Now That You've Finally Wrapped Dept.: Now that you've got that film and/or video project that you've been slaving over for the past year in the can, you're probably wondering how to get it in front of an audience. Lucky you, the long-running and well-respected
Dallas Video Festival has announced a call for entries for their 15th annual roundup of film and video. Proudly noting that there are "no thematic or content restrictions" (which really lets you off the hook as far as that documentary on peripatetic Mongolian yak herders goes), the fest is seeking entries in the categories of narrative, documentary, animation, experimental, computer graphics, works by and for children, music videos, and pretty much anything else you could think of. And in celebration of its 15th anniversary, the fest is offering two new cash awards for "Best of Show" and "Audience Favorite." (Finally, a way to pay off those prohibitive lab fees.) In addition to the festival's regular programming, there's also something called "The Texas Show," which is a juried program that will be distributed to "non-theatrical venues throughout the year." Film and video submissions need to be under 25 minutes long and must have been produced in Texas or by a Texas resident. In addition, there's a student film contest open to everyone from elementary school on up to high school. The deadline for all submissions is Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2002. Entry fee is a paltry $20. To obtain an entry form, call 214/428-8700, or check out their Web site at
www.videofest.org... Along the same lines, but bigger, faster, stronger (as Daft Punk would no doubt say) is
Austin's South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival, which runs March 8-17. Early entry deadline has passed, but there's still time to get films in under the regular deadline wire of Dec. 10. For complete entry rules, regs, and whatnot, hit
www.sxsw.com. As to the conference part of this year's fest,
Troma Films mastermind
Lloyd Kaufman (the man behind
Class of Nuke 'Em High and other mindwarpers) will have a retrospective showing of his work, and former
The Larry Sanders Show regular
Jeffrey Tambor is on board to conduct an acting seminar... Bad news from Cali: Formerly local actor
Charles "Doug the Slug the Slug Gunning" (Miller's Crossing, Slacker) was involved in an automobile accident in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. See "Dancing About Architecture," p.51, for more on Gunning.