Saturday, October 09, 2010

AFF Film Program Director Kelly Williams' Panel Picks


Here are my top five conference panel picks. These are the panels I would attend if I didn’t work here...


Using Improv to Improve Your Script
Stephen F. Austin, Ballroom
Friday, 10/22
Improv and table reads can be incredibly useful for hearing your dialogue spoken aloud and punching up the comedy quotient. How to invigorate your script through improvisation.
Amanda Austin, Owen Egerton, Dan French, Peter Murrieta, Chuck Sklar


Script-to-Screen: THE BIG EASY with Daniel Petrie, Jr.
Friday, 10/22
Extended length panel: 1:45pm-3:45pm
Driskill Hotel, Citadel Room
With script in hand and film clips on the wall, screenwriter Daniel Petrie, Jr., will dissect his lauded crime noir thriller about police corruption and New Orleans violence. And how many of us wish we had the chance for do-overs? Dan was granted that once in a lifetime opportunity to write the script for the upcoming remake of THE BIG EASY and he’ll also talk about changes he made and the remaking/updating process.


Film Critics and the Industry
Alamo Ritz - Friday, 10/22
Print film critics have recently been in the spotlight, criticized for being out of touch with the majority of filmgoers. What purpose are film reviews serving now? Who's reading them and how are they using them? And with more movie critics driven to the internet, what does this change for the audience? More importantly, what is the impact on the film and the filmmakers? Film critics from print and blogs address these questions and others.
David Denby, The New Yorker; Neil Miller, filmschoolrejects.com; Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times; Scott Weinberg, Cinematical/Moviefone and FEARnet; Chase Whale, gordonandthewhale.com
Moderated by Charles Ealy, Austin American-Statesman


The $2 or the $200,000 Film: What You Need to Know
Stephen F. Austin, Assembly Room – Saturday, 10/23
Anyone can get their hands on a video camera these days, but that doesn’t mean you won’t still need a budget, story boards, a schedule, and an overall plan. Not to mention a great script. Regardless of your budget, there are basics you want to make sure you have covered to insure that your film is not only a success, but that it gets completed at all.
Greg Carter, Tom Copeland, Victor Moyers, Mark Potts
Moderated by Dawn Wiercinksi


A Conversation with Jon Lucas and Scott Moore
Driskill Hotel, Ballroom – Sunday, 10/24
Join a conversation with writers Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, screenwriters of THE HANGOVER, FOUR CHRISTMASES, and GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST
Moderated by Daniel Petrie, Jr.


What's on your schedule? The full line-up is here.

Kelly Williams has been involved with the Austin Film Festival since 2001. In 2004, he became the Film Program Director at the Austin Film Festival where he programs features and shorts as well as oversees the full scope of the festival’s programming. He was awarded the International Film Festival Summit Excellence Award for his "significant contribution to the success of the festival" in 2007. He has produced numerous award-winning short films, including the Student Academy Award nominee Perils in Nude Modeling, and also wrote and directed the short film Richard and the doc short Sid Smith for Congress. He is an active member of the Austin Media Arts Council. Williams attended the writing program at the Second City in Chicago and is also a graduate of the film program at the University of Texas at Austin.

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