Mystery event... coming to Austin!

If you open up the Austin American Statesman on Friday, February 29th, Wednesday March 5th and Thursday March 6th, and you might see what I find to be a very tantalizing advertisement. I've reproduced the ad here on this blog post to save you a bit of effort. I am not at liberty to divulge the details at this time, but suffice it to say, I am excited and I will be there to pick up my ticket!

New frenzy announced: BPM Music Video Contest

Filmmaking Frenzy is proud to announce our next action-packed filmmaking competition, the 2008 edition of BPM (Beats Per Minute), a 48 hour filmmaking competition. At the beginning of the contest teams will be given a song from one of the artists performing at the Red Bull Moon Tower. Once everybody's checked in, we'll say "Go!" and immediately you and your team start scrambling: listening to the song, decoding the lyrics, making the shot list, borrowing and stealing guitars, wigs - whatever it takes to make the most entertaining video of them all.

Grand prize for this Frenzy is an AMD-based Dell laptop loaded up by Guitar Center with a music editing package, second prize is an AMD-based Dell laptop and third prize is an Epiphone guitar provided by Gibson. The top 40 films will also be posted on the Red Bull Moon Tower Facebook page., and the top 40 teams will be invited to the Red Bull Moon Tower where their videos will be played in between the live sets of the bands from the competition.

Teams have from between Friday, Feb 29, 7:00 PM and Sunday, Mar 2, 7:00 PM, to produce a music video for a band that will be performing at the Red Bull Moon Tower. All films will be posted online for voting by March 5 at 5:00 PM.

Sign up for a team and see all the rules and info here.

Do you have the crazy? THE SIGNAL opens today at the Alamo South Lamar

Austinites, consider yourselves lucky, as if you didn't already. You can check out one of the best sci-fi-horror-action movies we've seen in years starting today at the Alamo South Lamar.

if you liked PLANET TERROR, you have an idea of the speed and tone of THE SIGNAL. It's an unabashed brain-smashing good time at the movies. Oh, we won't tell you who the killer is but here's a hint - IT'S YOU!

Marc Savlov of the Austin Chronicle nailed it in his glowing review here.

Buy your ticket and find out more about THE SIGNAL here.

Come See Fantastic Fest Face-Burner SPIRAL at the Alamo South Lamar this week!

If you wondered why so many people were wandering around shaking their heads and muttering to themselves at Fantastic Fest last year, it's probably because they had just seen a screening of the terrific, suspenseful thriller SPIRAL. This time HATCHET director Adam Green has taken on an all new challenge and once again he succeeds with edge-of-your-seat excitement.

And now, by popular demand, we are thrilled to bring it back for everyone to enjoy.

Buy your tickets now HERE.

"A Hitch-cocktail of precision direction, deft pacing, startling imagery and clean style. The undercurrent of sly suspense never subsides in this teasing psychodrama packing a final shock punch." Alan Jones, FrightFest

Portland in the fall is a solitary city. A city where a lonely man can lose himself, insulated beneath the cold, and the clouds, and the rain. Mason (Joel David Moore) is just such a man. A gifted artist, Mason is never-the-less neurotic and reclusive, living a life of anonymity, working from a drab cubicle in a florescent-lit phone bank, repeating the same meaningless conversation with faceless strangers ad nauseam.

Mason is never truly noticed by anyone, save his boss, Berkeley (Zachary Levi), not quite a friend, but a sole source of companionship in an otherwise isolated existence. That is, until he meets a gregarious co-worker named Amber (Amber Tamblyn), a girl struggling with her own loneliness and need to define herself. Amber's jovial demeanor and seemingly carefree attitude provides a sort of catharsis for Mason, and allows his true gifts to come to light as she poses for his art.

It is an unlikely, and unusual courtship that helps Mason find peace for possibly the first time in his life. But as Mason's defenses lower, and the man inside is revealed, there may be something behind the surface darker than anyone expected. For not everything that is hidden should be found, and not every love is meant to be. And you can't paint over your past...

Scream! Die! TEXAS FEAR FEST is coming!!!

GOREMASTERS and GUTBLASTERS!

There are very few events that can really bring out the little kid in you. But only one tears that little kid directly through your sternum and holds it up to the scorching light of pure horror insanity:

T E X A S F E A R F E S T !!!

If you've ever shrunk in terror from a shadow creeping across your window...if you've ever shivered at a cold wind passing through a darkened woods...if you've ever watched a goddamn horror movie, NOW IS THE TIME TO INDULGE IN YOUR OWN FRIGHT!

The central US' most major celebration of terror -- and the largest in our state's history -- THE TEXAS FEAR FEST will be upon us soon! On March 7 through 9, Dallas will be flooded with more b-movie royalty and big-scream celebrities than your wildest nightmares would ever allow. Everyone from JOHN SAXON to LINNEA QUIGLEY to MICHAEL BERRYMAN to ROBERT "FREDDY" ENGLUND to the cast of TROLL 2 will be there, waiting to shake your hand and manifest your deepest fears in the flesh!!

And the Alamo Drafthouse's own Rolling Roadshow will also be there on opening night to present outdoor 35mm SPECIAL GUEST SCREENINGS of gut-churning classicks including A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, FRIGHT NIGHT, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4: THE DREAM MASTER and (last but certainly not least) TROLL 2!! Each of these unforgettable back-to-back films will be hosted by a major group of cast and creators LIVE IN PERSON, and I guarantee that this is the closest you will ever get to seeing these films in unfettered '80s drive-in glory!


For details on the screening event, CLICK HERE!

And to purchase a ticket for the entire Fear Fest weekend, CLICK HERE!

Honestly, there's never been such a massively huge assemblage of high-grade horror luminaries and unadulterated hack-n-slash excitement under one roof. If you miss this event, you may as well spend the weekend sucking bullets out of a shotgun.

Make a film with SUPER PAL UNIVERSE!!!

The Austin School of Film presents:

SUPER PAL UNIVERSE YOUTH M.A.F.I.A.
"Make-A-Film-In-A-Weekend" Film Festival!

Come join other teens, ME Television, The Super Pal Universe and the Austin School of Film for filmmaking at its most raw! The competition is open to all youth filmmakers, ages 14-19. A rigorous shooting schedule and set of parameters will guide The Super Pal Universe Youth M.A.F.I.A. (Make-A-Film-In-A- Weekend!) Film Festival; these parameters will be made known at exactly 10 AM on Saturday, February 16th at ME Television Studios on 2130 South Congress Avenue, so please arrive twenty minutes early to confirm registration.

Space is limited! You must be pre-registered to attend! To pre-register, please contact Monica Santis

Monica @austinfilmschool.org
Office: 512-236-8877

Groups of 4 teens will have the next 48 hours to script, shoot, and edit a music video to the Super Pal Universe kids band, who will be performing songs from their upcoming new CD on the ME Television studio stage! Shooting and editing will occur at the ME Television studios on Saturday from 10:00am until 10:00pm, and at the Austin School of Film center on Sunday 10:00am until 10:00pm. Come prepared with a group or hook up with other teens the day of the festival. Austin School of Film teachers and mentors, editing equipment, meals, and sodas will be provided. Each team must bring their own DV camera; however, some cameras will be available to participants on a case by case basis.

Films will be judged according to their story, technical merit, and the filmmaker's ability to incorporate and use the prescribed guidelines. All participants in the Super Pal Universe Youth M.A.F.I.A. Film Festival will receive certificates of participation.

PRIZES PRIZES PRIZES! All finished works will be posted on the Super Pal Universe website for viewing and fan-based voting. The top artistic video based on a panel of judges from ASoF & SPU will receive a $150 cash prize! The top fan-favorite video based on number of website views will receive $100! Your video may also be selected to be included on the Super Pal Universe CD/DVD launching in March with full copyrighted authorship recognition for you!!!

Saturday: ME Television, 2130 South Congress Avenue
Sunday: Austin School of Film, 906 E.5th St #106 Contact Monica for further details!

Good luck young filmmakers!

Will Ferrell live in person, February 16!

Ain't It Cool News and Fantastic Fest have an unbelievable special event happening an February 16 at 7:00 PM. The titan among modern-day comedy giants, Mr. Will Ferrell, along with director Kent Alterman will be live in person at the Alamo South Lamar for a special sneak-preview screening of his new comedy feature: SEMI-PRO.

We are making this special available exclusively to 2008 Fantastic Fest badge holders. Fantastic Fest badge holders will have first crack at the tickets until Friday, February 8 at 5:00 PM, after that, the remaining tickets, if any, will be made available to the general public.

If you haven't committed to Fantastic Fest 2008, now is the right time. Because of the high demand for these tickets, we don't expect these to last until Friday. Complete 2008 badge options are available on the Fantastic Fest website.

Admission to this event is free, but here's the catch... in order to gain entrance to the theater, all attendees MUST be wearing a Flint Tropics uniform. No uniform, no entry; you're going to have to show your dedication to get through the door.

To enter, you must be wearing ALL of the following:
sneakers
white tube socks with gold rings
gold, white or aqua shorts
a white Flint Tropics tank top jersey complete with team logo and number
a gold terry cloth headband

You can hand-craft your own uniform, but it must be complete. We also have available a licensed unifom set at Mondo Tees which includes everything but the shorts and sneakers (tube socks, headband and Flint Tropics tank top complete with your name ironed-on the back of the jersey in 70s style fuzzy letters).

It should go without saying that afros, 70s hairstyles in general and a very tight cut of shorts are all highly encouraged.

Before the film, we'll have a granny-style free throw competition, plus we'll take a group photo of everyone from the audience in their Flint Tropics gear. This photo will be posted to the web at high-resolution for everyone to download and print.

Fantastic Fest badgeholders are entitled to 1 ticket per badge, and as this show will sell out quickly, we will be scrutinizing the list carefully to ensure that all confirmed attendees are in fact Fantastic Fest badge holders. If your badge was purchased by another individual and you confirm for SEMI-PRO, please email the ticket-purchaser's name to brad@originalalamo.com.

Tickets to this show will be activated online at 1:00 PM on Thursday, February 7 for Fantastic Fest badge-holders only. Tickets will be open to the general public on Friday, February 8 at 5:00 PM.