Short Cuts
By Marjorie Baumgarten, Fri., May 8, 1998
Serendipity sometimes smiles. Just as we're going into production with one of this week's "Screens" features about this month's presentation of the Texas Documentary Tour - Kyle Henry's SXSW Film Festival favorite American Cowboy - we learn that the segment Henry created for John Pierson's Independent Film Channel television show Split Screen also airs this week. This Austin episode features the Split Screen's visit to Austin during SXSW, as well as the work of two other local filmmakers: Elisabeth Sikes' "Weekend With Larry," which focuses on actor Lawrence Tierney, and Bob Ray's "Sweet Sweetroll's Baadasssss Spin," a Super-8 film that caught Pierson's eye when he was serving as a judge last summer for the Texas Filmmakers' Production Fund grants. Henry's piece, "The Texas Union Massacre," documents the still-contested closure of the University of Texas' film program. The IFC show airs Monday, May 11 at 7 & 10pm. The Documentary Tour screens at the Alamo Drafthouse on Wednesday, May 13, at 7 and 9:30pm...
Speaking of the Texas Filmmakers' Production Fund (TFPF), the new edition of Persistence of Vision (the Austin Film Society newsletter) announces that the deadline for this year's applications is July 1. They also encourage potential applicants to submit an "Intent to Apply" card by June 1, which helps them to help you spiff up your application. For additional info visit http://www.austinfilm.org/tfpf.html or call 322-0145...
Last week in this column I listed the announcements for the AFS open positions of Artists' Service Director and Programming Coordinator (who will replace the hard-working Jacob Vaughan). Applications are due May 15. But while reading Persistence of Vision, I also noticed a slew of listings for specific volunteer and intern positions for this summer and fall. A wide variety of talents and skills are needed to complete an array of tasks. Résumés should be sent to 3109 N. I-35, Austin, TX, 78722...
Congratulations to the Austin Heart of Film Festival and Screenwriters Conference, which just received a $7,500 grant from the Academy Foundation (as in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). The festival is also hosting a free screening of The Gingerbread Man on Tuesday, May 12, 7:30pm at the Arbor. For a pass, visit their office at 1600 Nueces between 10am and 5pm or call 478-4795. Also, here's a reminder about the May 15 deadline for submissions to the Screenplay Competition. Get more info at http://www.austinfilmfestival.org...
It's all alphabet soup to me: I might think I was suffering from redundancy problems with this week's openings of Deep Impact and Deep in the Heart (of Texas) if it weren't for three other films that are also in current release - The Big Hit, The Big Lebowski, and The Big One. The causes for such convergences are Big Deep Mysteries. Hey, someone call Robert Stack...
I think I have a new series title.
