It was a big pleasure last week to be invited over to the studios of KOOP, Austin’s noncommercial community-owned radio station, as a guest on the station’s dedicated film show Lights Camera Austin, to discuss the last decade in local moviemaking and watching. Now you can stream the whole show.

In the 75 minute conversation, Chronicle Screens Editor Richard Whittaker and LCA host Robert Sims touched on a wide array of topics, including:

• The growth of Austin as a production center, and the growing number of filmmakers making a living here.

• What the decade meant for Austin’s big three – Robert Rodriguez, Richard Linklater, and Terrence Malick (plus our pick for who is the number four).

• The rise and fall and rise again of the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program, aka the film and TV incentives.

• Austin’s growth as a TV town.

• The growth of festivals and how SXSW went from a big regional festival to a big festival, period.

• How the Alamo Drafthouse (and Fantastic Fest and Mondo and Neon) ruled the last 10 years.

You can hear the entire discussion over at www.lightscameraaustin.net, and catch Lights Camera Austin Thursdays at 2pm at 91.7 FM or streaming at www.koop.org.

And don’t forget that you can also catch a revolving showcase of Chronicle writers and editors on KOOP on The Austin Chronicle Show, Fridays at 3pm.

This article appears in December 27 • 2019.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.