black and Anthony Bagarozzi’s “The Nice Guys,” and it was announced today that “Hung” star Thomas Jane will participate.
For more information on Austin Film Festival, visit austinfilmfestival.com.
Photo from Associated Press.
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Alamo Village to close for close to two weeks, get new neighbor, The Goodnight
The Alamo Drafthouse Village will be closing for almost two weeks on Monday for renovations, reports the Statesman’s Gary Dinges. The construction project will add about 1,000 square feet to the lobby area of the movie theater.
The new lobby at the Drafthouse is not the only change coming to the Village Shopping Center. The Goodnight, an entertainment venue offering bowling, beer, billiards, cocktails and a restaurant will go into the 16,000-square-foot spot vacated by Fuddruckers earlier this year.
“The Goodnight will be a one-of-a-kind hot spot, perfect for everything from happy-hour cocktails to the late-night party scene,” general manager Stan Smith said.
Sounds kind of similar to Alamo South neighbor The Highball.
For more information on the changes at the Alamo Village and its new neighbor, The Goodnight, check out the story on Statesman.com.
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October 4, 2011
UT grad's film named Greece's official entry for Foreign Language Academy Award
University of Texas graduate Athina Rachel Tsangari’s film “Attenberg” has been named Greece’s official submission for the Foreign Language Academy Award.
Tsangari, a former director of the CinemaTexas Film Festival, served as a lecturer in UT’s RTF department and worked as executive producer on Austin director Bryan Poyser’s “Lovers of Hate.” The filmmaker, daughter of a Greek diplomat father and a French mother, also had a hand in Greece’s submission last year, serving as associate producer on “Dogtooth.”
Greece has had five films qualify as finalists for the Foreign Language Oscar. Nominated in 2010, “Dogtooth” is the most recent to be nominated. The dark comedy lost out to Danish director Susanne Bier’s “In a Better World,” (our interview with Bier here) though many Oscar observers and critics thought Giorgos Lanthimos’ film should have won the award.
Not surprisingly, France and Italy have had more films win the Oscar than any other countries, with Italy narrowly beating out France 13-12. This year France has submitted “Declaration of War” of by Valérie Donzelli and Italy will be represented by Emanuele Crialese’s “Terraferma.”
Greek finalists for Foreign Language Oscar:
1962: “Electra”
1963: “The Red Lanterns”
1965: “Blood on the Land”
1977: “Iphigenia”
2010: “Dogtooth”
Read Alison Macor’s 1997 Statesman profile of Tsangari after the jump.
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September 28, 2011
Part of the 'The Alamo' set destroyed in fire
Photo: Buildings from the set of the movie “The Alamo” are shown damaged from an overnight fire on Wednesday, September 28, 2011. Deborah Cannon/AMERICAN-STATESMAN.
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September 26, 2011
'Bernie' screening raised over $150,000 for Bastrop's wildfire relief efforts
Despite going head-to-head with the final day of the Austin City Limits Festival, the benefit screening of Richard Linklater’s “Bernie” on September 18 raised $155,810 through donations and ticket sales.
The benefit, presented by Austin Film Society, the Paramount Theatre, Linklater, Jack Black and Matthew McConaughey, raised money for the Bastrop Emergency Food Pantry, Heart of the Pines Volunteer Fire Department and Friends of the Lost Pines State Parks.
The film was partially shot in Bastrop, where Linklater is a part-time resident.
“There is so much going on this weekend, and for you to show up to help our friends in Bastop means so much. The Austin community never ceases to amaze,” Linklater said at the screening.
“Bernie” recounts the bizarre mystery involving Bernhardt “Bernie” Tiede (Black), an assistant funeral home director in Carthage, Texas who admitted to murdering wealthy and eccentric socialite Marjorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine).
The film is expected to open next spring.
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September 14, 2011
Linklater discusses 'Bernie' benefit screening and fall-out from the wildfires
Linklater, who spoke at the offices of the Austin Film Society, said his property received some damage but that he was one of the lucky ones. Soon after the fire started in early September, Linklater said he and stars Matthew McConaughey and Jack Black started discussing how they could help the Bastrop area, where much of “Bernie” was filmed. They decided to turn what was originally meant to be a cast-and-crew screening into a benefit event at the Paramount Theatre downtown.
“I think it’s an excellent opportunity for Austinites and members of our community to help out their neighbors in Bastrop,” Linklater said. “There’s a lot of great work being done, and there’s been this outpouring of support for the relief effort, and we’re just happy to be one more thing Austinites and people in our area can do for our neighbors.”
Black will join Linklater at the screening, which will raise money for the Bastrop Emergency Food Pantry, Heart of the Pines Volunteer Fire Department and Friends of the Lost Pines State Parks.
“I’m really proud one of our beneficiaries is the volunteer fire department out there, who’s underfunded. They put their lives on the line. They fought the fire while their houses burned,” Linklater said. “One of our other beneficiaries is Friends of the Park. As everyone knows, over 5,900 acres of the 6,000-acre park — the crown jewel, Bastrop State Park — has been burned. That doesn’t mean totally lost, but it needs a lot of attention right now. They lost a lot of equipment. Their window of helping the park survive is now.”
Event co-presenter McConaughey is currently shooting a film and will be unable to attend Sunday, though Linklater said he will read prepared remarks from the actor, who he says has given “by far the biggest donation” to the event.
Linklater said he has talked with many of his neighbors and visited the convention center in Bastrop a few times since the wildfires.
“It’s devastating when you talk to someone who’s lost everything, even if you have insurance and you have a job - which not everybody has … But in a situation like this, what a community has to do to stay together, it’s endless. It’ll be a process,” Linklater said. “Everybody has to do everything they can. There’s never enough; so everyone has to help out every way they can. But they’re really resilient. People have taken a loss but you get this sense of immediate renewal. The goal would always be that people don’t just leave the community, that somehow they find a way to stay there and rebuild and stay in the community.”
“Bernie,” a PG-13 comedy about small-town Texas life, is a good fit for the benefit event. The film, which Linklater calls his “Jack Black black comedy” recounts the bizarre mystery involving Bernhardt “Bernie” Tiede (Black), an assistant funeral home director in Carthage, Texas, who admitted to murdering wealthy and eccentric socialite Marjorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine).
Tickets for Sunday’s 4p.m. benefit screening start at $100 and are available on the Paramount Theatre’s website. Those unable to attend but still wanting to contribute can purchase tickets and donate them to Bastrop-area residents affected by the fire.
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August 26, 2011
Andrew Bujalski tops list of Texas Filmmaker Production Fund recipients
The Austin Film Society today announced this year’s recipients of grants from its Texas Filmmaker Production Fund.
The TFPF awarded $92,000 to 21 projects from emerging filmmakers. Austin filmmaker Andrew Bujalski received the largest single grant. AFS awarded the “Beeswax” and “Mutual Appreciation” filmmaker a $7500 grant for post-production for his film “Computer Chess,” a movie about a tournament of chess players and computer programmers set around 1980.
Filmmaker Yen Tan, who recently moved to Austin from Dallas, received a $7000 grant for production of his feature “Pit Stop,” which tells the story of two men who fall in love in a small Texas town.
Ben Powell’s “Barge,” a documentary about barge shipping on the Mississippi River, and Paul Collins’ “Yakona,” a doc about the evolution of the San Marcos River, both received $7000.
Barry Jenkins (“Medicine for Melancholy”), Anne Lai (producer-in-residence at the Sundance Institue) and Ian Olds (co-director of the Independent Spirit Award winning documentary “Occupation: Dreamland”) comprised the panel that made the final grant decisions.
Funds for the TFPF were raised through donations, the annual Texas Film Hall of Fame and special premiere screenings (“Spy Kids 4,” “The Tree of Life.) AFS has awarded over $1.2 million to 313 film and video projects since the TFPF program began in 1996.
In addition to cash grants, AFS distributed money through its Texas Filmmakers’ Travel Grant program, which gave $7,000 in cash and travel stipends to 10 Texas filmmakers and another $12,000 to 24 Austin filmmaking teams to produce the “Slacker 2011” project.
Follow the jump for the complete list of 2011 Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund recipients.
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August 19, 2011
Christian Bale teaming up with Terrence Malick?
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August 15, 2011
Scene report and photos: 'Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World' world premiere
Prior to the screening in front of an appreciative full house, Rodriguez suggested that the franchise’s third film, ” Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over,” was responsible for ushering 3-D back into theaters. Following the screening, Rodriguez and his stars took questions from the crowd.
Photos: Scenes from the “Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World” premiere
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August 8, 2011
Dripping Springs High School graduate wins Kodak Scholarship Program filmmaking award
Good, who attended Austin Waldorf School, won for her directorial debut “While I Breathe,” which tells the story of a young woman victimized by human trafficking and the chance encounter that ends up saving her life. The film was produced in part by a grant from the University of British Columbia Sexual Assault Support Centre.
“I first became aware of the issue on an exchange program to Xi’an, China,” Good told EyeSeeOnline.com earlier this year. “I was standing in a hotel corridor knocking on a friend’s door, when I saw a young girl being dropped off to an American businessman in the room directly behind me. I remember standing there in shock, I couldn’t believe that what I was witnessing was actually happening.”
The University of British Columbia student earned a motion picture film grant from Kodak valued at $4,000 and a $1,000 cash tuition award. Kodak’s international competition is “designed to recognize superior filmmaking skills and creativity of the next generation.”
“The quality of work being done by these students is outstanding,” judge and cinematographer Robbie Greenberg (‘Save the Last Dance’) said. “The seriousness and poignancy of the subject matters the students explored was also impressive.”
Good, who is currently producing a 3D short film and working as the producer’s assistant at Front Street Pictures in Vancouver, has a Bachelor of Science in Aviation with a commercial pilot license and earned an associates degree in film production from Austin Community College prior to entering the UBC.
“WHILE I BREATHE” Official Trailer from Laura Good on Vimeo.
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July 22, 2011
Robert Rodriguez says he has plans for 'Sin City' and 'Machete' sequels
“Even if we don’t get to three, I’m at least making the trailer for three because it’s so good. I would put it even before part two,” Rodriguez said. “Machete goes into space! It’s like ‘Moonraker.’”
According to Rod Paddock over at Slackerwood, the two “Machete” sequels will be titled “Machete Kills” and “Machete Kills Again.”
As we told you last month, the fourth installment of the “Spy Kids” franchise, which will star Rowan Blanchard and Mason Cook as a new young spy duo while also featuring the “Spy Kids” kids, Alexa Vega, 22, and Daryl Sabara, 19, as their spy mentors, will be presented in “4D” smell-o-vision.
“When a number flashes on screen, you scratch that number and you smell it, and whatever they’re smelling on screen, you smell in the audience,” Rodriguez said. “There’s sweet smells and bad smells — because we have a baby and we have a dog — and it’s really fun.”
In addition to the film news, Rodriguez announced three new partnerships. “He plans to develop games and movies with the ‘Heavy Metal’ franchise, create a museum and other media around the fantasy artwork of Frank Frazetta and inspire computer hardware for filmmaking with the tech company AMD,” according to the AP report.
Paddock on Slackerwood writes that the museum will house the works of lae fantasy artist Frank Frazetta and will be in Austin.
“You get more done when you’re busy,” he said. “It almost helps you focus on something more when you don’t have too much time to overthink it.”
The Austin Film Society will present the Austin premiere at the Long Center at 4 p.m. followed by a carnival at 6 p.m. Tickets range from $15 for balcony seating to $100 for VIP tickets, which include orchestra seating and unlimited carnival rides. Tickets go on sale Tuesday July 26 at 10 a.m. on the Long Center website. Proceeds from the event benefit the Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund and Dell Children’s Medical Center.
Photo: Director Robert Rodriguez and actor Danny Trejo arrive on the red carpet for the screening of the film “Machete” at the 67th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Joel Ryan)
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July 20, 2011
Austin filmmaker Joe Nicolosi named one of '25 New Faces of Independent Film' by Filmmaker Magazine
Filmmaker Joe Nicolosi has been named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s ‘25 New Faces of Independent Film.’
While many filmmakers hope they can get their film screened once or twice at a festival like SXSW, Nicolosi has had the good fortune of having some of his short films screened dozens of times at the festival the last few years. His work has been used as bumpers before screenings, and his hallucinogenic take on Super Mario, starring Austinite Clay Crenshaw, this year became a viral sensation and has since racked up over one million views on YouTube. (Warning: Video contains some bad language and adult themes.)
[From the write-up on Filmmaker.com:]
The buzz from all those repeated viewings got Nicolosi meetings with agents and studio execs during the festival, and a few weeks later he did an L.A. trip. “I started with 12 meetings on the books,” he said, “and when I finished I had done 35.” He took studio meetings for features as well as Web series, but what he was most excited about pitching was Kingdom of Dave, “a post-apocalyptic renaissance comedy” that he says has elements of both Mad Max and Monty Python. “It’s not an idea that’s really sellable because it’s really weird. And I can’t make it on my own because it’s kind of a blockbuster. So I’m not sure how it’s going to happen.”
In addition to Nicolosi, former Austinite and self-described “step-child of the Austin film scene,” David Lowery was also named one of the 25 New Faces. In addition to the Filmmaker nod, James M. Johnston and Toby Halbrooks, Lowery’s producers on his next film, “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints,” the story of an outlaw in the 70s who escapes prison and sets out to find his wife and daughter, were accepted to Sundance’s Creative Producing Lab.
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July 16, 2011
Millennium Entertainment purchases Linklater's 'Bernie'
The dark comedy which opened the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 16, has no official release date at this time.
“Bernie” is based on “Midnight in the Garden of East Texas,” a Texas Monthly article written by Skip Hollandsworth, who co-wrote the screenplay with Linklater. The film recounts the bizarre mystery involving Bernhardt “Bernie” Tiede (Jack Black), an assistant funeral home director in Carthage, Texas who admitted to murdering Marjorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine), a rich and eccentric widow. Matthew McConaughey co-stars as district attorney Danny Buck Davidson.
Photo: Richard Linklater attends the world premiere of “Bernie” at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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July 8, 2011
Jesse Eisenberg to serve pizza at Home Slice
Jesse Eisenberg reteams with “Zombieland” director Ruben Fleischer in the upcoming “30 Minutes or Less.” But before you see him on the big screen in the movie about two hapless crooks who take a pizza delivery guy hostage, you can see “The Social Network” star in person.
The “Adventureland” star will be serving up slices at Home Slice Pizza on South Congress Boulevard Monday afternoon. The event begins at 11:30 a.m. but the pizza service begins at 12:30 p.m. Considering how packed that place is at 12:30 on a normal Monday, expect it to be ridiculously crowded Monday.
The movie, which also stars the hilarious Nick Swardson, Danny McBride and Aziz Ansari, opens wide on August 12.
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June 20, 2011
New name, other tweaks for Gold Class Cinemas
Gold Class Cinemas at the Domain is rolling out a host of changes, including reduced ticket prices for some seats, an expanded food and drink menu — and even a new name.
Now known as iPic Theaters, the cinema is introducing a lower-priced alternative to the $29 tickets offered when it first opened a year ago. For $19 when booked online, movie-goers still get a comfy leather seat, but without other amenities such as in-theater food service.
The pricier $29 tickets are still available, and include reclining seats, pillows and blankets, popcorn, and access to the theater’s waitstaff for the first 20 minutes of each film.
Members of the theater’s free-to-join loyalty club pay lower prices when they use the Web: $15 and $22.
Both tiers offer the ability to reserve seats online.
“This new concept provides more choices and more accessibility for better enjoyment for all,” said Mark Mulcahy, the chain’s vice president of marketing.
The theater’s bar and concession stand have been tweaked, as well, with a new look and a more varied mix of food and drink options.
The Salt Bar has 16 beers by the bottle and 40 bottled wines, according to Mulcahy, and Tanzy Express offers everything from beef skewers to ice cream sandwiches.
The iPic chain has eight theaters across the U.S.
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June 16, 2011
McConaughey says 'Dallas Buyer's Club' 'real close' to getting made
For almost a decade “The Dallas Buyer’s Club” has gained the attention of some big hitters in Hollywood. But nobody has ever been able to get the script, originally penned by Craig Borten, produced.
Matthew McConaughey says the time may be coming.
“We’re real close,” the UT grad recently told the LA Times. “The question is do we have enough days — we need 40.” Read: Can producers raise enough money to meet their budget.
The movie tells the story of the resilient Ron Woodroof, a heterosexual Dallas man diagnosed with AIDS in 1986, who extended his own life and those of other AIDS patients by setting up a smuggling operation of alternative treatments.
From the LA Times 24 Frames blog:
McConaughey conceded that it’s “not the type of fare that studios make; it’s heavy subject matter.” But he said that “at the same time, it’s hilarious in a very real way,” with much of the humor coming out of the character’s outsized personality.
“It’s a great script and a great story,” McConaughey told the LA Times in March. “And I think it can be a great movie.”
Read the full post from the LA Times here.
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June 15, 2011
Austin doc wins at Seattle International Film Fest
Director Mark Hall’s documentary, made over a two-year period, looks at how sushi became a global phenomenon over the past 30 years and the potential consequences of the incredible explosion of the popularity of raw fish.
Hall says he is in discussions with distributors for the film, which was edited by Austinites Catie Cacci (“Richard Garriott: Man on a Mission “) and longtime Richard Linklater collaborator Sandra Adair and features music from local Brian Satterwhite, and will submit it for the 2011 Austin Film Festival.
Sushi: The Global Catch - Trailer from Sakana Films on Vimeo.
Photo: “Sushi: The Global Catch” team at SIFF, with Satterwhite second from left and Hall second from right. JASON FAUST PHTOGRAPHY
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June 13, 2011
Competition opens for final directorial spot on 'The ABCs of Death'
Gens and Smith are the 24th and 25th directors to be signed on to direct a scene in the 26-chapted anthology produced in part by Austin’s Drafthouse Films. The final directorial spot in the genre film that will showcase deaths by the letter has been left open for a competition.
Filmmakers hoping to be part of the group-sourced effort must create and submit a short film based off of the letter “T.” Ten finalists will be chosen, with public voting determining the winner. In addition to getting his scene in the film, the winning filmmaker will also receive $5,000.
Submissions are open until October 2 at 2 .a.m, and there is no entry fee. Finalists will be announced October 31st and the winning filmmaker announced on November 15th. For more on the competition dates, parameters and rules, visit theabcsofdeath.com/the-26th-director.
The roster of the 25 confirmed filmmakers:
- Kaare Andrews (“Altitude”)
- Angela Bettis (“Roman”)
- Ernesto Diaz Espinoza (“Mirageman”)
- Jason Eisener (“Hobo With A Shotgun”)
- Bruno Forzani and Héléne (“Amer”)
- Adrian Garcia Bogliano (“Cold Sweat”)
- Xavier Gens (“Hitman”)
- Noburo Iguchi (“Machine Girl”)
- Thomas Malling (“Norwegian Ninja”)
- Yoshihiro Nishimura (“Tokyo Gore Police”)
- JT Petty (“Soft For Digging”)
- Banjong Pisanthanakun (“Shutter”)
- Simon Rumley (“The Living and the Dead”)
- Marcel Sarmiento (“DeadGirl”)
- Chris Smith (“Severance”)
- Srdjan Spasojevic (“A Serbian Film”)
- Timo Tjahjanto (“Macabre”)
- Andrew Traucki (“The Reef”)
- Nacho Vigalondo (“TimeCrimes”)
- Jake West (“Doghouse”)
- Ti West (“House of the Devil”)
- Ben Wheatley (“Down Terrace”)
- Adam Wingard (“Pop Skull”)
- Anders Wulffmorgenthaler (“Princess”)
- Yudai Yamaguchi (“Yakuza Weapon”)
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June 10, 2011
Shopping center that's home to Alamo South may become mixed-use project
The shopping center on South Lamar Boulevard that includes the Alamo Drafthouse is under contract to Greystar Real Estate Partners and Stream Realty Partners, which plan to develop a mixed-use project with apartments, retail and possibly office space.
Lamar Plaza, at the southwest corner of South Lamar and Treadwell, also is home to the Highball bowling alley and lounge, as well as a Thundercloud Subs, a pharmacy, a bookstore, and the Casa Garcia restaurant, among other tenants.
If a sale goes through, Greystar would develop the nine-acre site at 1000 South Lamar with Stream Realty Partners, said Derek Brown, managing director for Greystar, a multifamily.
Read the full story here on the Statesman’s Business Blog.
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June 9, 2011
The Duplass Brothers making more noise in Hollywood
Former Austinites Jay and Mark Duplass are getting some buzz about their next possible project. A script titled “Pitchfork” has been making the rounds in Hollywood, according to sources who spoke to the Los Angeles Times on condition of anonymity. The drama from the brothers behind “Cyrus” tells the story a “middle-aged mother of an indie rocker who, after her son is killed in a car accident, seeks vengeance on an online blogger who had peddled snark about her son (on the music site Pitchfork, hence one of the title’s entendres),” according to the L.A. Times.
Susan Sarandon has been rumored as a possibility to play the mother, and “Cyrus” star Jonah Hill has apparently talked to the filmmakers about playing the snarky blogger. Sarandon stars in the upcoming “Kevin Who Lives At a Home,” the Duplass brothers latest film that co-stars Ed Helms and Jason Segel.
(Photo: Jay and Mark Duplass walk down red carpet at the Paramount Theater before a SXSW screening of “Cyrus” in 2010.
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June 2, 2011
What's next for Malick?
After patiently waiting five years since Terrence Malick’s last film, “The New World,” fans of the auteur must feel like they’ve died and gone to heaven.
“The Tree of Life” will be released tomorrow, and it looks like there won’t be another protracted wait for the legendarily methodical director’s next movie to hit theaters. Principle photography has wrapped on his next project, an untitled romance starring Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams.
If that sounds a little trite for the nature-loving filmmaker who favors movie’s with a philosophical bent, don’t worry. The movie is apparently even more experimental than “The Tree of Life” (which, we can tell you, is rather experimental), according to a person who spoke to the LA Times.
The L.A. Times ’ source says there “was no discernible story or a voice-over in the footage, but shots of Affleck and McAdams in Malick’s trademark man-in-nature style.” And if two Malick films in just a couple of years don’t excite you, the L.A. Times says that Malick has told members of his team to leave summer and fall open to shoot yet another movie.
Surrounded by a producing team and crew with which he obviously feels very comfortable, it seems we are in the midst of a Malick renaissance.
Photo: Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams in the untitled Terrence Malick film. (Film Nation)
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May 25, 2011
Austin Parks Foundation cancels Wednesday's 'Napoleon Dynamite' screening over use of a specific word
Update: In her Charity Chat blog, the Statesman’s Andrea Ball writes that “some of the complaints came from the Austin Mayor’s Committee for People with Disabilities,” according to Parks Foundation executive director Charlie McCabe.
Update: A person posting as Charlie McCabe of the Parks Foundation posted a comment on Charity Chat explaining the cancellation. Read that comment here.
Update: On its Twitter page, the Parks Foundation says, “we had little choice with city as a co-sponsor which greatly reduces cost of movie to about $2500 per movie.”
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May 23, 2011
PJ Raval lands spot in the Out 100
Raval (“Trinidad”) is joined on the list by Ricky Martin, named by the magazine as Entertainer of the Year, musician Rufus Wainwright and Rachel Maddow (Newsmaker of the Year).
Out had the following to say about Raval:
The California-bred, University of Texas at Austin-educated filmmaker PJ Raval (top) has been busy since he codirected the award-winning 2008 documentary Trinidad, about the Colorado town known as the “sex change capital of the world.” This year, he served as cinematographer on the forthcoming features Habibi Rasak Kharban and Cooler, as well as a short film about sexual intimacy executive produced by Michael Stipe. Currently in development: a documentary about LGBTQ retirement communities and a narrative feature called Manhandled about a lesbian couple’s journey as one of them undergoes a sex change.
(From left) PJ Raval, UT film professor and filmmaker Paul Stekler, actress-filmmaker Karen Skloss and filmmaker Sativa January-Solga at the IndieWire party on opening night of the Sundance Film Festival in 2008. (Chris Garcia AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
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May 19, 2011
UT student wins Student Academy Award
The Indian-born Mehta, who was raised in Houston, won in the narrative category with his short, “Fatakra,” which screened at SXSW this year and recently won the audience award for best short at the Sarasota Film Festival. The film served as Mehta’s MFA thesis film at UT.
Mehta’s website describes the movie thusly:
“Naveen left India to chase his dreams in America. Today, three years and a recession later, his wife and son join him. Sparks fly as a family reunites.”
Watch the trailer below.
The 38th Annual Student Academy Awards ceremony takes place on June 11.
Photo by Patrick Rusk.
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May 6, 2011
Ricky Gervais joins 'Spy Kids 4'
British comedian Ricky Gervais (“The Office”) will serve as the voice of robot spy dog Argonaut in Robert Rodriguez’s film that’s slated to open August 19, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Not only am I lending my voice to Spy Kids, but they can keep it. I’m sick of it,” Gervais said in a statement.
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May 5, 2011
'Better This World' wins big at San Francisco Film Festival
The film about the high-profile legal case had its world premiere at SXSW earlier this year and was partially shot in Austin with the help of Picturebox Productions.
Bay Area-based filmmakers Kelly Duane de la Vega and Katie Galloway won a $20,000 cash prize for Best Documentary Feature, and a $15,000 cash prize plus $2,000 in EFILM Digital Laboratories services for best Bay Area Documentary Feature, according to IndieWire.
Read our interview with the filmmakers from SXSW.
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May 2, 2011
UT student named Student Academy Awards finalist
The Indian-born Mehta, who was raised in Houston, has been honored for his narrative short “Fatakra,” which screened at SXSW this year and recently won the audience award for best short at the Sarasota Film Festival. The film served as Mehta’s MFA thesis film at UT.
Mehta’s website describes the movie thusly:
“Naveen left India to chase his dreams in America. Today, three years and a recession later, his wife and son join him. Sparks fly as a family reunites.”
Watch the trailer below.
The 38th Annual Student Academy Awards ceremony takes place on June 11.
Photo by Patrick Rusk.
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April 27, 2011
Former Austinite Jay Duplass takes to Kickstarter for his doc, 'Kevin'
In the video below, Duplass explains how he used to be a regular at Gant shows before the enigmatic musician suddenly disappeared from the scene. Duplass says the funds he is attempting to raise will help with final post-production of the movie, which made its world premiere at SXSW earlier this year. Duplass will in turn take the film to festivals around the world with Gant in tow, effectively offering the Flamenco-inspired guitar player an international “comeback” tour.
Learn more about “Kevin” on Duplass’s Kickstarter page.
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April 20, 2011
Premium VOD will offer movie watchers a chance to see films at home 60 days after they hit theaters
A high-stakes battle between movie studios and theater owners threatens to make it difficult for Central Texans to watch some of this summer’s biggest Hollywood blockbusters.
AMC Theatres, Cinemark and Regal Cinemas have reportedly discussed not screening films from studios participating in a soon-to-launch premium video-on-demand service, according to the Los Angeles Times. Combined, the trio operate more than a dozen megaplexes in Central Texas with close to 200 screens.
For $30 per title, premium VOD will offer movie watchers a chance to see films at home 60 days after they hit theaters. Most releases aren’t typically out on DVD or made available on pay-per-view — at a cost in the $4 to $6 range — until the four-month mark.
DirecTV will debut the service Thursday with “Just Go With It” and three other offerings. Cable operators aren’t far behind.
Many theater owners say the plan could be ruinous.
“We believe the theatrical experience has a bright future, and we are aggressively investing to prepare for it,” AMC, which operates the cinema at Barton Creek Square mall, said in a statement. “The p-VOD world as currently defined threatens that health. As such, we have notified studios of our expectations regarding economic arrangements on movies that go p-VOD. … (A)s these windows shrink and threaten our industry’s future, it is only logical to expect AMC to adapt its economic model.”
Read the full story here.
Update: The National Association of Theater Owners published an open letter speaking out against premium VOD, according to IndieWire. Filmmakers who signed the letter include James Cameron, Michael Bay, Peter Jackson, Kathryn Bigelow, Guillermo del Toro and Michael Mann.
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April 13, 2011
Austin Film Festival brings new show, 'On Story,' to KLRU-Q
In an attempt to bring a taste of the festival to a broader audience, the festival has produced “On Story: Presented by the Austin Film Festival,” a 30-minute TV show. The first of 12 episodes will air on KLRU-Q at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and continue the following weeks.
The first half of the show will feature clips of screenwriters and directors at the fest discussing their craft in detail, interspersed with scenes of the filmmakers’ works.
“On Story” will allow viewers to experience the festival’s unique pleasure, one that festival co-founder and “On Story” producer Barbara Morgan says can be hard to explain to those who have not attended.
“We want to share a little bit of that magic that happens in those panels,” Morgan said. “And to me it really is magic. You get a lot of smart, interesting, articulate people in a room, and they get to talk about their craft, and you get a lot of gems out of that.”
The first episode includes one such gem from “Braveheart” screenwriter and festival Advisory Board member Randall Wallace.
“My father was a salesman,” Wallace said. “And he said to me when I was quite young, ‘People will remember almost nothing of what you say and only slightly more of what you do. But all their lives they’ll remember the way you made them feel.’”
Lawrence Kasdan (“The Empire Strikes Back”) and Shane Black (“Lethal Weapon”) appear in the first episode as well, to discuss conveying feeling through writing.
Morgan believes that the relaxed nature of the festival and the camaraderie among filmmakers and movie lovers leads to an openness and honesty that viewers rarely have a chance to see.
“There are so many people who come here, and when they’re at the conference, because they’re with their peers and there’s a comfort zone, they share,” Morgan said. “It’s really amazing how much people will share. Personal stuff. They’re really talking about this in an unguarded fashion. I think we get an interesting and deeper perspective of their craft.”
That perspective will help inform the audience’s experience in viewing the second half of “On Story,” which features a brief interview with a regional filmmaker presenting one of his or her festival-screened shorts.
Episode one features the narrative short “Frente Noreste,” by Angela Torres Camarena.
Miguel Alvarez, an award-winning local filmmaker and University of Texas lecturer who will have a short featured in the series, will edit each of the 12 episodes. Morgan says that while not every episode will have a specific topic, the panel clips and the short they precede will all be tied together thematically.
Future episodes include appearances from Ed Burns (“The Brothers McMullen”), John Lee Hancock (“The Blind Side”), David Peoples (“Blade Runner”), Judd Apatow (“Knocked Up”), Ron Howard (“Apollo 13”) and more.
“On Story” will follow “Ebert Presents” on KLRU-Q, giving the relatively new and slightly alternative channel an hour-long block of film-oriented programming.
“KLRU-Q to us has always been a way of going after a little different demographic than the classic PBS demographic,” said Bill Stotesbery, KLRU CEO and general manager. “To that extent, I think this fits very well. I think the content in the panels is sometimes a little edgy. The screenwriters, while they are very passionate about what they do, it sometimes is approached with a tone that might not be typically what you would see in a PBS show of this nature.”
Morgan sees the show as an extension of the mission of the festival and conference she co-founded in 1994.
“The reason that you walk out of a movie and love it usually is not just the acting but the story,” Morgan said. The show “gives a glimpse of who these people are who write the story. These are names you should know. If you loved ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,’ you should know Shane Black before you know Robert Downey Jr., even though he’s the one on the screen. The message is it’s about the story.”
KLRU-Q broadcasts on Channel 18.3 in KLRU’s 18-county viewing area and is also available to digital cable subscribers of Time Warner (Channels 20 or 255) or Grande (Channel 284). Episodes will also be available online at klru.org shortly after broadcasts.
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Texas Filmmakers' Production Fund accepting applications
If you’re a fan of regional film, chances are you’ve seen work by someone who has received money from the Austin Film Society’s Texas Filmmaker Production Fund. The fund gives grants to filmmakers living in Texas for their independent productions.
AFS has opened registration for the 2011 TFPF application process. The deadline for submission is June 1.
There are obviously rules to these types of things, so if you want details on the application process, your chances of receiving funding or any other number of things, check out AFS’ comprehensive FAQ section here.
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April 4, 2011
Robert Rodriguez set to get incentive money from Michigan
Robert Rodriguez and his team at Troublemaker Studios got some good news from a government agency last week. The Michigan Film Office announced that Rodriguez’s “Spy Kids” has been approved to receive film incentive money from the Great Lakes State totaling around $1.8 million, according to the Detroit News.
The story says that the film will be converted from 2-D to 3-D at Speedshape, a post-production facility in the town of Birmingham, Michigan. The Michigan Film Office reported that approximately $4.5 million will be spent on the work.
“Spy Kids 4” joins a list of more than 40 projects that have submitted for tax incentives. Under a new law passed in March, projects hoping to qualify for incentives will have to be screened to qualify for the tax breaks.
Carrie Jones, director of the Michigan Film Office, said the state gave the project the green light because of the way it was utilizing Michigan-based infrastructure.“The work they do (at Speedshape) is very high tech and they’re providing good-paying jobs, and I think it’s those kinds of jobs that are great for the state,” said Jones. “It’s all money being spent here on Michigan businesses and Michigan infrastructure, so we’re excited about that.”
The Texas Film Commission denied incentives for Rodriguez and Troublemaker’s controversial immigration-related feature film “Machete” last December.
Asked about the post-production work and incentives from Michigan for “Spy Kids 4,” a representative of Troublemaker Studios said they had no comment.
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March 10, 2011
The Violet Crown sets opening date
Downtown’s cultural scene will be getting yet another remarkable upgrade in late April. The Violet Crown theater, which will specialize in art, independent, documentary and international films, plans to open April 29.
“A number of people, myself included, have been looking at trying to open an art theater in downtown Austin for the past 10 years,” Violet Crown owner and operator Bill Banowsky told the Statesman’s Lori Hawkins. “We have finally found the right place, which allows people to come down, see a movie and explore the nearby restaurants and shops.”
Ticket prices for the theater, which plans to release its initial lineup on March 22 will range from $9-$13 depending on time and day.
For more information about the cinema located on the second floor of the AMLI on 2nd apartment building, read Hawkins’ story here.
Rendering by FODA STUDIO
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March 8, 2011
'Tree of Life': There will be dinosaurs
The visual effects team that worked on Terrence Malick’s highly anticipated spring release, “Tree of Life” spoke exclusively with the British website LittleWhiteLies.com, giving everyone a peak into what we can expect from the legendary Austin director.
Of the experience working with Malick, Visual effects supervisor Dan Glass said, the director “was like no one else I’ve ever worked with or imagine I will work with again.”
So, what can audiences expect of the cryptic Malick’s next film starring Brad Pitt? There will be dinosaurs.
[More from LittleWhiteLies.com]
Regarding the topic which has garnered a lot of internet attention, Glass answers, “I can confirm that there are dinosaurs.” Given the responsibility of bringing the prehistoric animals back to life in the Natural [History] Realm was Frantic Films under the guidance of Mike Fink, which took on a new name after commencing work on the project. “I came onto it after it was already underway at Prime Focus,” states Bryan Hirota, who served as a visual effects supervisor at the VFX facility. “The company worked on it for maybe eight months.”Hirota goes on to say, “Terrence Malick is notoriously secretive… I don’t know much about this movie. I don’t really know how the work fits in.” This comes as no surprise to Glass. “I would sometimes deliberately misguide the intention,” he admits. “An animator would want to know, ‘What’s the purpose here? What’s my motivation?’ So I would deliberately misguide a little and push in one direction and say, ‘Now adjust it and do this,’ just to try to get that zone where you have a little bit more of an ambiguity and something that’s more animal than human in its characteristics.
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Alamo Drafthouse partners with Fandango
The Alamo Drafthouse has partnered with online ticketing operation Fandango, the Austin theater chain announced today on its blog.
What does this mean for you, the consumer? Apparently not much change. You will still be able to use the Alamo’s website to purchase tickets for regular screenings as well as all of the special programming that makes the Alamo the Alamo. The move to Fadango, which will offer online and mobile ticketing, is part of the Alamo’s growth and eventual expansion to New York and Los Angeles.
“We’re ecstatic to partner with Fandango, the industry leader in online ticketing. Theatrical releases and our specialty programming can sell out days, even weeks in advance and sometimes after minutes of being available for purchase, so online and mobile ticketing is a huge part of our business,” said Tim League, Alamo Drafthouse CEO & Founder.
To celebrate the announcement, Fandango and the Alamo Drafthouse say they will host a first-come, first-served party for festival badgeholders at SXSW, though no details were given on the Alamo’s blog.
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February 27, 2011
Austin's ties to the Independent Spirit Awards
Former Austinite John Hawkes won best supporting actor for his role in “Winter’s Bone” at the Indepedent Spirit Awards, which are held each year the night before the Oscars. On Sunday evening, he was nominated for an Oscar in the same category, but lost to Christian Bale of “The Fighter.”
The filmmakers behind “Daddy Longlegs” took home the Cassavetes Award, beating Austinites Bryan Poyser and producer Megan Gilbride, who were nominated for “Lovers of Hate.”
“It really was a blast going,” Boyser said Sunday. “We managed to get all the actors in [to the ceremony], so it was kind of like going to Sundance again, where the team was all back together.”
The filmmaker and director of artist services at the Austin Film Society spent the past couple of months in Los Angeles working on a writing project, but is back in town and said he will begin shooting a short film this week.
Another former Austinite, Anish Savjani, won the Piaget Producers Award for his work Kelly Reichardt’s “Meeks Cutoff,” which screened at last year’s Austin Film Festival.
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February 16, 2011
SXSW and AFF get some love
The website Sceenwriting for Hollywood released their list of the 10 best international film festivals, and Austin’s two biggest made the list.
On the list topped by the Cannes Film Festival, SXSW ranks fifth and the Austin Film Festival ranks number seven.
Click here for the complete list.
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February 15, 2011
Texas Film Hall of Fame to honor Zellweger, Torn and "Friday Night Lights"
The Austin Film Society will honor native Texans Renée Zellweger and Rip Torn and locally shot TV show “Friday Night Lights” at the Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards on March 10 at Austin Studios.
University of Texas graduate Zellweger, who was one of an ensemble cast of young actors to appear in Richard Linklater’s 1993 comedy “Dazed and Confused,” first earned national recognition for her role in 1996’s “Jerry Maguire.” In the early part of the last decade, the actress became a regular at the Academy Awards, earning best actress nominations for her roles in “Bridget Jones’s Diary” (2001) and “Chicago” (2002), and winning an Oscar for best actress in a supporting role in 2003 for her work in “Cold Mountain.”
Temple native and UT graduate Rip Torn’s career in television and film has spanned over seven decades. Nominated for an Oscar for his role in 1983’s “Cross Creek,” the legendary actor gained his widest recognition as Artie, the late-night talk show producer on “The Larry Sanders Show.” His performance as the acerbic but loving father figure to Garry Shandling’s Sanders earned Torn six consecutive Emmy nominations for best actor in a supporting role, including a win in 1996.
Currently in its fifth and final season, “Friday Night Lights” will receive the Star of Texas Award “for its critical success, significant contribution to the economy and its authentic portrayal of Texas.” Show stars Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton will accept the award for the critically acclaimed show based on H.G. Bissinger’s book about West Texas high school football. “FNL” actors Jesse Plemons, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson and Brad Leland will also be in attendance.
Comedian Wyatt Cenac, a writer and correspondent for “The Daily Show,” will host the event which is slated to include director Catherine Hardwicke (“Twilight”), Luke Wilson (“The Royal Tenenbaums”), Richard Linklater (“School of Rock”) and Thomas Haden Church (“Sideways”).
Tables (seating 10-12 people) range in price from $5,000 to $25,000. For more information about the Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards visit austinfilm.org/tfhof.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified Rip Torn as a Texas A&M graduate. Although he attended A&M, he was a graduate of the University of Texas.
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February 10, 2011
Austin filmmakers win $100,000 prize from Doorpost Film Project
Austin director Bradley Jackson and producers Russell Wayne Groves and Andrew Lee, were named winners of the Doorpost Film Project at a ceremony Wednesday night in Los Angeles.
The University of Texas alumni won the $100,000 grand prize for the 20-minute film “The Man Who Never Cried,” a dramedy about a young man who, on the eve of his father’s funeral, attempts to shed tears for the first time in his life.
The locally shot film stars Keir O’Donnell (‘Wedding Crashers’), Madison Burge (“Friday Night Lights”) and Jess Weixler (‘Teeth’).
After being named one of four finalists, the creative team received $40,000 to produce “The Man Who Never Cried,” along with mentoring support from Richard Linklater and other industry professionals.
The men intend to put their winnings toward the production of their next project, a feature-length film.
To view the film, visit themanwhonevercried.com.
Photo by Julia Ransom: (From left to right: Russell Groves, Bradley Jackson, Dave Ward, Andrew Lee)
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February 7, 2011
Austin named top five film city
While it would be hard to argue that Los Angeles and New York City are still the movie capitals of the country, every year more and more people are finding ways to get movies made outside of the industry’s coastal behemoths.
Thanks to tax incentives and expanding pools of production talent, some people are even finding ways to work and live somewhere between L.A. and NYC.
Over the past decade, MovieMaker Magazine has compiled a list of the best cities in which to live, work and make movies. The list is based on not just the best towns to make movies, but also the best place to live; therefore, in addition to film resources and ability to network, much consideration is given to cost of living, employment rates and salaries.
This year, Austin ranked number four on MovieMaker’s 11th annual list.
The following is just part of what the magazine had to say about the town that is home to Richard Linklater, Robert Rodriguez, Mike Judge and many more.
“Independent moviemakers’ lover affair with Austin started long before we created this list … In addition to a low cost of living and low unemployment rate, Austin offers moviemakers another way to save: The Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program, which offers rebates of up to 29.5 percent … One of Austin’s strongest assets is its depth of dependable crew. On most features shot in Texas, nearly 80 percent of the jobs are filled locally, which saves a production precious dollars on housing, transportation and per diems.”
Read MovieMaker’s full description of the city and its assets here.
The complete list:
1. Boston
2. Albuquerque, NM
3. New Orleans
4. Austin
5. Atlanta
6. Seattle
7. Brooklyn
8. Detroit
9. Los Angeles
10. Richmond, Virginia
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January 14, 2011
Harry Knowles recovering following emergency back surgery
Around 10 p.m. Thursday night, Austin movie critic and founder of Ain’t It Cool News, Harry Knowles sent out a Tweet that launched online movie lovers into a mildly confused panic.
“Well, I get to have crazy spinal chord surgery, see y’all on the other side hopefully,” Knowles wrote.
A pretty nonchalant message for a fairly troubling piece of news. Knowles’ Twitter followers and, by proxy, thousands of others, immediately responded with encouraging messages letting the cinephile know that he was in their thoughts and prayers.
Details were a little sketchy and concern remained high, and then Knowles re-appeared on Twitter at 4:25 a.m. to tell his followers, “Hey folks, Harry here… totally alive, my neurosurgeon is an AICN reader & twitter follower…”
Over the next couple of hours, Knowles informed his followers that doctors had performed major surgery on his back - his “T10, through my back,” as he wrote, to relieve pressure on his spine. Knowles said the surgery “was a wild success” and he was told he had a “miraculous recovery.”
Feeling returned to both of Knowles’ legs, along with his trademark humor and joy of watching movies. Austin’s most renowned movie geek said that he had nurses who looked like Uma Thurrman and Andrew Garfield and celebrated the fact that his TV at the hospital had TCM (and FX, which allowed him to view some of Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Magnolia,” the first premiere at his inaugural and now-famous Butt-Numb-A-Thon.)
(We’ve reached out to Knowles for comment, but realize — again, though Twitter — that he is recovering and resting peacefully at this time.)
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December 22, 2010
Austin Film Critics announce awards
Director Darren Aronofsky’s ballet thriller “Black Swan” dominated the annual awards from the Austin Film Critics Association on Wednesday.
The movie was named the best of the year. Aronofsky won best director. And Natalie Portman was named best actress. It also won best original screenplay and best cinematography.
Colin Firth won best actor for his portrayal of a stuttering King George VI in “The King’s Speech” Supporting actor awards went to Christian Bale of “The Fighter” and Hailee Steinfeld of “True Grit.”
The other awards were as follows:
Best Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, “The Social Network”
Best Original Score: Daft Punk, “Tron: Legacy”
Best Foreign Film: “A Prophet” [Un Prophete], France
Best Documentary: “Exit Through the Gift Shop”
Best Animated Feature: “Toy Story 3”
Robert R. McCurdy Honorary Breakthrough Artist Award: Chloe Moretz, “Kick-Ass”/”Let Me In”
Best First Film: Gareth Edwards, “Monsters”
Austin Film Award: Ben Steinbauer, “Winnebago Man”
Special Honorary Award: “Friday Night Lights,” for producing excellent, locally made television in Austin for the past five years
In addition to “Black Swan,” the top 10 films of the year were:
2. “The Social Network”
3. “Inception”
4. “Toy Story 3”
5. “The King’s Speech”
6. “True Grit”
7. “The Fighter”
8. “A Prophet”
9. “Winter’s Bone”
10. “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”
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December 16, 2010
UT grad Bradley Jackson's filmed named Doorpost Film Project finalist
Online voting has begun for the Doorpost Film Project’s Audience Choice award, in the Doorpost’s 2010 Short Film Contest.
“The Man Who Never Cried,” directed by University of Texas grad Bradley Jackson and shot in Hutto, Georgetown, Pflugerville, Round Rock and Temple, is one of four finalists in the Doorpost Film Project’s 2010 Short Film Contest. As a finalist, “The Man Who Never Cried” has a chance at winning a $100,000 grand prize.
Voting takes place at thedoorpost.com and lasts six weeks. Participants may vote once a day until voting is closed.
“The Man Who Never Cried” stars Keir O’Donnell of ABC’s “My Generation” and “Wedding Crashers,” Jess Weixler of the critically acclaimed film “Teeth.”
You can watch Jackson’s film at thedoorpost.com.
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December 15, 2010
Updated: 'Roger Ebert presents At the Movies' coming to KLRU
Updated: Elvis Mitchell will not be co-hosting the show. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, since the original announcement of Mitchell and Christy Lemire as co-hosts “there had been growing concern about whether Mitchell was the right person for the job.” The Sun-Times goes on to say that “one source who had seen the pilot shot earlier this year with Lemire and Mitchell said it showed little on-air chemistry between the two.”
Ebert, however, says the rumors of bad chemistry are completely unfounded. He took to Twitter to say that “Elvis and Christy had great chemistry, as anyone could see who bothered to watch the pilot we posted.”
Word on Mitchell’s replacement is expected to come next week. Any guesses as to who it may be? The Chicago Tribune’s Michael Phillips or the A.O. Scott of the New York Times both had stints on the show’s previous incarnation.
Venerable film critic Roger Ebert announced today that his revamped show “Roger Ebert presents At the Movies” will begin its televised run on Jan. 21.
In the statement on his blog, Ebert mentioned that the show, which will be co-hosted by former New York Times critic Elvis Mitchell SMU alumnus and Associated Press critic Christy Lemire and a critic to be named later, will appear on 192 PBS affiliates.
The announcement linked to a PDF document (that reads “For internal use only”) with all of the stations that will allegedly be carrying the show. Austin film lovers likely noticed the absence of their beloved KLRU. But before you march down to the UT campus with pitchforks and torches, you can take comfort in the statement I received from KLRU today.
“The show will air on KLRU starting in January,” KLRU’s Director of Communications April Burcham told me in an email. “We just don’t have a timeslot picked yet and that’s why KLRU wasn’t included in the press release that the show sent out. Our programming department is still finalizing the January schedule and won’t know the timeslot for it until next week.”
Burcham said that the show will air on both KLRU and KLRU-Q. Everyone can now take a deep breath.
As for the production of the show, when Ebert announced its return in September, he and his co-producer/wife Chaz, said that in addition to reviewing new movies, the show “will expand into coverage of New Media, special segments on classics, on-demand viewing and genres, and an extended website. It will use the copyrighted ‘Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down’ format made famous by Siskel & Ebert.”
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December 6, 2010
Actress Amber Heard comes out of the closet at GLAAD event
The rising star, who has had minor roles in “Pineapple Express” and “Zombieland,” appeared at the event with her partner Tasya van Ree.
The beautiful young actress spoke with AfterEllen.com about her decision to come out.
“I think when I became aware of my role in the media, I had to ask myself an important question ‘Am I part of the problem?’” she told the the website. “And I think that when millions and millions of hard-working, tax paying Americans are denied their rights and denied their equality you have to ask yourself what are the factors that are an epidemic problem and that’s what this is.
“Injustice can never be stood for. It always must be fought against and I just was sick of it being a problem,” Heard said. “I personally think that if you deny something or if you hide something you’re inadvertently admitting it’s wrong. I don’t feel like I’m wrong.”
Heard will co-star with Johnny Depp in next year’s adaptation of “The Rum Diary,” based on Hunter S. Thompson’s novel of the same name.
[More on Heard’s decision on AfterEllen.com]
Photo of Amber Heard at “Pineapple Express” premiere from Associated Press.
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November 30, 2010
'Lovers of Hate' nominated for IFC's Cassavetes Award
The IFC announced nominees for its Independent Spirit Awards today, and “Lovers of Hate” from Austinite and University of Texas graduate Bryan Poyser and his producer Megan Gilbride, was named a finalist for the prestigious John Cassavetes Award. The award is given each year to the creative team of a film budgeted at less than $500,000.
The second feature-length film from the filmmaker who also serves as Director of Artist Services for the Austin Film Society is a dark comedy about a sibling rivalry centered on a woman. It’s not the first time Poyser has earned the attention of IFC. In 2004, he got a “Someone to Watch” nod for his feature “Dear Pillow.”
The Cassavetes Award has had a strong Texas flavor over the past several years, as the 2010 award was given to screenwriter/director Lynn Shelton for her film “Humpday,” which starred former Austinite Mark Duplass; the 2009 award went to former Austinite Alex Holdridge for his film “In Search of a Midnight Kiss;” and the 2008 award went to Texan Chris Eska and his film “August Evening.”
Austinite Anish Savjani was named one of three finalists for the Piaget Producers Award for his work on Kelly Reichardt’s beautiful and spare period drama “Meek’s Cutoff,” which screened at the Austin Film Festival.
Many of the 2011 Spirit Award nominees will be familiar to those who made the rounds at SXSW and Austin Film Festival this year. Danny Boyle’s “127 Hours” and Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan,” which are nominated for best picture, both screened at AFF in October. Those movies are joined in the best picture category by Debra Granik’s rural drama “Winter’s Bone,” which screened at SXSW in March. All three directors are also nominated for best director, along with John Cameron Mitchell, whose stomach-punch drama “Rabbit Hole” screened at AFF. The nominated directors’ films all received multiple nominations.
Aaron Schneider, director of “Get Low,” which screened at SXSW, was nominated for best first feature for his slow, character study of a mysterious hermit played by Robert Duval. Schneider is joined in that category by fellow SXSW alumnus Lena Dunham for her movie “Tiny Furniture,” a fresh coming of age comedy starring Dunham, who is working on an HBO show, “Girls,” under the eye of producer Judd Apatow. “Tiny Furniture” won the jury award for Best Narrative Feature at SXSW.
Other nominees that have made festival bows in Austin this year include “Marwencol” (documentary feature jury award winner at SXSW), “Thunder Soul” (SXSW), “Meek’s Cutoff” (AFF), “The Myth of the American Sleepover” (Special Jury Award, Best Ensemble winner at SXSW), Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine” (AFF), John C. Reilly in “Cyrus” (SXSW), James Franco in “127 Hours” (AFF), Aaron Eckhart, in “Rabbit Hole” (AFF), Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole” (AFF), Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone” (SXSW) and Natalie Portman in “Black Swan” (AFF), John Hawkes in “Winter’s Bone” and Bill Murray in “Get Low.”
For a complete list of nominees, visit the IFC site. The 2011 Independent Spirit Awards will take place on Saturday, Feb. 26.
Independent Spirit Awards-related content on Austin360.com:
- For director Poyser, a bittersweet week: Austinite notified of Sundance selection, then father’s death
- SXSW live: “Lovers of Hate” at the Paramount
- Interview: Robert Duval, Bill Murray and Aaron Schneider of “Get Low”
- Interview: John C. Reilly of “Cyrus
- Bill Murray reflects on his time at SXSW
- Capsule review: “Marwencol”
- Capsule review: “Tiny Furniture”
- SXSW live: The Duplass brothers and “Cyrus”
- Capsule review: “Winter’s Bone”
Trailer for “Lovers of Hate”:
Photo of Bryan Poyser by Chris Garcia AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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November 23, 2010
Film Commission director allowed to stay on job despite harassment findings
Gov. Rick Perry’s outgoing director of the Texas Film Commission has been allowed to stay on the job despite being disciplined for sexual harassment in 2009 and after a subsequent investigation found similar behavior again this year.
The latest investigation of Bob Hudgins also raised new concerns about gender discrimination in hiring practices.
Read more about the Film Commission director’s extension.
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November 15, 2010
Spike Lee pokes Bush, Obama during roundtable
Spike Lee doesn’t mince words, and during a roundtable discussion Sunday, the filmmaker was blunt in his take on presidents, disasters and the slowness of the country to come to grips with its basic problems.
Lee was in Austin for a screening at the University of Texas of portions of his Gulf Coast documentary, “If God Is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise,” in which he revisits post-Katrina New Orleans as a follow-up to 2006’s “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts.” His latest feature shows how the BP oil spill was affecting recovery efforts.
Seated before about 650 people, the 53-year-old filmmaker defended accusations that former President George W. Bush is racist, called President Barack Obama weak and urged the audience to challenge assertions that “75 percent of the spilled oil has evaporated.”
“The oil is still there,” he said. “Don’t believe Obama and his scientists.”
More generally, Lee’s comments followed a major theme of the documentary: that even as New Orleans rebuilds after Hurricane Katrina, the nation has not meaningfully addressed the complex issues revealed by the hurricane and the BP spill.
Lee’s documentary ran this summer on HBO. Before Sunday’s event, which was dubbed “An Afternoon with Spike Lee,” some audience members said they came to see how his provocative style translated to the documentary format.
“I know Spike is very good about getting perspective that isn’t always shown in the media,” Marlah Neal, 40, said.
The portion of the documentary shown Sunday focused in great detail on the government’s response to the spill and featured top officials as well as devastated residents. Lee showed Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson’s defense of the Obama administration, as well as the frustrations of Louisiana commercial fisherman Dean Blanchard, who at one point says bemusedly, “I never thought the British would kill us.”
After the screening, Lee spoke briefly as part of a roundtable of students and professors. He started with subdued comments but, in expanding on the idea that mistakes from the Hurricane Katrina era will be felt for some time, criticized Bush, who is promoting a new memoir, “Decision Points.”
“No matter what book of revisionist history our former president may try to write, people are no longer (living) because of the five days it took” for the federal government to mount a response to Katrina, said Lee, who did not indicate whether he had read the book.
“He’s not a good guy. It’s that simple,” Lee said. “And I don’t think Kanye should back up, either.”
Lee was referring to Kanye West, a rapper who said, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” at a televised fundraiser in Katrina’s aftermath. During his book tour, Bush has said the accusation of racism was the low point of his presidency because it was attacking not only the wisdom of his decisions but also his basic morality.
After his comments on Bush, Lee expanded on one of the major themes of “If God Is Willing” — that the Obama administration’s response was weak, as evidenced by its decision to partner with BP to cap the leak and not confer a major leadership role in the recovery to retired Gen. Russell Honore, a Louisiana resident.
“BP ran this thing,” Lee said. “I think they dictated to Obama and the United States of America how this was going to go. … Eleven people died. The biggest environmental disaster ever. Why all this deference to BP?”
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Wes Anderson collecting stars for 'Moon Rise Kingdom'
Bill Murray, Gene Hackman, Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller Gwyneth Paltrow, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilsonn, Danny Glover, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum, Meryl Streep, Willem Dafoe …
In his six features over his 15-year career, director Wes Anderson has worked with some amazing talent, with many of his stars recurring over and over again in his smart, quirky films.
As he prepares his latest, “Moon Rise Kingdom,” Deadline reports that, per usual, the stars are once again lining up to be apart of the native Texan’s work.
According to Deadline, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton are all in talks to star in “Moon Rise Kingdom,” a script that Anderson wrote with Roman Coppola.
“Moon Rise Kingdom is set in the 60s. Two young adults fall in love and run away. Leaders in their New England town are sticking the idea that they’ve disappeared and go in search of them. Norton will play a scout leader who brings his charges on a search. Willis is in talks to play the town sheriff who’s also looking, and who is having an affair with the missing girl’s mother, the role McDormand is in talks to play. Murray, a regular in Anderson films, will play the girl’s father, who has his own issues.”
