Austin
Film Festival 2003 - Day 3 - October 11, 2003
I slept late and blew off the conference closing party
to stay home and watch the UT game. What a waste of time.
The Horns got slaughtered by OU.
I went to the Arbor for a 7pm screening for a film
made in Austin called "A
Promise Kept." I assumed it would be poorly attended
(and it was) because everyone else would be at "Mystic
River." There were a few people here, including some
tweener kids who kept shushing no one in particular.
The film started with no introduction from anyone.
Before the movie, I got to compliment the Arbor
manager Kevin on his new theater. It looks awesome.
After the screening, I headed downtown because
the plan was to go to the screening of Neil Young's
"Greendale"
and then party at the Driskill. Melissa was back from
getting married in Vegas and was, hopefully, going to
join me.
I waited in a short line at the Paramount and watched
people filter out from the previous show. I saw that
my friend Jan was standing in "Passes" line and since
she never attends Q&A's, I assumed someone from "Mystic
River" must have attended the film. Could it have been
the elusive Mr. Eastwood? That seemed doubtful. Maybe
one of the actors? Or the writer? Jan was talking to
some other folks, so I didn't get a chance to ask her.
I saw several people I knew but didn't really get
a chance to say hello to anyone. The Austin-American
Statesman's Chris Garcia, fellow AFF flunkie J.H., and
AFF Competition Film Programmer Lisa Albracht were all
milling about.
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Neil
Young
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There were lots of Neil Young fans
in line with me and finally I realized that Neil
must be coming and the wannabees were waiting in
front of the theater for him. Sure enough, a van
pulled up and Young and his entourage hurried inside.
Some of the "real" fans next to me were so happy
because they could see him inside through the Paramount's
front glass facade ordering a drink at the front
bar. One fan said he was disappointed that Young
arrived in a van and expected him to come in an
"antique Cadilac." |
We finally got to go inside. Albracht was
handing out little green badges to people who, I assume,
were invited to go upstairs and hang out with Young.
(I, of course, was not offered one. I'm such an indie
outsider!) I headed to my usual seat up towards the
front and ran into a former fellow screener named Julie
(I think). She told me that she missed me this year
and that some of the other screeners were real idiots.
I told her I had been dis-invited from screening this
year. She seemed as disappointed as I was about this
and that made me feel really nice. She's always been
so nice to me.
While I was sitting up front, I spotted Ryan Morris,
an Austin actor whom I met a couple years ago through
John Christensen when the two of them were extras in
"Miss Congeniality." Ryan is apparently involved in
real estate now. At least he didn't move to L.A.
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Barbra Morgan, the AFF Executive director
and co-founder of the festival, introduced a producer
of "Greendale" who did a short introduction. He
ended by reminding the audience that "In 'Greendale,'
the solution to the problem is to vote HIM out."
After the film, Young, some of his actors,
his producer and his manager, all got on stage
and did a Q&A. It was hosted by AFF Grants Coordinator
and screenwriter Alan Odom. The Q&A was lengthy,
informal and interesting. Young seemed as happy
and as vibrant as ever and answered a slew of
questions. (A lot of the info he gave is in the
"Notes" of the Filethirteen "Greendale" review.)
It was just after 12 midnight when the Q&A
got out, so I called Melissa and she agreed to
come over to the Driskill bar for a bit of the
usual AFF afterparty. I walked to my car and put
up my stuff (including my camera, dammit) and
headed to the bar. I met up with Ryan Williams
and we talked for quite a bit. He gave me a copy
of his short film "Confine" to watch.
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AFF Executive Director
Barbara Morgan
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Melissa and her new husband Robert arrived and they
showed me this cool shot glass that they got for me
in Vegas. It's shaped like a penis. It's so fucking
cool. We had just gotten a drink and began to chat when
Courtney Davis, former AFF film programmer as well as
a local filmmaker and actress, came up and gave me a
big hug. Robert and Melissa sat at a couch while Courtney
and I spent at least 15 minutes catching up. She's so
sweet and it was so awesome to see her. We talked about
this film, "Yeti in the City" which she has done a little
work on. One of the guys who was in her film "My Name
is Buttons" is the filmmaker. (She also told me the
film has nothing to do with this "Bitter Yeti in the
City" comic strip which has begun appearing in the Austin
Chronicle recently.
Courtney also told me a great story. She is taking
this semester off from school and working on her thesis
and when she has time, she picks up odd temp jobs that
interest her. She told me that during day on this festival
week-end, she has been working at a new Toys 'R' Us
and, during their opening, has been playing Barbie.
She had s costume (a dress, tiara and sash) and gets
to hang out with Strawberry Shortcake and a bunch of
other characters (although most of the others, she said,
had fake heads). If you know Courtney then you know
what a crazy idea it is that she would be playing Barbie.
What a hoot! She said that it has been fun and that
in addition to the little girls, teenage boys and dads
had also been talking to her a lot. (I'll bet.) Courtney
told me that while she is playing Barbie, she is trying
to tell girls who came up to her that it was good to
be smart in math and other school subjects. That rocks!
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The shotglass
Melissa and Robert got me in Vegas
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After we talked, I got Melissa and Robert
another drink (and myself too) and told them we
had to mingle. I knew that Melissa was really
good at meeting random people. I found out that
Robert is too. They said hello to some random
guys walking by and we ended up meeting Pat Kiely,
a Canadian filmmaker who had a short called "Dudley"
in the festival. Pat introduced us to his D.P,
Marco, and another of his friends, a little hottie
who lives in New Jersey but headed to Austin with
Pat to support his friend. These guys were not
only cute but funny, smart and interesting too.
Pat told me that he and his friends had won the
"pitch" contest that day. When we inquired as
to exactly what that was, he told us that AFF
has a contest where you have one minute to pitch
a film and the winner gets free passes to the
festival the next year. What an awesome idea!
I want to do it next year.
I also met a guy who came in third in the
Comedy Feature Script contest. He was about an
shy and humorless as one expects a comedy writer
to be.
We partied until they closed the Driskill
down and then decided to head to Kirby Lane for
chips and salsa. I had some BBQ chicken tacos
too as I hadn't eaten all night. Melissa and Robert
told me about Vegas and seeing Blue Man Group
(which sounded cool but way too expensive - $93)
and how all the news out there was about Sigfried
and Roy being bitten by that tiger.
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I went home and watched an episode of The Lodger
Showboat (ACAC, Channel 10 at 3am on Saturday night/Sunday
morning). The new season started this week and my first
episode was okay. I used to come on after "Raw Time"
but now I've got some lousy local country music show
as a lead-in. I've noticed other things have moved as
well. "The Show with No Name" used to be on Sundays
and not it is on Fridays. "The Reel Deal" and "Lube
TV" are on the same night and time but both of the shows
are now on channel 16 instead of channel 10.
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