Fornax

From the Austin Film Forum Yahoo! News Group:

________________________________________________________________________
1. Letter from Jeanette Scott, Outgoing Central Region TXMPA Rep

Hello to Central Region TXMPA members!

This is likely my last correspondence as the official representative for the
Central Region of the TXMPA. I want to tell all of you that I have been
honored to serve as your voice in this relatively new and important alliance
of film industry professionals. During the past year, the Central Region
has raised more money for our cause (largely from the Spaghetti Western)
than any other region in the state! Our membership has grown astronomically
as the word has gotten out. But, we must not become complacent. We must
build on our successes in preparation for future legislative battles!

On June 27, Paul Alvarado-Dykstra & Shelley Schriber will officially take
over as Central Region board representative & alternate, respectively. I
look forward to their input, energy and organizational capabilities as we
move forward in our mission – growing our membership, establishing firm
financial footing, lobbying the legislative body of Texas to bring work
home.

I have spent the last several months in Oklahoma, on a feature film set in
Texas. We are filming here for one reason. Legislative incentives. The
Oklahoma state legislature has just signed into law a bill granting a rebate
of 38% to film productions, and believe me, the studios are lining up and
salivating. Never mind that there is NO crew base, NO infrastructure, NO
soundstage, NO office facilities. We are based in an abandoned department
store. The toilets work intermittently. Next to my desk, the water flows
down the pipe each time someone flushes the toilet. But the people are
lovely, the locations are good, and the community is eager & ready to build
up the crew base and infrastructure to make this a truly competitive
destination.

This story is writ large across the country. Incentive legislation is the
MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR in drawing film production to any state today.
Witness Michigan! They are building one of the biggest sound stages in the
country. New Mexico, as we all know, is now firmly ensconced as a
production destination, growing from nothing to the powerhouse it is today
in a few short years. The main, the only, reason they have been able to
accomplish this is the incentive package offered by the state of New
Mexico. The single purpose of the TXMPA is to change this imbalance. The
biggest lure, the most important factor in bringing back our jobs, is
legislative action. That is our goal.

The TXMPA at large elections begin next week. I hope all central region
members will vote for our proposed slate:

Craig Berlin
Rick Olmos
Jeanette Scott

We want to have as big a voice as possible from the central region as we
move forward on our quest.

Thanks to all of you for letting me represent you. We have made great
strides. Now, we must take the next two years to build our membership,
raise money, establish a permanent office, and muster forces for the next
legislative session. Many people have been out of work. Frustration levels
are high. I have been forced to leave home and family for work. Nothing
does more to change the equation than legislative action. In 2011, the
battle begins all over again. Nothing is automatically renewed. Let¹s all
band together and come back bigger and stronger, with one voice, to insure
the future of the film industry in Texas.

I ask you for your vote, your support, and your time and effort to build
TXMPA into a force to be reckoned with.

Respectfully yours,

Jeanette Scott, outgoing Board rep for Central Region

–

CLARIFICATION ON CITY COUNCIL¹S VOTE TO RENEW AUSTIN STUDIOS LEASE

The lease will contain a new clause:

From Rebecca Campbell: The Mayor-elect wanted a benchmarking process for
local hiring to be written in to the final document. We are fully in support
of incentivizing local hiring and look forward to crafting those provisions
with City staff and community leaders.

Subleasing of space at the studios where studio expenditures exceed $50,000
will each be examined by the city council on a case by case basis.
Previously those decisions were left to staff and Soundcheck Austin will
easily fall into that category.

Q&A Forum at Austin Studios next Thursday!

–
cb

³Forgiveness is a way of letting go of the past, of settling accounts, of
doing good, and of moving into the future with hope. This spiritual
practice is the first step on the path to wholeness where anger, resentment,
and guilt are not center stage.²

D. Patrick Miller

Craig Berlin
“Mr. Tapeguy”

Founding Board Member and At-Large Candidate 2009-2011
Legislative Committee 2008-2009
Texas Motion Picture Alliance

http://www.txmpa.org

Board of Directors
SaveAustinMusic.org

http://www.pro-tape.com

Here’s something of interest that came in the email last year:

Obama, the Media, and the Legacy of the Swift Boat Veterans

The puzzle pieces are falling into place, and a chilling picture is emerging:

* Barack Obama’s mentor and long-time minister Jeremiah Wright called upon God to “damn America.” Wright also preached that America deserved the 9/11 attacks, and claimed that the US government created AIDS in order to kill black people.

* Obama worked closely for several years with the former Weather Underground bomber Bill Ayers. Ayers hosted the fundraiser that launched Obama’s political career with his wife Bernardine Dohrn, also a communist and a former terrorist.

* As an attorney in Illinois, Obama represented ACORN, the radical community organizing group that set the stage for the 2008 financial crisis by pressuring banks to make high-risk mortgage loans. Obama later sent millions of dollars to ACORN while working with Bill Ayers at the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. In 2007 Obama promised ACORN members that if elected, he would be “calling all of you in” during the post-election transition “to help us shape the agenda.” His presidential campaign paid the group more than $800,000 in 2008. ACORN is currently being investigated for election fraud in more than a dozen states.

* Obama’s primary financial backer in Chicago, political fixer Tony Rezko, was convicted of 16 felonies including fraud, money laundering and abetting bribery.

* Archived documents of the Marxist Chicago “New Party” show that Obama was a member in the 1990’s. His campaign had previously denied any connection.

* In 2006, Obama spent six days in Kenya campaigning for Marxist presidential candidate Raila Odinga. His Senate staff coordinated donations to Odinga’s campaign totaling nearly $1 million. Obama declared at numerous rallies that Kenyans “are now yearning for change.” Meanwhile, Odinga signed a declaration of understanding with Muslim leaders recognizing Islam as Kenya’s “only true religion.” After Odinga’s defeat, his thugs started riots that killed at least 1,000 people and destroyed or damaged 800 Christian churches. More than 50 people, mostly women and children, were burned to death in a single church while men with machetes attacked anyone who tried to escape. Kenya’s elected government was then forced to accept a “power-sharing” agreement with Odinga’s party.

* Obama has been praised by Fidel Castro, Daniel Ortega, and the terrorist group Hamas. Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan says Obama is “the Messiah.”

America’s “mainstream” media organizations have gone out of their way to ignore or dismiss these disturbing facts, protecting the flawed candidate they favor – a man who could not pass the background check required to obtain a basic security clearance.

Instead, they spend their time investigating the life of “Joe the Plumber,” to deflect attention away from Barack Obama’s revealing promise to “spread the wealth around.”

—

In 2004, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth showed how to beat the media’s rigged game.

They took their testimony about John Kerry’s past directly to the public, bypassing the outraged old media “gatekeepers.” And the public found their charges to be credible.

A key reason for their success was the rise of a new American media. A host of bloggers, talk radio hosts and cable network interviewers stepped up to investigate the Swift Vets’ remarkable array of charges against Kerry. They did the real journalism that old media organizations had largely abandoned in their zeal to support the Democratic candidate.

The political movement the Swift Vets spearheaded was the key factor in Kerry’s defeat.

After failing to silence or discredit the veterans, the old media adopted the smear phrase “swift boating” to discourage others from following the Swift Vets’ example. Barack Obama also uses the term, to attack anyone who criticizes his actions and associations.

—

It was my privilege to work closely with the Swift Vets in 2004. I managed their web site at SwiftVets.com and investigated Kerry’s anti-US propaganda during the Vietnam War. My research was used in the bestseller Unfit for Command and in the devastating TV ad campaign. Afterwards, former Marine Tim Ziegler and I spent two years writing the complete inside story of the effort. The result is our new book, To Set The Record Straight: How Swift Boat Veterans, POWs And The New Media Defeated John Kerry.

It tells how an ad hoc collection of veterans and their supporters were able to deliver the explosive truth about John Kerry’s past to the public – despite relentless efforts by the Democratic Party and its media affiliates to silence them. And it tells the story of the long struggle of America’s much-maligned Vietnam veterans to make their way home.

To Set The Record Straight also covers the first great battles in the ongoing war between the old and new media. A chapter available online, Rather’s Ruin and the Rise of the Pajamahadeen, describes how the now-infamous CBS News attack on President Bush’s military service using fake National Guard documents was exposed by ordinary citizens.

National Review writes that To Set The Record Straight is “convincing” and “scholarly.”
Power Line says it “documents the most dramatic story of the 2004 campaign.” However, major bookselling chains such as Barnes & Noble are unwilling to stock it in their stores.

The 400-page hardcover version of the book is only available online. We are reducing the price from $29.95 to just $19.95 – less than the cost of the paperback at Amazon.

Click here to purchase To Set The Record Straight

If you care about politics, the media or the military, you’ll want to learn the real story of how veterans created a political movement that turned the 2004 election upside down.

The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth have disbanded, but their legacy continues. It lives on in the form of increased public respect for the honorable service of Vietnam veterans, tarnished for so many years by the misrepresentations of the old media and Hollywood. That legacy includes an important lesson that was overlooked back in 1971: “war crimes” allegations made against American troops by radical leftist agitators cannot be trusted.

In a time when the right to speak out is increasingly under attack, the story of the Swift Vets is an inspiring example of what ordinary Americans can do – when they are free.

Scott Swett
October 2008

SwiftVets.com
WinterSoldier.com
ToSetTheRecordStraight.com

The Portobello Film Festival is an annual indie film event held at London.

Here is some
great advice for actors courtesy of Suite 101.

Planet Origo is a website covering both electronic music and science fiction cinema.

Here’s a pretty interesting movie review website.

Here is the single most comprehensive Charlie Chan fansite on the Internet.

From No Games Chicago :

No Games Chicago News
Sun-Times rips Olympic bid!
June 5, 2009

ON WHY CHICAGO SHOULD NOT HOST
THE GAMES
Open letter to the IOC [http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/theworks/090402/]:
“Why you don’t want to give the Olympics to Chicago”
Here are links to sites that have articles and research on the games…
Listen to one of the No Games organizers lay out the case against the games [http://www.evoca.com/everyone_recording.jsp?rid=184977]
Vancouver resistance [http://www.2010watch.com/]
London resistance [http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk/]
Centre on Housing Rights & Evictions [http://www.cohre.org]/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Volunteer!
We need your help to
defeat this mess.
Email us at
javascript:window.top.openSendEmail(‘nogameschicago@gmail.com’,”,”,”); [mailto:javascript:window.top.openSendEmail('nogameschicago@gmail.com','','','');]
Call us at
312-235-2873
Text “no216″ to
66937 to get flash updates
(standard text rates apply)
PASS THIS MESSAGE ON!
Thanks!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sun-Times says “City doesn’t derserve 2016 Olympics”
Rick Telander blasts the city’s 2016 bid [http://www.suntimes.com/sports/telander/1608451,CST-SPT-rick05.article]:
There are times when you get sent to your room without
dessert.
Without dinner, even.
This is such a time.
The City of Chicago, led by Mayor Daley and a
vast and tumorous army of aldermen and bagmen and yesmen and opportunists and
spineless, parasitic political-machine halfwits of forms never seen outside the
roiling cesspool of governmental slop-trough greed, has proven itself unworthy
of something as potentially delicious and fulfilling as the 2016 Olympic Games.
There was an opportunity there. But the pitiful stuff just keeps on comin’,
warnings be damned.
Best ever was the city parking meter deal
that gave a private company the rights to all the quarters Chicago parkers can shove
into sidewalk
machines until 2084.
”Duh Mare,” who could still be in office in
2016, and his boys pushed that one through so fast it boggles the mind.
Forget the fact the city took an estimated
$974 million less than what the 75 years worth of revenue was worth. Or the
fact any fool can jack up meter rates and provide meters that don’t work.
The City Council rubber-stamped Daley’s idea
for gaining some upfront whip-out cash.
When the machines didn’t work, Daley said …
Hey, lay off. Does your own computer work all duh time?
The politics of pay-for-play and skimming and
old-fashioned, suspender-snapping, cigar-chomping, big-bellied ”Where’s
mine?” clout is so vibrant and alive and grotesquely arrogant here in Chicago that
it is very
nearly a breathing, slime-dripping creature worthy of a Star Wars-style nuclear
assault.
There there must be ramifications for being
blatantly corrupt and/or stupid.
There must be.
Put on a sporting display for the world in
2016?
No.
Read the full column [http://www.suntimes.com/sports/telander/1608451,CST-SPT-rick05.article]
and add your comment!
NOW DO YOUR PART – TELL PRESIDENT OBAMA NOT TO SUPPORT THE BID!
SIGN OUR ONLINE PETITION [http://www.gopetition.com/online/27838.html] AND GET EVERYONE
YOU KNOW TO SIGN.
CALL THE WHITE HOUSE – 202-456-1111.
EMAIL THE PRESIDENT [http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact].
Write…
THE WHITE HOUSE
1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVE. NW, WASHINGTON,DC 20500.
————————————————-
They play. We all pay.
The Olympic Games will bankrupt the city of Chicago and WE will pay the bills.
NOGAMESCHICAGO.COM [http://www.nogameschicago.com]/

Hey folks,

This month Rogue Cinema turns five years old! That’s right, it’s our
fifth anniversary issue, and we have lots of great stuff for you this
month!

Interviews:
Hal Masonberg
Brooke Lewis
P.J. Starks and Rodney Newton
Jim Haggerty
Jessica De Rooij

This Month’s Sleepover Girl:
Queen of the Sleepover Girls Rachel Grubb is back with an absolutely
incredible new set of photos for our 5th anniversary issue!

Articles:
Josh Samford: This month marks Rogue Cinema’s fifth anniversary. It’s
been a long haul, and I don’t think any of us are really sure where the
time went. Josh Samford wrote up a nice piece this month with some of his remembrances of how we got started, how he’s developed both in writing skills and in confidence over the years, and how the magazine as a whole has turned into something I don’t think any of us ever realized it would. I would like to personally thank everyone who’s ever written for us, and I’d also like to thank the indie film community for inspiring us to keep going month after month. It’s a lot of work, but
despite the burnout, the turnover in writers over the years and all the
other problems we’ve encountered, we keep going, because we love what we do, and we’re contributing to a community that we’re proud to be a part of.

Philip Smolen: Has there ever been a more excoriated low budget film
maker than Bert I. Gordon? He’s probably had more movies ripped apart on Mystery Science Theatre 3000 than anyone else. And looking at his films with an adult’s sensibilities, it’s easy to see why. Although there were exceptions, the acting in his movies was generally rudimentary. The scripts certainly were perfunctory at best especially the ones that he wrote. Bert’s effects were always obvious. You knew where the hard matte and split screen lines were. Whenever he showed his monsters interact with his cast, they were always washed out and pale. And he showed no subtlety or nuance with his direction. It was all about getting the shot in the can and moving the story forward. He even stooped to cross promoting his films in some of his other films! In other words, he was the epitome of a 1950′s exploitation film maker. This month, Philip Smolen brings us another fabulous retrospective article, all about the films of a man who brought us a menagerie of giant creatures that have thrilled and delight people of all ages for decades.

Jason Lockard: Independent Filmmaker Jason Lockard is debuting a new
series of articles this month focusing on classic cinema. Each month
he’ll take you on a trip in his time machine for a look behind the
scenes of a film from yesteryear! This Month he’s bringing us the comedy genius of the unmatched Jerry Lewis, in the all time comedy classic, The Nutty Professor!

Danny Runion: Another movie masups article from Danny Runion this month.
He calls it, “Movie Mashups 10: Revenge of a New Beginning”. Don’t
ask…just read it. He’s always got some fun mashups for us. I don’t
know where the hell he comes up with them either. I’d struggle to come up with even one half way decent set of them. He’s done tons of these things and he keeps coming up with fun new stuff every month.

Keep upthe great work Danny!

Movie Reviews:
Bleed With Me
Desdemona: A Love Story
Exile
FIDO
From a Place of Darkness
Hell-ephone
J.R. Dada’s Excerpts
MelvinRifftrax: Night of the Living Dead
Rocks & Pebbles & Happiness
Sam’s Lake
Simon Says
Star Trek
Terror from Beneath the Earth
The Audit
The Baseline Killer
The Bloody Ape
The Ghosts of Goldfield
The Nut Stalker’s Revenge
The Ritual
Uptown

Book Reviews:
The Pleasure and Pain of Cult Horror Films

So head on over to Rogue Cinema (http://www.roguecinema.com
) and check out all the goodness in this
month’s issue.Hope you all enjoy it!