Bayou City Film News

The Texas Motion Picture Alliance is pleased as punch to be partnering with The Highball for our new Central Texas Monthly Meeting/Mixer, launching this Sunday, January 31 from 5-7pm. This event is free and open to the public, so please join us the last Sunday of every month. THIS MONTH'S GUEST: Two-time Academy Award nominated sound mixer JOHN PRITCHETT will discuss his craft and career, spanning such films as The Trip to Bountiful, Dirty Dancing, The Player, Road to Perdition, Sin City, There Will Be Blood and the forthcoming The Green Hornet, among scores of others. (As a special treat, John will give us a behind-the-scenes look at the opening tracking shot from The Player, and the "I drink your milkshake" scene from There Will Be Blood.) ALSO: Archivist Steve Wilson from the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin will give us a preview of their forthcoming major exhibition, MAKING MOVIES, opening February 9. ABOUT TXMPA'S CENTRAL ...

May the Best Screenwriter Win!   The cash prize is $500, plus the opportunity to see your story produced locally by WIFT Members and Industry Professionals! (If you make your living writing for film and television, you are not eligible to enter.)   For the next several weeks WIFT Houston will be looking for a great short script - one that can then be digitally produced for a budget not to exceed $10,000. We're placing an emphasis on strong storytelling and the ability to shoot the script locally. WIFT Houston and Irony Coast Productions will then produce the best live-action narrative script that is judged to be the Winner by a panel of industry professionals that may include independent producers, production companies, agents, distributors, filmmakers, film commission representatives, and others who may be selected and/or substituted at the discretion of the WIFT Houston.   This competition is for dues-paying members of WIFT Houston. IF YOU are 18 years ...

Mark Sawyer (1966 - 2010) Recently, filmmaker and longtime SWAMP supporter Mark Sawyer passed away at his home in Mexia, Texas. Originally from Houston, Mark found support and mentoring at SWAMP as an up and coming young filmmaker. His films were included on THE TERRITORY, our Texas PBS broadcast series. Ed Hugetz, founding director of SWAMP, had this to say about Mark: "I met Mark in the mid-80s when he was 16 and I was 40. I was a professor of film at UH-Clear Lake across the street from the suburban neighborhood where Mark and his family were living at the time. The first film he showed was "Dawn of Terror". The film was way beyond what you would expect from a 16 year old. The simple premise of the film was, what if that stuffed animal on your bedroom floor suddenly jumped at you. At the time, I was going around the state promoting Super 8 film as a low cost medium for independent makers to practice the art of film. Mark had used every bit of Super 8's capa...

We have extended our final Entry Deadline to January 31, 2010. Your entry must reach us by then. We offer competition for the coveted Remi award in 12 major categories; Features, Shorts, Docs, TV Production, Music Videos, Student, Screenplays, TV Commercials, Business Films, Experimental, Film & Video Production, & New Media. Described as "quite possibly the best organized film festival in the World" - Before there was Sundance or SXSW, before there was Toronto or Tribeca, there was WorldFest! We screen our Shorts and Features in Big AMC Theaters and are the only Film Festival in the World offering a VIP Tour of NASA and a Sailboat Regatta on Beautiful Galveston Bay at the Houston Yacht Club! http://www.worldfest.org

Shaun Toub, the Iranian-born, Hollywood actor, will present No One Knows About Persian Cats at the MFAH 8 p.m. on Friday, January 22 as part of the Iranian Film Festival. The film (which was banned in Iran) is a pre-release screening courtesy of IFC Films and will be followed by a reception, free and open to the film-going public, sponsored by the Society of Iranian American Women for Education. Toub’s extensive film credits include Iron Man, Crash, and The Kite Runner (bio and headshot attached). Toub also has a featured role in The Last Airbender (http://www.thelastairbendermovie.com/), coming summer 2010, and is busily preparing for the Golden Globes (as a newlywed, he has been out dress shopping with his wife over the last several days). The film that Toub will introduce--Bahman Ghobadi’s youthfully exuberant film, No One Knows About Persian Cats-- follows two intelligent and determined Persian teens as they jump through hoops doing what in many other countries is relatively...

I recently caught up with former Houston actor Chris Kinkade. Kinkade, now living in California was known mostly for his stage work in plays like "Carnal Knowledge" and many others in his long career has been doing alot of film work in recent years. Chris has recently worked on "Alpha Dog" starring Justin Timberlake, "Mouth of Caddo," "My Sisters Keeper," "The Legend of Hells Gate, An American Conspiracy" as well as the compelling drama "An Acrid Yarn." I've included the trailer for that last picture to give you an idea of Kinkade's range of characters that he plays so well...Enjoy!!

Southwest Alternate Media Project (SWAMP), the Austin Museum of Art and Houston PBS, in cooperation with The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, produces THE TERRITORY, the longest running public television showcase of independent film/video in the country. The Territory series showcases new directions in film, video, and digital media. KUHT-TV, HoustonPBS (Channel 8) Thursdays @ 10:30PM beginning this Spring Check out HoustonPBS.org for a list of air dates and films featured this season. Log onto www.theterritory.tv to get updates about upcoming episodes, watch interviews with the filmmakers (coming soon), check out clips from upcoming episodes (coming soon) and more! Click here to become a fan of THE TERRITORY on Facebook! SUBMISSION INFORMATION SWAMP is currently accepting submissions of short films, 27-minutes in length or less, for season 34. Please send a dvd copy of your film with contact information to: SWAMP Attn: The Territory 1519 West Main Houston, TX 77006

GULF COAST FILM & VIDEO FESTIVAL September 17, 18, 19, 2010 Bay Area Houston, Texas FILM ENTRY DATES.... Entry Fees and Forms on Website EARLY FILM ENTRY January 11, 2010 to February 12, 2010 DVDs only HALF PRICE ENTRY FEES (No other discounts accepted.) FILM AND SCRIPT ENTRY February 15, 2010 to May 7, 2010 DVDs & Scripts STUDENT DISCOUNTS APPLY LATE FILM AND SCRIPT ENTRY May 10, 2010 to June 4, 2010 DVDs & Scripts ALL LATE FEES APPLY Contact Information: Email: whiteriverrock@webtv.net Mail: P.O. Box 580316 Houston, Tx. 77258-0316 Phone: 281-333-5804 (9am - 5pm CST) Website: http://www.gulfcoastfilmfest.com/

Great visuals. Compelling story. Interesting Visual effects. Although each of these are important in the creation of a great film, the one thing that stands above them all is the actor in the frame. This workshop will investigate the director/actor relationship and how a director can get the most compelling performance out of their actors. By exploring various directing techniques, including script analysis, rehearsal strategies, beat-by-beat breakdowns, staging and effective acting exercises, each director will walk away with a deeper knowledge of what it means to connect with an actor and unlock their creative intuition. About Instructor: Widely regarded as one of this generation's next film directors to watch, Ya'Ke has made a name for himself as a filmmaker with a veracious style of storytelling that takes an unflinching look at issues facing today's society. Ya'Ke made his first film at the age of 15, while a student at Sam Houston High School in his native...