A lot of filmmakers view super-small-screen exhibition – think smartphones and tablets – as an unholy way to watch a product initially intended to be projected fifty feet high, but not Rafael Antonio Ruiz. In fact, the filmmaker went out of his way to embrace new technology by releasing his 2008 comedy Holy Hell on the iPad last January, making his the first feature film to premiere on the iPad. Written by Lowell Bartholomee and starring a gaggle of familiar Austin faces and places, Holy Hell has been enhanced for tablet distribution with supplementary materials and serialized in chapter bursts. (The final chapter debuted Tuesday, Jan. 8.) To celebrate the culmination of the project and, in Ruiz’s words, “as a goodwill gesture to everybody that worked on it and Austin in general,” the filmmakers are offering the film free for download from the iTunes App Store on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 11-12.
This article appears in January 11 • 2013.
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A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas, Kimberley has written about film, books, and pop culture for The Austin Chronicle since 2000. She was named Editor of the Chronicle in 2016; she previously served as the paper’s Managing Editor, Screens Editor, Books Editor, and proofreader. Her work has been awarded by the Association of Alternative Newsmedia for excellence in arts criticism, team reporting, and special section (Best of Austin). The Austin Alliance for Women...
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