Best in Show & Panavision Award - Pleasant Dreams
(18:54) Narrative Sci-fi
Lam Chui, director (Fort Worth TX)
Synopsis
A young man goes looking for his estranged brother only to find he has entered an alternate reality facility.
Director Biography
Lam Chui started his film career shooting short videos on his sister's 8mm camcorder. In 2004, he began taking acting classes at Collin County Community College to improve his skills as a director. In the summer of 2007 he began studying at the Media Tech Institute in Dallas to obtain an education in Digital Film. Lam graduated in 2008. "Pleasant Dreams" is his directorial debut.
Best Locally Produced Film - Forgotten Frames
(12:00) Narrative Drama
Jeremy Snead, director (Dallas TX)
Synopsis
How a French inventor became the forgotten father of cinema.
Director Biography
Jeremy Snead is a creative director and producer at a multimedia production studio in Dallas, Texas. Snead is a film fanatic thrives on creative energy. He grew up in “deep” west Texas in the little oil and cotton town of Levelland. Jeremy Snead loves the medium of film making. He admires those who do it well and strives to become a great film maker himself.
Best Documentary - Icky Twerp: The Electronic Baby Sitter
(20:00) Documentary
Richard Kent, director (Dallas TX)
Synopsis
A look at the life and times of Bill Camfield, a.k.a. Icky Twerp, irreverent host of “Slam Bang Theater”.
Director Biography
Richard Kent is a determined, passionate storyteller with an extensive background in film and video production. Born and raised in the Dallas/ Fort Worth area he hopes to continue creating films about the people who make his home such a unique and interesting place to live.
Best Narrative Film - Mrs. Brummett’s Garden
(20:00) Narrative
Patrick Rea, director (Lawrence KS)
Synopsis
An elderly woman believes that she is talking to fairies in her garden.
Director Biography
Patrick Rea graduated from the University of Kansas in 2002. Since 2004 he has been producing and directing over 20 shorts that have screened at various film festivals such as The Palm Beach International Film festival, Shriekfest L.A., The New York City Horror Festival and Fangoria's Weekend or Horrors.
Best Foreign Film - Tropezones
(6:00) Narrative
David Macian & Eduardo Molinari, directors (Madrid, Spain)
Synopsis
He’s crazy about food; she’ll do anything to please him. A perfect romance… as long as something is left in the fridge.
Director Biography
David Macian and Eduardo Molinari began working together in 2007 when they formed the production company Audrey Junior Productions. They spent most of 2008 writing scripts for shorts. Tropezones is the first in a series of shorts they plan to release.
Best Experimental Film - Beautiful Exposure
(12:05) Experimental
Geoff McGee, director (EulessTX)
Synopsis
A depressed photographer meets his ex for one last photo shoot.
Director Biogrpahy
Geoff McGee has had a passion for filmmaking since the age of 4. As a child he pursued this passion through still photography. After graduating high school, he enrolled in the RTVF program at Tarrant County Community College. Eventually Geoff landed a position at Panavision Dallas where he wrote, produced and directed his first short film "Wait". Beautiful Exposure is his second short. Geoff plans to continue making shorts, music videos and eventually feature length films.
Movie Tavern Award - The Small Multiple
(6:38) Narrative Sci-Fi
Daniel Piatt, director (Denton TX)
Synopsis
A man tries to save his dying wife by inventing a machine that alters dimensional reality.
Director Biography
A proud Texas Native, Daniel Piatt has over 10 years experience in the film production industry. He has worked on countless commercials, music videos and indie films. He has won 5 national and 7 state awards for his work. He plans to continue making film.
Best Student Film - Gillface
(12:17) Narrative Musical Comedy
David McGinnis, director (Arlington TX)
Synopsis
A girl from a small town moves to the big city only to fall in love with someone who is not quite human.
Director Biography
David McGinnis is a graduating senior at the University of Texas Arlington. David has won awards for his work at South by Southwest, Austin Film festival, the Newport Beach Film Festival among others. Once graduated, david plans to continue a fruitful career as a filmmaker.
Best Animation & Youth Film - The Mirror
(1:35) Animation
Rachel Racanelli, director (Flower Mound TX)
Synopsis
A boy stumbles across a magical mirror.
Director Biography
Rachel Racanelli is an award winning student at the Dale Jackson Career Center where she is study-ing Animation. She is also as senior at Flower Mound High School where she also focuses her studies on art. Her short "The Mirror" recently screened at South by Southwest. Rachel hopes to become a professional animator and plans to attend the Ringling College of Art & design in Florida in the fall.
Best Music Video - Voice Rock for President
(3:42) Music Video
Teddy Cool, director (Dallas TX)
Synopsis
Hip Hop artist Mc VoiceRock runs his own “presidential” hip hop campaign.
Director Biography
Teddy Cool has worked in and around the North Texas film community since 1998. Over the years he has treated each job like going to film school learning as much as he can. In 2007, Teddy collaborated with Poor Vida records to shoot the debut performance of their recording artist Mc Astro and Teddy has not stopped shooting since.
Best Trailer - God & Country
(1:46) Trailer
Daniel Platt, director (Denton TX)
Synopsis
Trailer for WWII period piece.
Director Biography
A proud Texas Native, Daniel Piatt has over 10 years experience in the film production industry. He has worked on countless commercials, music videos and indie films. He has won 5 national and 7 state awards for his work. he plans to continue making film.
Official Selections
Misfortunes Smiles
(18:00) Narrative Drama
Patrick Rea, director (Lawrence KS)
Synopsis
A con-artist posing as a fortune-teller sees his life change when his crystal ball mysteriously begins to work.
Director Biography
Patrick Rea graduated from the University of Kansas in 2002. Since 2004 he has been producing and directing over 20 shorts that have screened at various film festivals such as The Palm Beach International Film festival, Shriekfest L.A., The New York City Horror Festival and Fangoria's Weekend or Horrors.
Future Farmer
(20:26) Narrative Sci-Fi
J. Christopher Gibson, director (Austin TX)
Synopsis
A 22nd-century farmer does what he must to keep his farm.
Director Biography
John Christopher Gibson has worked in the video gaming industry in Austin for several years. It is due to this background that his films are full of interesting plots and fun special effects. John plans to continue to blend his gaming past with his refreshing script ideas.
Little Boy
(14:00) Experimental
Frank Mosley, director (Arlington TX)
Synopsis
A man realizes his impact on society through two very similar if contradictory births that occur at almost the same moment.
Hold
(2:00) Trailer
Frank Mosley, director (Arlington TX)
Synopsis
An exploration of the isolation of a couple bound by love, but torn by circumstance
Director Biography
Frank Mosley is an award-winning writer, filmmaker, and actor from Arlington, Texas. At age nine, he began making vampire movies on Hi-8 with his friends in the family backyard, inducing them to performing dangerous stunts and saying words he’d seen written on restroom stalls. He received his B.A. in English literature from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2006, with a minor in Film. His short films have all played on the national festival circuit, including "Little Boy", which took home the Best Film and Best Director prizes at the 2007 Dark Horse Film Festival.
Panels
Copyright Law & fair Useage
Moderator: Joel Timmer teaches in the Radio-TV-Film department at TCU, where he teaches classes focusing on legal and business issues in the film and television industries. He earned his Ph.D in mass communications from Indiana University as well as a law degree from the UCLA School of Law. He has worked for the Federal Communications Commission and for a consulting firm that provided business and regulatory advice to major entertainment companies. Joel is also very active in the DFW area film community, he serves on the Board of Directors for Q Cinema.
Panelists:
Mark A. Nobles is a writer and documentary film producer. His latest project is Teen A Go Go: A Little Film About Rock and Roll History, a documentary about 1960’s teen garage bands. Mark has done production work for NPR and also wrote and co-produced a weekly radio program calledTexas Music Minutes, syndicated on public radio stations throughout Texas. He is currently co-writing the companion book for Teen-A-Go-Go and has other screenplays and films in various stages of development.
Carty Talkington is a native North Texan director, writer, producer. He is most known for his screenplay Deep Blue Sea and for directing/ writing Love and a.45 which featured Renee Zellweger. Carty continues to make films and commercials in the Texas area.
Linda Kordek works as a talent agent both independently and with the acclaimed Agency Group. She has represented traditional and not-so-traditional film/tv composers for 15 years. She represents the film and tv interests of mega bands and artists as well as yet-to-be-discovered talent. Understanding the creative needs of both filmmakers and musicians, she makes sure the business side of art makes sense for all.
Tamera Bennett is a highly respected copyright attorney in the DFW area representing musical artists in the area of film and tv.
Texas Filmmakers Resources
Moderator TBA
Panelists:
Bryan Poyser was nominated for an Independent Spirit "Someone to Watch" Award for writing and directing DEAR PILLOW, which was released on DVD in 2007 after screening at over 30 film festivals in the US and Europe. He produced and co-wrote THE CASSIDY KIDS, which premiered at the SXSW Film Festival and recently screened on the Independent Film Channel. He currently serves as the Director of Artist Services for the Austin Film Society and is completing his new feature film LOVERS OF HATE.
Meg Gould has worked professionally both locally and in the Los Angeles film and television industry for more than 14 years as a Production Coordinator and Manager. She has worked on various productions including Godzilla, Walker, Texas Ranger, and ABC Sports, as well as Program Coordinator for the USA Film Festival. She is currently the Assistant Director at the Dallas Film Commission.
Tiffany Kieran is a North Texas area Producer, Production Manger and Production Coordinator. Aside from producing her own documentary shorts, Tiffany has also been a coordinator/ production manager on several area films and the Tv show "Prison Break".
Texas Filmmakers' Production Fund workshop
Since 1996, the Austin Film Society's Texas Filmmakers' Production Fund has supported Texas filmmakers by giving out $930,000 in cash, goods and services to 265 film and video projects. The deadline for the 2009 cycle is June 1st and if you are a filmmaker who has resided in Texas for at least one year, you are eligible to apply for up to $25,000 in funding for your project. At this workshop, the Austin Film Society's Director of Artist Services Bryan Poyser will take you through the application process step-by-step.