The Top 10 Most Read Screens Stories of 2021

From production woes to interstellar bounty hunters, it's been a wild year in film and television around Austin. But what were the news and interviews you, our readers, cared about the most?

Here's our list of the top 10 most read screen stories at austinchronicle.com/screens:

---

1: "Fear the Walking Dead Production Quits Austin for Georgia," Nov. 11

Was there any more devastating news for the Austin filmmaking community than the announcement that the AMC smash was moving production to Savannah, Ga.? Since relocating here in 2018, the show had spent millions of dollars, employed hundreds of professionals, and helped further raise the area's reputation as a place to make TV and movies. The expectation was that it would stay here for years to come, as it had leased studio space for at least one more season, and was deep in preproduction when the announcement came. So what motivated the move? Increasingly, it looks like the state's decision to play favorites with the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program (Texas's spending rebates for TV, games, and movies) meant the dead are walking out of state.

---

2: "Investigation Discovery Show "Guilty Until Proven Innocent" Rips Holes in the Michael Morton Case", Oct. 1

The wrongful conviction of Michael Morton for the murder of his wife, and the determination of prosecutors to ignore any contrary evidence, was the focus of an episode of Investigation Discovery's Detective Diaries. Brant Bingamon was on hand for a special preview screening at AFS Cinema where director Dan Johnstone, attorney John Raley, and Morton himself discussed the documentary and the case with Richard Linklater.

---

3: "First Look: Snapchat's Lago Vista," June 30

Every social media platform seems determined to bust their own format, and Snapchat is no different, having jumped from disposable messages into the bubbles of docusoaps. Avery Wohleb gave us a first look at Lago Vista, centering on the lives of teens in the tony Austin suburb.

---

4: "Jordan Levin on the Future of Rooster Teeth," July 31

Austin's online content pioneers have come a long way since those early days in cofounder Burnie Burns' bedroom. Now part of the WarnerMedia empire, and with most of the original talents gone, the fanbase is asking, what is Rooster Teeth now? General Manager Jordan Levin sat down to discuss the future for the firm as it starts producing more content for HBO and Netflix.

---

5: "Austin's Conspiracy Culture Exposed in The Pizzagate Massacre," Nov. 19

Austin has a complicated (translation: ugly, and getting worse) history when it comes to conspiracy theories. So Joe Gross didn't shy away from taking about the city's bad habit of treating dangerous extremists like quirky eccentrics when he talked with John Valley about his new sharp-toothed satire The Pizzagate Massacre, and Valley was definitely there with the receipts.

---

6: "Living With Dying in Our Friend," Jan. 20

Gabriela Cowperthwaite's star-studded adaptation of Matthew Teague's Esquire article, entitled "The Friend: Love Is Not a Big Enough Word," may not have set the box office aflame, but the portrayal of what it means to live with someone who is dying touched the hearts of those who did see it. The director discussed her moral and emotional obligations to the real people whose lives she was recounting.

---

7: "After the Pandemic at the Alamo Drafthouse," July 2

Reports of the death of cinema have been greatly exaggerated, even if it was looking rough for a while there. Alamo Drafthouse founder and Executive Chairman Tim League and new CEO Shelli Taylor went through the many issues that the locally-based chain had faced in trying to survive the pandemic, answered some tough questions about firings, and described what they saw as the company's future.

---

8: "Robert Rodriguez Opens The Book of Boba Fett," Dec. 24.

Christmas meant that Robert Rodriguez got to play with the best toys: a full-sized set of Boba Fett armor, complete with an actual Boba Fett! He's executive producer on the newest Disney+ Star Wars series, The Book of Boba Fett, and he talked with the Chronicle about his lifelong love of the mysterious bounty hunter, his relationship with George Lucas, and how series creator Jan Favreau asked him to bring that Alita: Battle Angel magic to the show.

---

9: "Sundown for the El Rey Network, Jan. 5

Robert Rodriguez's TV network went off the air at the beginning of the year, arguably the victim of corporate mergers and the exit of Univision as a partner. However, off the air is not the same as out of business, as the existing library moved to Roku, and the company has shifted to developing new projects.

---

10: "The Persecution of the Juggalos in United States of Insanity," Oct. 26

Woop woop! Insane Clown Posse may be the butt of many jokes, but Tom Putnam's documentary about the campaign of harassment by law enforcement against the band and its fans proves that attacks on the First Amendment aren't so funny.

---

Wondering what movies got our readers excited over the last year? Don't miss our blockbuster list of the Top 10 Most Read Film Reviews of 2021.

Plus, our reviewers got to write about some surprise lows and unexpected highs of the year in movies, so don't miss our accusations about the Worst Films of 2021, as well as our celebration of the Wildcards of TV and Cinema.