After a fairly travel-free summer, I’m going to be headed to the [Austin Film Festival](http://austinfilmfestival.com) from October 14-21, 2004, where I’ll be speaking on a few yet-to-be-determined panels.
Austin is great. I went a few years ago after Go, and really liked it. Of all the festivals, Austin is probably the most writer-centric; [the list of panelists](http://www.austinfilmfestival.com/content/conference/panelists.htm) includes many of the best and busiest screenwriters working today.
A few of them I know pretty well: [Les Bohem](http://imdb.com/name/nm0092018/), [John Lee Hancock](http://imdb.com/name/nm0359387/), [Anne Rapp](http://imdb.com/name/nm0710828/) and I all spoke at the [Nashville Screenwriter’s Conference](http://www.nashscreen.com/nashscreen/). [Tom McCarthy](http://imdb.com/name/nm0565336/) and I sat a bunch of panels together while he was promoting [The Station Agent](http://imdb.com/title/tt0340377/) and I was flacking [Big Fish](http://imdb.com/title/tt0319061/). I met [Shane Black](http://imdb.com/name/nm0000948/) at the last Austin Film Festival, and [Thomas Schlamme](http://imdb.com/name/nm0772095/) was attached to direct my very-first paid screenwriting job. [Terry Rossio](http://imdb.com/name/nm0744429/), who in addition to his screenwriting career runs the excellent [WordPlayer](http://wordplayer.com) site, will be there as well.
If you’re a screenwriter in Texas, or just looking for a good excuse to visit Austin, you should probably come. The organizers tell me that anyone who mentions this site when they [register](http://www.austinfilmfestival.com/content/register/index.htm) will get a 10% discount. And no, I don’t get a kickback or referral fee. But if I see you out at the bars, you’re welcome to buy me a beer.