AFS GRANTS $111,000 TO 2011 TEXAS FILMMAKERS’ PRODUCTION FUND & TRAVEL GRANT RECIPIENTS (Austin, TX)–The Austin Film Society is very proud to announce the recipients of its 2011 Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund(TFPF), which this year gave away $92,000 to 21 projects from emerging Texas filmmakers. In addition to cash grants of $81,000, AFS gave away $6,000 worth of Kodak film stock and $5,000 in in-kind services from Seattle-based Alpha Cine Labs.AFS’s Texas Filmmakers’ Travel Grant program also disbursed another $7,000 in cash in travel stipends to 10 Texas filmmakers and $12,000 to 24 Austin filmmaking teams to produce the SLACKER 2011 project, bringing AFS’s total grant amount to $111,000 for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.AFS raises funds for TFPF through the annual Texas Film Hall of Fame and major premieres like SPY KIDS 4, TREE OF LIFE and the upcoming SLACKER 2011. AFS also successfully raised $40,000 for TFPF through online donations and a direct mail campaign this summer. AFS has now given out over $1.2 million to 313 film and video projects since the program began in 1996. The largest single grant this year went to recent Austinite Andrew Bujalski’s narrative feature COMPUTER CHESS, a psychedelic period piece about computer chess programmers circa 1980. Andrew received a $7,500 post-production grant for the film, which is currently shooting in Austin. He is an Independent Spirit Award winner and is well-known for his features FUNNY HA-HA, MUTUAL APPRECIATION and BEESWAX, which was also shot in Austin.

Another recent transplant to Austin received a large grant. Filmmaker Yen Tan, recently relocated from Dallas, received a $7,000 grant for production of his feature PIT STOP, about two men who find themselves in love in a small town in Texas. Yen received major international acclaim for his Dallas-shot feature CIAO.

Two feature-length documentaries also received $7,000 grants for production - Ben Powell’s BARGE, about the dying trade of barge shipping on the Mississippi River, and Paul Collins’ YAKONA, an impressionistic journey through the crystal clear waters of the San Marcos River, taking the viewer from prehistoric times through to the modern era.

The majority of grants went to Austin filmmakers, but other cities represented include Bastrop, Corinth, Marfa, Fort Worth and Houston. Of the 21 grants given out, 16 went to first-time recipients of the Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund.

The final grant decisions were made by a panel of three acclaimed filmmakers from outside of Texas – Barry Jenkins, the Independent Spirit Award-nominated director of MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY; Anne Lai, producer-in-residence at the Sundance Institue and Ian Olds, co-director of the Independent Spirit Award winning documentary OCCUPATION: DREAMLAND and director of the HBO documentary FIXER: THE TAKING OF AJMAL NAQSHBANDI.

AFS Director of Artist Services Bryan Poyser administered the 2011 TFPF and he was assisted by TFPF coordinators Elizabeth Lodge and Jory Balsimo.

Photos (300 dpi) available upon request.

2011 Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund Recipients

THE ANDERSON MONARCHS
Eugene Martin
90 min documentary
$3,000 for post-production

BARGE
Ben S. Powell
53 min documentary
$7,000 for production

BENJAMIN
Carolyn Banks
4 min narrative
$1,500 for post-production & distribution

COMPUTER CHESS
Andrew Bujalski
75 min experimental narrative
$7,500 for post-production

THE CURSE AND THE JUBILEE
Ivete Guerra Lucas
55 min documentary
$3,500 for production

FAR MARFA
Cory Van Dyke
90 min narrative
$3,000 for post-production

INSTRUCTIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY
Kelly Sears
10 min experimental animation
$2,000 for post-production & distribution

JULES OF LIGHT AND DARK
Daniel Laabs
80 min narrative
$6,000 for production

KID-THING
David & Nathan Zellner
82 min narrative
$5,000 for post-production & distribution

KUKERI
Proletina Veltchev
25 min documentary
$3,000 for production

PIT STOP
Yen C. Tan
90 min narrative
$7,000 for production

SIXES AND SEVENS
Thomas Hackett & Katherine Feo Kelly
85 min narrative
$5,000 for production & post-production

TEDDY
Bradley Montesi
5 min narrative
$1,000 for production & post-production

TINY TAPE RECORDER
Paavo Hanninen
20 min narrative
$2,000 in Alpha Cine services
$3,000 in Kodak film stock for production

TRADE IN HOPE
Michelle Nehme
90 min documentary
$3,500 for production

UNTITLED ISRAEL FOOTBALL PROJECT
David Hartstein
85 min documentary
$5,000 for production

THE VULTURE PROJECT
Russell O. Bush
28 min documentary
$5,000 for production

VIEWING BLIND
Caroline Koebel
20 min experimental
$1,000 for production & post-production
$3,000 in Kodak film stock

WOLF
Ya’Ke Smith
90 min narrative
$2,000 in Alpha Cine services for post-production

YAKONA
Paul Collins
60 min experimental documentary
$7,000 for production
$1,000 in Alpha Cine services

ZERO CHARISMA
Katie Graham, Andrew Matthews & Thomas Fernandes
90 min narrative
$5,000 in post-production

2011 Travel Grant Recipients (To Date)

Michael Akel
AN ORDINARY FAMILY
Los Angeles Film Festival

Heather Courtney
WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival

Paul Gordon
THE HAPPY POET
Venice International Film Festival

Mark Hall
SUSHI: THE GLOBAL CATCH
Seattle International Film Festival

Bradley Jackson
THE MAN WHO NEVER CRIED
Palm Springs International Short Film Festival

David Lowery
PIONEER
Sundance Film Festival

Steve Mims & Joe Bailey, Jr
INCENDIARY: THE WILLINGHAM CASE
SilverDocs

Jeff Nichols
TAKE SHELTER
Sundance Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival

Anna Silverstein
NIGHT AT THE DANCE
SilverDocs

Angela Torres Camarena
NORTHEAST FRONT
Palm Springs International Short Film Festival

Special Thanks to 2011 TFPF Sponsors

Austin Film Society promotes the appreciation of film and supports creative media production by screening rarely seen films, giving grants and other support to emerging filmmakers, and providing access and education about film to youth and the public. Through Austin Studios, which AFS opened in 2000 in partnership with the City of Austin, AFS helps attract film development and production to Austin and Texas. Gala film premieres and the annual Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards raise funds as well as awareness of the impact of film on economy and community. The Austin Film Society is ranked among the top film centers in the country and recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts and Directors Guild of America. For more information on Austin Film Society, visitwww.austinfilm.org.