Gustav Braustache and the Auto-Debilitator
The next big movie thing is short films for cell phones, SXSW Film Festival producer Matt Dentler opined during a panel at AFI-Dallas. Afterward, I asked Dallas Video Festival director Bart Weiss what he thought, and he agreed. (Bart is coincidentally part of a North Texas project that’s making video [...]

The Bath House Cultural Center has the Spring Art Mart, Casa Manana’s Children’s Playhouse has Little Red Riding Hood, Dallas Market Hall has the 31st Annual Dallas International Guitar Fest and we have Gini with more.[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

1. Puttin’ some teeth into it: A Tampa, Fla., cartoonist has come up with clever, only-in-the-Internet-age idea: Illustrate blog posts. One of his recent subjects is former Dallas Observer music editor Sarah Hepola and her story of a childhood accident. Front Burner weighs in on the phenomenon.
2. Feisty: One of the emerging North Texas voices [...]

The incomparable Nick Lowe is at the Sons of Hermann Hall, the Arlington Master Chorale will present Brahm’s Requiem and the Fort Worth Community Center hosts the Lone Star Film Society’s Teen Video Fest. Meanwhile, Gini has more.
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Undermain Theatre’s currently running world premiere of the Neil Young rock opera, Greendale, will play the 15th annual Ice Factory Festival in New York from July 23-26. The hipster gathering of edgy downtown work is not new to the Deep Ellum company. Undermain performed Coaticook at the 2000 festival, the first of its now regular [...]

The African Music Festival is at UT-Arlington’s Texas Hall, Alejandro de la Costa’s adult stage adaptation of Dante’s Inferno is being presented by MBS Productions in Addison, Aretha Franklin is at the Nokia Theater and Gini is here with more. [Audio clip: view full post to listen]

In Fort Worth, 1919 Hemphill hosts the Bearded Child Film Festival while at the Fair Park Music Hall, The Wedding Singer opens, courtesy of the Dallas Summer Musicals. And Gini courteously supplies us with more reasons to go out.[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Posted on the books blog of the Guardian is a photo of Dallas’ High 5 (“on a beautiful spring day”) by Bernardino Trevilla Langer, whose photography website (meimageination.com)is here. The paper’s “Your photographs” feature has run 210 pictures so far submitted by readers.

Asking foundations or other grant-making organizations to help fund your movie can be an intimidating, mystifying process. The criteria tends to be slippery, and feedback about why you got rejected is rare. The Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund is a refreshing exception.
The Austin-based program, which has awarded $800,000 since 1996, sends artist services director Bryan Poyser [...]

The DTC threw a party last night to announce its 2008-2009 season, the first from new artistic director Kevin Moriarty. The lineup was of course the main event – next season leads off with The Who’s Tommy and you can read more in Lawson Taitte’s DMN piece.  
But I was equally interested in some of the DTCs goals and plans to [...]