Hey gang - instead of a Notes from Austin, here's a look at what some of Austin's most important names in film are up to...

There's also some notes about my visit to the "Slacker" 10 year reunion screening here in Austin recently.

Let me know if you have any updates or note any mistakes to this stuff...

lodger@filethirteen.com

The scripter of "Castaway" has "Planet of the Apes" coming out soon. He also penned the script for Adrian Lyne's next film, "Unfaithful," which is due in November.

Sandra Bullock

Bullock was set to star in David Fincher's "Panic Room" but dropped out and was subsequently replaced by Nicole Kidman, who injured herself, and then, finally, Jodie Foster, who gave up her Cannes Film Festival duties to be in the film.

Bullock will next appear in Barbet Schroder's "Foolproof" as an FBI profiler tracking high school students committing muder. Then she will appear in "Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood" with her former "A Time to Kill" castmate Ashley Judd. In this ensemble piece, which also stars Ellen Burstyn Brenda Blythen, Shirley Knight and Maggie Smith, Bullock plays a writer estranged from her mother who one day receives a mysterious package. The contents? A diary her mother kept.

Bullock has recently been in talks to play "Wonder Woman" in a big screen adaptation.

Kat Candler

The talented young woman behind the awesome feature "Cicades" will be participating in a feature collection of short film called "6 in Austin." Her piece, "The Absence of Wings" is a dramatic narrative about seventeen-year-old Isaac Crenshaw who, imagining a young woman to be his guardian angel, seeks escape from the legacy of his abusive father.

Michael Dalmon

Michael worked on Tony Hewitt's film "The Duo" and continues to act and cast many of Austin's indie films and shorts. He is currently working on a "Hamlet" prequel with Mark David and others.

Dalmon's best film, "Attack of the Bat Monsters," directed by Kelly Green still has not seen the light of day since a special screening at the Austin Film Festival in 1999.

Mark David

Now back in Austin, the director, DP and musician recently left L.A. when his band, The Agency, broke up. David's film "Sweet Thing" is out on video and DVD. He is currently working on a "Hamlet" prequel which will shoot at the AFS facilities at the old airport.

David has also DP'ed a film called "The Duo" which was directed by "Sweet Thing" producer Tony Hewitt. Additionally, David did the score work for the film with William Tabanou.

IMDB also lists "The Krone Experiment" (directed by "Sweet Thing" sound man J. Robinson Wheeler) and "Death for Sale" as films due in 2001 which were DP'ed by David with "Krone" also featuring him as Score Composer.

Gonzo Gonzales

The underground filmmaker long associated with the Cinemaker Coop group of 8mm enthusiasts has a feature called "Moonlight by the Sea," which he produced in post. He will also direct a segment for "6 in Austin."

Hobble (Mike Falten, Oriah Lonsdale, et al)

The best live band in Austin continues to play, record and make videos. The clip for the bands "Doublewide" ("The Adventures of Rollerboy) played at the music video showcase at SXSW. They also have a clip for "Yoko Ono" in the can and it has been aired a few times on local access and Austin Music Network.

Flaten, who directs the bands clips, recently shot another starring Oriah as a barber. Says Oriah, "We just shot another video for the song, 'Little Secret' off of 'Blackmassking.' The video shoot went great. For the video, I am a barber (like Floyd from Mayberry, I wear some hair cutting glasses and my name is even embroidered on my barber jacket) and I get to give a little kid a flourescent green mohawk. Then, so he can be extra "punk" I give him a spiked leather bracelet, a guitar, a lollipop and I teach him to skate. The little "punk" was 2 years old and cuter than I could have hoped. Before the cut, his haircut was almost the same as mine. He even had is own little guitar with an Anarchy "A" taped on the back. He loved his mowhawk and if I had any doubts previously, I now know that I am pretty good at giving and styling mohawks. while we were shooting, we had all kinds of people stopping and watching (I'm telling you,! this kid was really cute). As long as there are no disasters while the film is developed, this is going to be an awesome video.

Hobble will by playing live in and around town so watch those club listings.

Brandon Howe

The "Cicades" star has several films coming up including "Insignificant Others" helmed by Howe's "Equinox Knocks" costar Sean Corrigan and "One Way" directed by his pal Ray Melendez.

Richard Linklater

Rick has two films completed which will be released by the "arthouse" labels of some large distributors within the next 6 months or so. "Waking Life" may be released some time in October or later in the fall by Fox Searchlight. Starring Wiley Wiggins, the film is considered by some to be a sort of computer-animated "Slackers."

Meanwhile, Linklater also has a DV feature called "Tape" which stars Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman due from Fox Searchlight in January 2002.

Both of these films premiered at Sundance. "Waking Life" was shown (unannounced) at SXSW.

In June of this year, Linklater assembled his cast and crew from "Slackers" for a public 10 Year Reunion in Austin which featured a screening of a beautiful new print. The event was held at the historic 1,400 seat Paramount Theater and tickets went for $25.00.

I attended the event and had my whole evening ruined by a bunch of AFS (Austin Film Society) Nazis who refused to let me bring my camera to the Q&A session after the screening even though everyone else in the place was snapping pix like it was Christmas (which it was for us "Slacker" fans). Really, Rick, you ought to put a leash on these fucking self- important wannabees with AFS badges running around at these events. They're making you look like a Hollywood asshole.

For what it's worth, the Q&A wasn't really all that interesting and Linklater had no idea what was going on, opting to "wing it" rather than provide an entertaining event. If they wanted to have a reunion, that's one thing but if you're going to invite the public, then at least try and do something interesting. Letting Jerry (Phony Balogna) Delony ramble for 20 minutes is not my idea of entertainment.

Sidebar: My pal, the late John Christensen, told me that he once went to an advertised audition that turned out to be Delony trying to get actors to pay him so that he would help them get a job somehow or something. A complete sham.

Anyway, the party after the event, held at Antones night club was really lame with one of the band members band, I think they were called The Pallbearers, really stinking up the joint. It was horrendous. In addition to Linlater and much of the cast, many local cable access TV celebs were in attendance including Charlie Soto of "The Show with No Name" and the ubiquitous Alex Jones. Also, this is where I caught up with Bob Ray, Mark David and Michael Dalmon after months of not seeing them.

Matthew Maconaughey

The naked bongo player will next be seen in "Frailty" directed by his "U571" castmate Bill Paxton. He has also lensed a film called "13 Conversations about One Thing" where he shares the screen with Clea Duvall. That film is still seeking a distributor.

In June of 2002 he'll appear in "Reign of Fire," Rob Bowman's ("X-Files") film about dragonslayers in the post-apocalyptic future with "American Psycho's" Christian Bale.

And, finally, it looks like his next project in front of the camera may be playing Evel Knievel in Betty Thomas' biopic, "Pure Evel."

Geoff Marslett

The creator of the wacky and amusing cartoon "Monkey vs. Robot" will have a segment in the "6 in Austin" feature.

Wyatt and Zach Phillips

I don't know much about these guys. They apparently did a film called "Some Place New." They will have a segment in "6 in Austin."

Bob Ray

The "Rock Opera" helmer, who does camera work for many of Austin's indie films will have a trailer for his "Hillbilly" short available soon. He is hoping to unleash the short on the public at Park City during the Sundance week in January 2002. Given Bob's close association with No Dance, an alternate fest, that seems highly likely. He will also participate in the "6 in Austin" feature this year. Ray's piece is called "Wrecked" and is a revenge film about a computer programmer who lives out his rage against his boss and job.

Robert Rodriguez

His "Spy Kids" will be rereleased in October to theaters as a "Special Edition" featuring new sequences he was able to complete with the proceeds from the original release. Rodriguez has also scripted a sequel ("Spy Kids" The Island of Lost Dreams") to the "children's film" which will begin lensing soon with the original cast returning.

First, Rodriguez will helm "Once Upon a Time in Mexico," the third in his series of "El Mariachi" films. This drama will feature many Rodriguez alumni including Antonio Banderas and Cheech Marin. At one time Austin's adopted son, Quentin Tarantino was listed as an actor in the film but he has apparently dropped out.

Luke Savisky

Continues to do art installations and events utilizing film and video. He has spent some time in Europe recently.

Jeff Stolhand

His film "What I Like About You," starring Ryan Wickerham and Michael Dalmon, played around in 2000 but not much has been heard from him since.

Quentin Tarantino

QT is not an Austin native but the city considers him an adopted son since he spends much time here and puts on an annual showing of obscure films from his print collection here in town.

His next film is "Kill Bill" which is set to star Uma Thurman as a woman who awakens from a coma she's been in for several years and then sets out to seek revenge on the man who put her in it.

Guillermo del Toro

Although originally from Mexico, del Toro now makes Austin his home. He is currently working on the "Blade" sequel with Wesley Snipes returning in the lead role.

He also has "The Devil's Backbone," completed but it is still seeking a distributor in the US. In Spanish, the film is a ghost story set in an orphanage during the Spanish Civil War.

Ryan Wickerham

Ryan wrote, produced and stars in "The Duo," a superhero comedy.

Wiley Wiggins

The actor best known for his work several years ago as Mitch in "Dazed and Confused" recently moved to L.A. Before he left Austin, he lensed Richard Linklater's upcoming animated/DV project "Waking Life." Wiley has the starring role in that film. He also played in the Zellner Brother's indie DV film "Frontier" which played at SXSW.

Wiley has made it no secret that he audition both for Todd Solondz next film (now known as "Storytelling") and "Pumpkin," where he would have played Christina Ricci's retarded boyfriend. He did not get either part. The Solondz part went to Adam Hahn-Byrd, of "Little Man Tate" fame.

Real fans and cyber stalkers, like myself, can visit http://www.wileywiggins.com for a fan site run by the cutie himself.

The Zellner Brothers

In addition to rereleasing their film "Plastic Utopia" on video recently, the siblings also exhibited their new DV feature "Frontier" at SXSW earlier this year. They will also provide a short for "6 in Austin."

Things to do this Week - Check the calendar!

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