Filmmaking Community in Austin Texas

For a long time, Austin has been considered the Third Coast in the film industry, with more filmmakers on the rise in Austin, and more Hollywood types coming to Austin to shoot their movies.

One of the biggest proponents of the up and coming filmmakers is UT's Radio-Television-Film department. Though the film courses are a challenge to get into, with many vying for a slot and low numbers of students per class, many consider the red tape worth it, as UT has become a highly regarded film school, comparable to UCLA or NYU.

Though UT's film school is on the rise, Austin is still not the heart of the movie industry, but some graduate students have taken it upon themselves to get UT's student films in from of Hollywood big shots, and created their own film festival called CinemaTexas. The award winners of the UT student film festival, with help from prominent UT alumni, get their movies screened before the Director's Guild in Los Angeles, solidifying CinemaTexas as a true festival.

In 2003, the University of Texas Film Institute (UTFI) was set up. Not only does it help students keep up with the newest film technologies, but it is also partnered with Burnt Orange Productions, allowing students to participate directly on feature length big budget independent films.

Some local budding filmmakers looking to gain some skills, but not deal with UT's bureaucracy find themselves enrolling at Austin FilmWorks. Their 14 week-long course is taught by former UT professor, Steve Mims. When Robert Rodriguez couldn't get into UTs film school due to a low GPA, he turned to Mims classes for insight, and considers him a crucial influence on his filmmaking skills.

In the mid 1980s, local filmmaker and creator of cult hit Slacker Richard Linklater, helped create the Austin Film Society as a non-profit educational organization. Though the organization began strictly as a film appreciation group, today the Austin Film Society holds their own filmmaking camps for Austin's youth, has discussion panels with experts in different aspects of moviemaking, and offers an internship program.

In 1999, Richard Linklater, Robert Rodriguez, and other movie making heavy hitters approached the Austin City council explaining that Austin was becoming a moviemaking hotbed which could lead to several million dollars for the city.

Linklater and Rodriguez went on to point out that office and studio space was hard to come by, due to Austin's constant popularity and the tech boom of the time. In November of 2000, the Austin Film Society leased the old Robert Mueller airport from the city for a mere 100 dollars a year, and has turned the old hangars into official sound stages called Austin Studios.

Sandra Bullock was the first to bring Hollywood to town with her Warner Brothers movie Miss Congeniality which used two stages for 5 months. Since then, several feature length movies have been shot at the studios, as well as documentaries, television commercials, music videos, and photo shoots.

With over 100,000 square feet of production space, and a tolerance for productions at any budget level, the Austin Studios have become popular among multimillion dollar blockbusters and local low budget creations alike.

With the variety of filmmaking options to local Austinites, and the amount of high end productions coming into town, the possibility of becoming a filmmaker, or running into a Hollywood movie star, are ever increasing.

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Harley Davidson & The Movies - Fifty Years Of Movie Parts

The most recent film starring the American icon, the Harley Davidson motorcycle, was called 'Wild Hogs'. Named after the nickname given to its riders in the 1970's, this family comedy with an all star cast including John Travolta didn't quite meet its hyped expectations. Falling flat in plot and more importantly, script, the movie was a disappointing attempt at capturing the lure of the Harley and the thrill of the open road. It should have been no surprise. Putting Disney together with Harley Davidson was a little like asking John Carpenter to do a remake of Bambi. " Nice death scene, but it didn't quite capture the mood of the original!"

Hollywood however, has had a love hate relationship with this most unlikely of stars for more than half a century. It unwittingly threw the spotlight on what had been an American standard of industry, only to demonize the name to the extent that The Harley Davidson Motor Company nearly went bankrupt. As with most relationships though, time heals all. It would be the elevation into cult status of the very same movies that nearly destroyed the company, that would raise the phoenix of Harley Davidson from the fire, and turn it into the iconic symbol that it is today.

As with the careers of most movie stars, early appearances and bit parts are mostly forgotten. You may catch a glimpse of a Harley in WWII movies. (The motorcycles were supplied to the army as utility transport during both World Wars until the Jeep took over as the main utility vehicle in 1942). The big break for the Harley Davidson came in 1953 when it was cast alongside, or should I say under, Marlon Brando in The Wild One. The movie, which told the story of Jonny, the bike gang rebel, reflected the tone of rebellion sweeping America at the time amongst the nations teenage youth.

Unlike today however, 1950's society was not one driven by youth culture. The impact of the openly anti-establishment images that the genre portrayed did not spark a boom in sales for Harley Davidson as it would later achieve for such products as Ray-Ban sunglasses following the 1982 movie Top Gun. The effect in fact, was the opposite, leading the motorbike manufacturer into a period of declining sales. Conservative, middle America in the 50's was not willing to support what Harley Davidson had become and the youth generation that idolized the films and their stars were not yet in charge of the finances to supplement their dreams.

Whilst commercially Harley Davidson was in trouble, its portrayal in movies continued to flourish. The notable peak in came in 1969 with the movie 'Easy Rider'. Once again cast as the bad boys favourite mode of transportation, the Harley Davidson Chopper cruising the open highway, will always epitomize freedom and rebellion. Maybe it is this dichotomy of emotions, so fundamental to American history and the 'American Dream' that has been the backbone of the Harleys endurance.

The nineties saw Mickey Rourke and Don Jonson take up the gauntlet, although in this film it was Mickey Rourke's character that bestowed the Name Harley Davidson to the title of the film. Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man once again cast the character of the rough neck to, yes you guessed it, Harley Davidson.

As the nineties progressed, the teenagers that had idolized Marlon Brando and those early biker movies in the 50's were maturing into the wealth of America. Like an old friendship lost but never forgotten, it was these middle aged rebels of yester-year that would rekindle the corporate fortunes of Harley Davidson. they customized their bikes to stand out in a crowd and create for themselves a separate identity apart from the rest of the corporate clones. They were rebels that may have succumbed to the corporate ladder but now had the finances to relive the youth they could never afford.

So, it is with somewhat of a saddened heart, that the movie that was to portray the story of this revival and tell the story of those 50's youth reborn, should have turn out to be such a damp squib. Maybe Harleys executives still feel the pinch of the bad boy image and this is why they turned to Disney to tell the story. Personally, I think they should have gone with Tarrentino, the guts and the glory, the true Harley Davidson.

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Kelly Chaney is a Flick and TV nut and avid consumer of internet media. She should pass a lot of time writing and less time watching TV. Click here for more information on downloadable Movies

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Detroit City Shines with Tinsel-Town Locations

With the filming of blockbusters such as 8 Mile, The Island, and Transformers in local Detroit locations, filmmakers are discovering Detroit is a city rich with extraordinary film location possibilities. From an island park located in the heart of the city to gritty warehouses to a vibrant cultural and entertainment district, Detroit has everything that filmmakers are seeking today to make their next film project a visual success.

According to a January 2008 Detroit Free Press article, Detroit's birth as a film destination isn't just about commercial feature films. Producers of music videos, instructional DVDs, advertising, and television shows will work anywhere there's a tax payoff. Which is why, not surprisingly, a number of movies set in Detroit, including Four Brothers and Assault on Precinct 13 were shot largely in Ontario. Employing a tax-break strategy has allowed Canada to enjoy success in the film industry; provinces are competing with one another to provide filmmakers the best deals. Now, various states have begun developing their own tax-break incentives and proposals.

To compete with those states and neighboring Canada, the state of Michigan adopted tax rebates of up to 20 percent to production companies that shoot movies, television shows and commercials in the state. However, those rebates have quickly been outdone by other states offering more lucrative incentives. In response, Michigan is creating more robust incentives, in addition to extra enticements for production companies that hire Michigan-based workers instead of flying a crew from outside the state.

Places like Detroit and other parts of Michigan know the long-term economic benefits that filming locally can bring to a location. For instance, couples who have enjoyed Somewhere in Time, starring Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve, are still drawn to Mackinac Island where the film was shot in 1979. And according to Free Press columnist Mitch Ablom and Michigan native and filmmaker Mike Binder, Michigan's cities, countryside, beachfront, and changing seasons are just a few of the elements that can make Michigan a preferred site for the film industry, given bigger financial incentives and other assistance to people who make movies. Detroit City's huge inventory of empty warehouse buildings could offer some exciting possibilities as sound stages.

In 2008, the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau launched Film Detroit in an effort to promote metro Detroit as a location for commercials, films, documentaries, and still photo shoots. Film Detroit is working hard to make Detroit a player in the film industry and help to diversify the state's economy.

Summer 2008 brings together those involved in the art of film -- from writer and director to cameraman and viewers -- at the Detroit Windsor International Film Festival (DWIFF). The event, which runs June 26-29, 2008, reaches to all levels and corners of the filmmaking industry, and brings it into focus to support the growth of a strong film culture. More than film festival, the event wants to create a new type of film culture, which builds on 100 years of film and looks forward into the digital future.

Attendees will be able to view a collection of indie and featured films, attend workshops, product demonstrations, listen in on industry gurus, and meet Michiganders who have found success in the entertainment world. In addition, the event will also feature talents from the music industry and artists. Detroit and Windsor offer a one-of-a-kind experience in the world of film, art and entertainment. The DWIFF is the way to see how it all comes together.

Film goers will see cinema from both sides of the camera at venues all over Detroit city, including the campuses of Wayne State University, College for Creative Studies and the University of Windsor, the Detroit Institute of Art, the Majestic Theatre, and the Charles Wright African American Museum, to name a few.
Working with other film festivals and community events around Michigan and over the border, the DWIFF encourages collaboration with the entire community, bringing together people, companies, schools, neighborhoods and other creative organizations that are doing innovative things to promote the creative talent and production resources for which Detroit has long been known.

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