A couple of weeks back I popped in over at my local java hole — Ruta Maya — and noticed that the building opposite, former SXSW and occasional house party venue, the Millennium Center, was serving double duty as a soundstage for Robert Rodriguez and Elizabeth Avellán‘s new Spy Kids production. Austin’s Cue Lounge was taken over for night shoots on the Sandra Bullock/William Shatner/ Michael Caine vehicle Miss Congeniality last week. And this afternoon I dropped by the venerable Dog and Duck Pub only to find my lust for batter-heavy fish and chips would go unfulfilled thanks to yet another studio project shooting within (I’m thinking Sandy-redux here, but frankly I was too famished to stop, talk, and gawk). I keep hearing about how those pesky Canucks have savaged the Texas film community of late, what with the wealth of studio productions fixating on Toronto and Vancouver and so on, but I swear I can’t walk around downtown without tripping a grip. I won’t even get into what appeared to be a clandestine Renault car commercial that was shooting in my alley the other midnight, replete with fog and rain machines. Point being, as far as I can tell, rumors of the demise of the Texas (and more to the point, Austin) pro-film community appear to be greatly exaggerated. And really, who wants to shoot in a town that sounds like one of Adam West‘s old fisticuffs onomatopoetics anyway? (“Banff! Take that you cad!”)… UT‘s Department of Radio-Television-Film will be presenting a “free sneak preview” of short films selected for the Fourth Annual Student Film Showcase, Saturday, May 20, 2pm, at the College of Communication Auditorium, CMA A2.320 (26th and Whitis). Thirteen shorts from UT’s RTF Dept. graduates and undergraduates will be presented, all of which will be screened the following Thursday in Los Angeles at the Directors Guild of America Theater (with Texas-born MPAA head and former JFK/LBJ advisor Jack Valenti as guest of honor, no less). Here’s your chance to place wagers on who’s going to rake in the boffo breaks before the L.A. feeding frenzy begins… The UT-based Cinematexas International Film+Video Festival has announced a call for entries for Cinematexas5, the new, improved millennial version, which will be held Oct. 18-22. Postmark deadline for entries is June 16, and complete rules and registration information is available by phone at 471-6497 or on the official Web site at www.cinematexas.org… Wanna whack a capo? Yeah, me, too, but until John Gotti lands in your lap, we’re both better off taking in the Cinemaker Co-op‘s MAFIA (Make a Film in a Weekend) screening, which showcases a whopping 45 Super-8 films made by Austin-area filmmakers, Sunday, May 21, and Monday, May 22, 7 and 9pm, at the Ritz Lounge Upstairs. All films were edited in camera, which means no one — not even the filmmakers themselves, will see the finished products until the public screenings take place. $5 general admission ($2.50 for Co-op members). Call 236-8877 for more info or e-mail cinemkr@texas.net… Finally, last week’s plug for the Austin Museum of Art’s Art School at Laguna Gloria‘s media arts workshops for kids (9-12 and 13-16 years) has expanded to include courses on topics ranging from broadcast news and mockumentaries to video animation and telenovelas. Don’t be the last on your block to be Cecille B. Diminutive — call 323-6380 for all pertinent info.
This article appears in May 19 • 2000.