Get Bent With Barna Dept.: As reported here last week, the
Cinemaker Co-op is merging with the
Center for Young Cinema and rechristening themselves the
Motion Media Arts Center prior to their impending move from the old ArtPlex location to swanky new digs in the 501 complex at Fifth and I-35. What we failed to mention, however, is the semi-star-studded party and fundraiser the Cinemaker gang is throwing tomorrow night, Friday, June 20, 8pm-midnight, at Gallery Lombardi (910 W. Third). If past Cinemaker blowouts are any indication (not that we can recall much about them, but then that's usually a good sign), this should be mandatory for anyone remotely interested in Austin's film community, like, for instance, you. As always with the wily Cinemaker crew, expect an audio-visual barrage of installation pieces, animated short films, a silent auction, Ruby's barbecue, a veritable tsunami of tasty microbrews, and an army of drunken filmmakers. There will also be art, film, and video work on display from locals
Mark Jones,
Gary Price,
Hung Nguyen,
Josh Case,
Victor Hernandez,
Paul Beck,
Jason Archer,
Matt Rodriguez,
Alan Watts and his Pixeltees, and Cinemaker/CYC mainspring
Barna Kantor, without whom yadda, yadda, yadda. It's all for a good and genuinely transgressive cause, so be advised you'd be wise to show up and get your drink/film on. More info online at
www.cinemaker.org or
www.gallerylombardi.com... On the other hand, you could also head down south for the kickoff of the
Ninth Annual San Antonio Underground Film Festival, also on Friday night, at the Alameda Theater (318 W. Houston St.). Festival head
Adam Rocha has some 62 films screening with nearly all of the filmmakers in attendance. Admission is a paltry $8 per day (the fest runs through the evening of Sunday, June 22), and the lineup spans the globe from "Iran to Seattle." Indie all the way, check them out online at
www.safilm.com, or call 210/977-9004 for more info... Congratulations are in order for Austin filmmaker
Ken Johnson, whose film
Jesse's Closet took second-place honors in the recent fifth annual
Hollywood Black Film Festival. The award netted Johnson a snazzy $3,000 prize and, according to the press release, possible distribution from
Maverick Entertainment.
Is It Not Cool? Dept.: Harry Knowles' name is once again being bandied about as a sort of Internet piñata, but according to Knowles, who runs the popular Ain't It Cool News film-fan Web site out of his Austin home, it's all a bunch of nada. The online scuffle concerns a recent report by Ain't It Cool's television scribe "Herc" that a script (or part of a script, depending on who you talk to) by writer Richard O'Sullivan which is currently making the rounds online is the season opener for Joss Whedon's Buffy offshoot, Angel. Not so, says O'Sullivan, who has been quoted in both a press release and in various online entertainment forums (such as New York Post's popular "Page Six") saying that the script in question was simply a sample piece that only used Angel's stable of vampiric characters as a jumping-off point. Calling Knowles "a thief" who "stole my intellectual property" in an article on Moviehole.net, O'Sullivan has been getting plenty of attention, which may have been the point in the first place. At least that's what Knowles believes: "This guy doesn't have a leg to stand on, since from the start we stated that we weren't sure if this was a real script or possibly not. And as for me trying to ruin this guy's career, c'mon, we said in the first place that the writing was good stuff. I have no ill will towards him at all. Apparently he has issues with me, though, but, you know, join the club pal -- there's about 4 million others out there who feel the same way."
