The Austin Film Festival is dedicated to the writer as the heart of the creative process of filmmaking. For the last 14 years, it has prided itself on seeking out films with strong storytelling, both written and visual. AFF uncovers outstanding, emerging filmmakers; serves as a creative catalyst for legendary, contemporary and student writers; fosters their development through panels, workshops and master classes conducted by professionals; recognizes, encourages, and challenges the talents of new filmmakers and provides outreach opportunities to writers and filmmakers.

By Randy Webb

Maybe not with a bang, but not with a whimper either

October 14, 2007 4:20 PM | |

Everyone's tired and the energy is down, but they've had a fine time at the
Austin Screenwriters Conference, 2007

The last day of the Austin Film Festival Conference kicks off on Sunday with the Hair of the Dog Brunch at a small very funky restaurant about six blocks away at 10:00 am. As people gather in the line going into the restaurant the most frequently heard comments are along the lines “my head hurt,” and “having that extra hour helps.” It seems that the majority of the tribe closed down the joint late last night. A lot of people show up just to say goodbye as they head off to catch their flights. I end up at a table with Jane Slater from New York. A Yankees fan, she’s quite pleased with Cleveland’s 11th inning thrashing of Boston last night in the ALCS. She works for a production company called Tapwater. We really don’t talk business but she’s curious about why I’m here.


The film festival will continue but today is the wrap of activities and events at the Driskill Hotel, which has been the headquarters for the last four and a half days. I get into another roundtable, this one with writers and get a writer/producer of urban films, a comedy writer working on a sitcom, and a writer who teaches film at UT in Austin. Interesting conversations but everyone is winding down. The roundtable doesn’t quite have the previous day’s energy. The hallway conversations are dwindling, too.


I decide that I will finish my AFF Conference experience by attending a reading of the winning adult/family screenplay. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve made all week.


Remember this name. Jimmy Miller is the writer of Slugger, one of the best baseball stories I’ve seen or read in a long time. I’m not sure it is categorizable but it puts together a bit of the mood and tempo of Bang the Drum Slowly, a bit of the charm of The Rookie, and the mythology of The Jackie Robinson Story. It’s about a young girl with a major league swing who overcomes adversity in her quest to be the first woman in the Majors. The reading made the audience laugh and cry. In fact at one point the narrator had to stop because he was choked up. This one deserves to see the big screen. Don’t forget that name. Jimmy Miller.


RW

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