Recently, Drew Barrymore directed and starred in a feature called Whip It!, set in Austin, Texas, and based on a novel by a former Austinite, Shauna Cross. The film was shot in...Ann Arbor, Mich.
Say what? Why would a town with a rich film culture and at least two major favorite-son film directors — Robert Rodriguez and Richard Linklater — miss out on hosting a project that's such an obvious fit?
As usual, it's a money thing. Michigan — along with such states as New Mexico, Massachusetts, and Louisiana — currently offers producers hefty incentive packages to shoot on its soil. As Gary Bond, director of the Austin Film Commission, points out, the 8.25 percent sales-tax exemption and other incentives that Texas offers to filmmakers don't add up to the same breaks available elsewhere.
Nevertheless, last January, Austin was named the No. 1 American movie city by MovieMaker magazine, beating out such incentives-rich locales as Albuquerque, N.M., and Shreveport, La., not to mention Los Angeles and New York. Austin may not be getting the same kind of commercial projects as other states, but apparently it is doing some things very well.
A (Lone) Star Is Born
The first Hollywood-size project that lensed in Austin, says Bond, was 1977's Outlaw Blues. In subsequent years, a handful of TV movies and occasional theatrical features (1982's The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, for instance) shot in the area, but no cinematic stampede to the city ensued. Things began to change in the mid-1980s when the first sequel to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the Jeff Bridges-Kim Basinger vehicle Nadine were shot back to back in Austin, with both films employing many of the same personnel. Gradually, says Bond, local crew — especially members of art departments — amassed impressive production credits and reputations.
At the same time, Austin was becoming a major music hub. The city's famous South by Southwest (SXSW) festival actually began as a music event in 1987 but soon incorporated film and other media. "We were sort of a two-headed calf," says Bond. "People wanted to come here and see what this buzz was all about."
Filmmakers venturing to Austin found a city surrounded by a wide range of physical terrains: hills and lake chains to the west, rolling prairie to the east. "It's always been an excellent place to do a road movie," says Bond, noting that the bulk of the cattle-drive miniseries Lonesome Dove (1989) was shot within 30 miles of Austin, with the countryside standing in for Canadian and Mexican locales.
In the 1990s, the scene grew, especially with the emergence of Linklater and Rodriguez and the latter's then wife, producer Elizabeth Avellan. Other Austin-based filmmakers include Tim McCanlies (Secondhand Lions) and Mike Judge (Office Space).
Rodriguez and Avellan developed Troublemaker Studios at the site of Austin's former municipal airport. Meanwhile, Linklater had founded the Austin Film Society. What began as a film-appreciation organization eventually expanded, assuming management of Austin Studios: other refurbished, city-owned airport property that became "production central" for projects coming into town.
The Actor Factor
But what about human infrastructure? What does Austin provide to filmmakers in the way of an actor workforce?
Beth Sepko, who operates Beth Sepko Casting, as well as an affiliated company, Third Coast Extras, began her career as an agent in San Antonio, returning to her native Austin in 1994. Sepko has worked on several films with Rodriguez. She also casts Austin's first major network series, NBC's Friday Night Lights, for which she won a 2007 Emmy. "We have a really strong talent pool," she says, "but it's sort of shallow. If I have a film project that has, like, 90 roles on it, then I definitely have to pull from other markets."
Sepko brings in actors from Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio to flesh out the projects she casts. She also looks to nonactors for some roles. "I'm constantly trying to turn a musician into an actor, or a comedian or someone I've pulled from different areas," she says. Sometimes she collaborates with casting directors from elsewhere. On Kimberly Peirce's Stop-Loss, for example, she teamed with New York's Avy Kaufman.
Of course, theatre-oriented actors also live in Austin — working largely in non-Equity, experimental productions. Gary Chason — a film director, actor, acting coach, and former casting director (The Last Picture Show) with theatre roots — says stage performers have been slow to come to the film industry in part because they lack representation: "The terrible truth is, usually there's not enough money to be made as a stage actor in a community like Austin to make having a talent agency that handles stage actors a viable business." Sepko notes, however, that local talent agencies handling film performers have recently pulled more stage actors into the fold, and she attends plays regularly in her search for fresh talent.
Show Me the Money
Sepko and Chason agree that most Austin-based actors do not make their living working full time at their chosen craft. "They often have some sort of business interest on the side that allows them the time flexibility to go to auditions and take roles when they come along," Chason explains. Other performers rely on the old actor standby: waiting tables.
Brad Koester has concentrated in the last few years on his technology business, but he keeps his hand in the acting world. He began as an extra on Courage Under Fire and Varsity Blues but eventually sought coaching and signed with a local agent to get speaking roles. About 10 years ago, he started a networking website for local film performers, AustinActors.net. "At that time, there wasn't a whole lot of online presence," he says. "My main goal was just to get a website up and to couple it with monthly mixers." Nowadays the site is geared largely toward assisting newcomers to the business.
For many Austinites, craft seems a bigger concern than cash. Chason has directed two features in the last few years, neither with a budget ensuring whopping paychecks for actors. Koester believes that a considerable number of performers work regularly with Austin's indie directors, forgoing any sort of payment. Some of these filmmakers are graduates of the University of Texas — or other local film programs — who choose to remain in the area and work on low-key projects.
Acting in low-budget or no-budget projects can lead to exposure for performers seeking a more commercially oriented career. Koester notes that actors are eager to work with Austin filmmaker Kat Candler (Cicadas) because her films are seen so widely at festivals. Also, beginners may find it relatively easy to earn a Screen Actors Guild card in Austin before relocating to New York or L.A. Although Texas is a right-to-work state (meaning union membership is optional), independent filmmakers working in Austin customarily use some version of SAG agreement on their shoots.
Actors who choose not to move on to a more commercially viable market seem to appreciate the supportive atmosphere of their hometown. "It's a small Hollywood, if you will," says Chason. "A microcosm of Hollywood — but without some of the really ugly negatives I find there to be in the Los Angeles film scene." Koester adds that Austin actors may tend to be "a little more laid-back, a little bit more interested in the craft, in the art — and a little more interested in each other."
Write to the author at mdundaswood@yahoo.com.