Austin Film Festival schedule
In case any readers want to see how much less articulate I am in person, I’ll be speaking on three panels at the upcoming Austin Film Festival. Here are the descriptions the organizers sent out:
The Art of the Pitch
SFA Hotel, Assembly Room
Oct. 19th, 2:45 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Pitching yourself is as important as pitching your script, and it often happens at parties, in elevators, and, of course, at festivals and conferences. Come learn how to hard pitch in a meeting and soft pitch in a casual setting and make sure your pitch leaves people wanting to get their hands on your script.
- John August
- Jessica Bendinger
- Maggie Biggar
- Alex Smith – moderator
Getting a Writing Job
Driskill Hotel, Maximilian Room
Oct. 20th, 10:45 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Inspired by John August’s Web site, this is the panel formerly known as Breaking Into the Business. Why did we change the name? Because what most writers really want to know is, “How can I get paid for my writing? How do I become a professional writer?� It’s important to know there isn’t just one path to success.
- John August
- Brendan McDonald
- Gregg Rounds
- Greg Beal – moderator
Tell Your Story
Driskill Hotel, Chisolm Trail Room
Oct. 20th, 3:15 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Come and meet John August, writer of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, Go, and others, in a relaxed and intimate setting. Get here early and join the casual conversation on the couch.
Articles
October 5th, 2006 at 1:54 pm
Aw MAN. WIsh I could make it. Why can’t there ever be any film festivals in Mobile, Alabama?!
October 5th, 2006 at 2:38 pm
I’d like to see a film festival in Maine. We’re more than just lobster, potato farms and pine trees. :)John August, I’d like to know your personal opinion on the whole meet/greet the writers of Hollywood. Are people going to attend, hoping that if they sit down with someone and say, “oh, ouch, what’s that poking into my back… oh, look at that.” and out from their back pocket, “It’s my script I’ve been working on for the past 5 years.” Is it really a place where people can jump start their careers, or more of a place to understand and look at the dirty underbelly of the business we all fantasize about, or both? Thanks and good luck with the festival.
October 5th, 2006 at 4:33 pm
Sounds great, John. Any chance you could post some of your notes, or a synopsis, of these talks? I’d love to hear more about the difference between a ‘hard’ and ’soft’ pitch, for example. I haven’t heard these terms before. Thanks!
October 5th, 2006 at 7:17 pm
This will be my third festival and there are opportunities to pitch, but for the most part, you DO NOT want to approach someone and try to sell your stuff. Most of these industry folks are here to kick back and have fun just like everyone else. And you don’t want to be that tenth guy in ten minutes pitching a vampire story that’s been mathematically proven to make lots of money. But you CAN meet them in a casual environment and possibly build a relationship so that when you get home, you can then query them.
(Take it from experience. I was a nerd my first year!)
October 5th, 2006 at 7:58 pm
Thats what I expected and hoped for. Is it just me, or is it everyone’s dream to just be able to sit down with someone you idealize, let it be an actor, singer, writer, photographer, painter, etc. and be able to sit and talk to them and pray for some friendship to form because you know that if you were given the chance to come out from that overwhelming “obsessed stalker” mask that is on all of us ‘unknowns’, you might be seen as a friend in the eyes of your hero. But enough of that…. I have some great news. I know that I enjoy reading success stories that many of the readers of this site have posted and I finally have my post to shine with. I’ve been asked to be script supervisor and associate producer for a film to start shooting later this month. It’s an independent film, little over $3 million for budget. I hope that this will be the job that will let me begin in Maine and ends 3,142 miles away in the land of Hollywood and hope that it doesn’t take 10 years. But, if it does, at least I’ll be in Kansas with half the country behind me.
October 6th, 2006 at 12:18 am
I was glad to see you on the list this year. The panels you were on two years ago were some of the more memorable.
I don’t remember Alex Smith, so make sure he doesn’t let (or even worse, lead) the panel off topic, or spend 15 minutes doing gushing intros, or answer “Tell me what to write” questions, etc. I know Greg Beal will jump right into the meat of the topic and keep it there, but some of the Austin moderators just let it wander off. I’m pretty sure that you, the other panelists, and the serious, veteran audience would like to spend the limited time having valuable discussions. There’s no point in having you guys travel all that way and taking time out of your schedule to answer questions totally irrelevant to the topic at hand. I assume you’d find it much more worth the effort because I know we veteran Austinites would.
/rant
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to come. I have to admit that I was secretly hoping to read, “And I’ll be screening ‘The Movie’ on Friday @ 8 p.m.” but we’ll just have to wait. :)
October 6th, 2006 at 1:55 am
I wish I could be there, too. Pleasepleaseplease, find a way to let us hear or read at least your part of the talks. Wouldn’t this be just a great opportunity to start podcasting? ;)
October 6th, 2006 at 7:36 am
ScriptWeaver: the screenwriters and directors come to the AFF to relax and kick back but the producers are there to hear pitches, because this is a writers conference as well as a film festival. There are eight pitch sessions scheduled throughout the four days of the conference, and two pitch prep panels separate from Mr. August’s. They’ve also brought in Take a Meeting to schedule one-on-one pitch appointments — at a hundred bucks a pop. All the cost of an agent without the full service. I think this may be for suckers but hopefully I’ll pick up some scuttlebutt at the Driskill Bar and hear how it works.
October 6th, 2006 at 9:40 am
I’ve heard of the casting couch, but never the writing couch. Ahh, casual conversation. All the kids are doing it these days. I hope you’re doing it with a recording device so you can post it here!
October 6th, 2006 at 1:49 pm
Looking forward to meeting you there.
October 6th, 2006 at 6:41 pm
I wish I could be there, since my documentary feature “American Scary” is playing twice at the festival – Sunday 10/22 and Thursday 10/26… I can’t make it because we also got accepted into the Hollwood Film Festival, and our world premiere is there the night before. Austin didn’t notify us about acceptance until late in the game, and unfortunately the LA trip was already planned by then – not to mention it ate a lot of my travel budget…
If you’ve got an interest in classic TV horror hosts like Ghoulardi, Zacherley, Vampira, and Svengoolie, give it a look-see… :)
October 6th, 2006 at 10:17 pm
CR–
As I said, there are opportunities to pitch, but I guarantee producers at the Driskill don’t want to spend the entire night hearing pitches AFTER they’ve already spent the day doing so.
Of course, if you show enough cleavage, I’m sure they’ll listen to anything you have to say. (Again, from my observation.)
October 7th, 2006 at 9:54 am
Apparently I had a message removed because I mentioned my film was screening at the Austin Film Festival, but I personally coultn’t attend. If that was a breach of etiquette, I’m sorry. However, I was serious about how I felt about having to miss the festival, as I would have looked forward to seeing some of John’s panels, as I’m a long-time reader of this site, and have found it very informative. Have fun in Austin.
October 8th, 2006 at 6:43 am
Reminder that I have comment moderation turned on, so depending on my schedule, it can sometimes take a bit for your comment to show up.
October 9th, 2006 at 6:33 pm
Please consider posting a summary of the most helpful comments from the panels, or ask the Festival’s organizers to consider offering a transcript or tape at a reasonable price.
Many thanks for your blog. :-)
October 13th, 2006 at 10:03 pm
I have followed your blog for a while now, but have never posted a comment. I will be attending the Austin Film Festival and plan on attending all three of your panels.