Drinking from a Firehose – Texan Style
Edition 31: Austin Film Festival, Westwood and Walsh Rarebit Productions
Austin Film Festival + Writers Conference
I’ve had several adventures since the last newsletter including Tanzania and Kenya, Edinburgh and New York. Lots to write as we count down to the end of the year.
But first at bat: Los Angeles and Austin, and an explanation of why I’ve been an inconsistent correspondent the past few months.
I spent the last week of October in Texas attending the Austin Film Festival and their annual writers conference, the most influential screenwriting conference and competition in the US. It’s a THING.
The conference is as Texan-sized as their hospitality (and their food portions). Sessions start at nine in the morning and run until late night, a mix of workshops, panel convos, competitive pitch sessions, small industry roundtables that provide one-on-one access to studio heads, BBQs and parties. Lots of parties.
An average day has 45 sessions to choose from, and mostly you want to attend them all, they’re that good.
Some of you will know I’ve spent the last year diving into the world of screenwriting, creating new TV series and loving every minute of it.
In January, I started taking screenwriting classes intensively through Gotham Writers in New York. For the first three months I learned how to write teleplays by writing a spec script – i.e., one for an existing show.
It’s a labor intensive process, which includes closely dissecting the structure and timing of all previous episodes, as well as the characters and world. I chose ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING. (I’ve learned that I like to kill people and make audiences laugh, not always at the same time.)
The following three months of classes focussed on how to write original TV pilots and the pitch decks I’d need to sell them. And, at the end of all that, I began working with NYC-based screenwriter Jim Mendrinos whom I meet with over Zoom once or twice a week and who reads everything I write. To date, that includes three pilots, two pitch decks and another series in the works.
Jim’s been an invaluable resource and support to me. (For the writers on the list, he also offers an emailed daily writing prompt via subscription that’s very good.)
It’s been a wild ride, and I love it. It does, however, take up a huge number of hours. Thus, my irregularity here.
There are two main ways new screenwriters get into the US industry: a) script competitions or fellowships, and b) showing up at industry events such as AFF and making contacts. “Being present” as the head of creative writer development at Disney told me, after a pitch.
Austin’s deadline for submissions was in May, and if you’re doing the math, that was very early in my screenwriting process. Regardless, I entered two early-draft scripts – a darkly funny thriller titled DEATH AND THE GLITTERATI and the comedy spec for ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING.
And friends, to my surprise and delight, both were chosen by the jury as Second Rounders (quarter finalists) from more than 14,000 entries.
Known as the “Writers Festival,” AFF recognizes the writer as the core of the creative process in filmmaking. The conference speakers – senior execs from network, cable and streamers; studios and production companies, plus agents and managers, showrunners and screenwriters – came primarily from LA, some from NYC and a few scattered elsewhere. All were knowledgeable, blunt, accessible and friendly.
(Except the one Canadian speaker on the program, who had the arrogant, gatekeeping attitude sadly so prevalent in our country.)
AFF felt like a masters’ degree in both screenwriting and the US industry. I came out of it with a raft of new contacts to meet with, and a determination to have fun writing, work hard and see where it all goes. I’ve set up a production company and will keep you in the loop as the journey continues!
Austin, Texas
I had only one day post conference to see something of the city itself, which I’d never visited. Their motto, “Keep Austin Weird,” is easier said than done these days. The city is experiencing exponential growth as people and companies flock from California to Texas chasing lower tax rates and more affordable housing.
An island of progressiveness in the Republican stronghold of Texas, Austin is the main foci of the state’s arts scene. I wouldn’t call it the most attractive of cities, with its kind of low sprawl and hodge podge buildings. But it’s fun and quirky and I’d like to spend more time there. The live music scene is buzzy and there is plethora of restaurants (though, sadly, not many vegetarian as I found out).
There are many outdoor options, including a bike/pedestrian trail that runs along Lady Bird Lake. At the end of October, the weather was still in the ‘90s so it was well used. There is also kayaking and canoeing on the lake.
I’ll leave you with a few images of the city, and of the conference bag goodies. (Edible cannabis, a memorial candle for immigrants, Chick-fil-a discount coupons and some thoughts writing/work balance.) And of course, bats! Since Austin has North America's largest urban bat population. They may not have seasons those of us on the East Coast would recognize, but they do have Bat Season!
See you next year, Austin!
Westwood.
In September, as I began to think about marketing (aka pitching) my TV concepts, I attended Content Canada, one of a series of TV focused conferences produced by C21 Media that took place during the Toronto International Film Festival.
Happily, I made contacts there with production companies and so went to LA for three days before Austin. As readers of this newsletter will know, I always like to stay in a different part of the city when I’m in Los Angeles. On this trip it was Westwood.
Located west of Beverley Hills, east of Santa Monica, Westwood is home to UCLA, the Geffen Playhouse, the Westwood Village (shops and restaurants) and a lot of residential.
It’s also home to the Hammer Museum, an amazing free museum and cultural centre originally funded and opened by Armand Hammer.
It was built to feature his collections (including old master and nineteenth-century European paintings and drawings) as well as provide galleries for traveling exhibitions. Dr. Hammer passed away in December 1990, three weeks after the opening of the Museum. Its management was eventually assumed by UCLA, who relocated their collections and staff from two other galleries to the Hammer.
They take an eclectic curatorial approach which I really enjoyed, particularly their currently running Breath(e): Toward Climate and Social Justice installation. And the space Gangster Gardener (aka Ron Finley) occupies upstairs. It was Ron’s Masterclass that got me hooked on gardening during the pandemic. And how my garden continues to grow! 👩🌾
But my favorite part of Westwood was Pierce Brothers Memorial Park and Mortuary. The Who’s Who of Hollywood is buried/interned there: Marilyn Munroe, Truman Capote, Natalie Wood, Dean Martin, Ray Bradbury, Ryan O'Neal and Farrah Fawcett, George C. Scott, Don Knotts, Jack Lemmon, Tim Conway, Walter Matthau, Billy Wilder, Kirk Douglas, Gena Rowlands, among many others.
Many of the grave markers displayed the same humor the actors or writers showed in life. And in a strange twist, some list their most famous roles on the gravestone. I guess even in death you’re only as good as your last gig.
If you watched the docudrama Feud: Capote vs The Swans and were surprised by that final twist thirty-two years after Capote’s death when his long-time friend Joanne Carson auctions off his remains to the highest bidder, you’ll notice that part of each of them is buried together at Pierce Brothers. If you care to go down the rabbit hole of reading why in Esquire. . .
TV Recommendations (in the dark yet funny category): The Diplomat. If you haven’t seen the show, go binge both seasons on Netflix. Some of the best writing on television. So rare that an ending shocks me but this one did. Second fav: Slow Horses on Apple+. What We Do in the Shadows, a vampire comedy, is hilarious although sadly the current season is the last one. Season 4 of Only Murders in the Building is uneven – the doppelganger cameo structure doesn’t quite work – although time spent with Oliver, Charles and Mabel is always so much fun.
Thank you for joining me for this thirtieth-first edition of Letterbox. See you next time! I’ll be writing about East Africa, and since who doesn’t love a baby elephant photo, here’s one to hold you over until then. (An orphan in the Nairobi sanctuary drinking his morning milk.)
Wonderfully informative. Wow! And thanks.