Austin filmmakers

By Laila Ross, Editor

Smiling for the camera comes natrually to our city. Austin, which might not be well known for its film culture, but there is quite a lot that goes on year round, where film festivals, commercial projects, and local casting calls are frequently occurring. Different specialists of all ages devote their career to creating films in hope of touching others and spreading messages and morals across the world and through the screen.

Based in South Austin, Filmmaker William F. Reed composes and directs many projects. As a teacher at the Austin School of Film, he has a lot of experience behind the camera and educating students of all ages to make a film from start to finish. When working in Austin, he enjoys the community aspect of the city. It’s easy to make friends and find beneficial connections with other filmmakers and artists in the industry. “The inclusive nature of Austin is probably what’s most appealing to me. The phrase, ‘Let’s keep Austin weird’ resonates with me because I’m a weird person,” Reed said. Austin has been growing rapidly over the last few years, and this means new faces and new talent for filmmakers to run into and work with.

Although this can be overwhelming, it can be beneficial and spread professional connections through friendship.

“Austin’s a big metropolis, but the vibe is still like a small town. I know I can’t really go to an event without knowing a small assortment of people, that’s nice.”

Austin is known for being artistic and thinking out of the box. The films produced are new with fresh cinematography and unheard topics and plots.

“I don’t think that I follow the beaten path, and I think that a lot of people in Austin create their own path,” Reed said. Also taking his own path, Max Chen, cinematographer and digital the city is growing, the community is still close. creator, talks about how Austin brings social ties between everyone. He is always making new friends and meeting new artists when working on different projects. Even though

“Everyone’s within two to three degrees of each other. So it’s like a big family and that’s the big opportunity that I have in Austin compared to LA and New York, as those environments are much more structured,” Chen said. Chen has worked with all film genres, and is currently working on his own films to create in the future. Austin has brought support for filmmakers in the area and provides lots of actors, cinematographers, and directors to bring ideas to life.

“The Good Hearts Club” was Reed’s first solo flim produced, written, and directed by him. The story is inspired by his first few years in Austin, and is filmed in the heart of the city.

Max Chen poses with his partner in work happily, celebrating his accomplishements as a filmmaker.

“Austin also has a good commercial market for film and television. So there’s opportunities to go be a Photography Assistant on professional sets,” Chen said. Although lots of filmmakers are already in the professional world, upcoming filmmakers are more prevalent than ever before. Meg Foster, a student at the University of Texas, is a film major, and sure has her hands busy. With new experiences provided by the college and her own work getting recognition, she has had great experiences with her peers and professionals.

“Last semester I was the director of photography for a short film about this photographer that essentially uses his camera to capture souls. I was primarily responsible for the visuals. And we shot in black and white and that was a really cool experience to just shoot that,” Foster said. The struggle of being in the film industry in Austin is that it can get extremely busy especially during certain times of the year. It can be taxing for creators to constantly be working.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are also times in the year where work can be sparse. Having almost nothing to do can be quite boring at times. For Foster, to fill these times, she goes out to different areas all over the city to practice taking different photos or making her own mini films. “I’ll do landscape photography, just to keep my eye fresh and make sure I’m not getting rusty. And then I just like using those lows to keep writing and keep thinking of things.”

All the work these filmmakers put into their projects are for the audience to enjoy. Every artist has a different goal to make the viewer feel something, see a certain vision, or have emotional reactions to complete the experience of enjoying the film. “I wanna make films that make people a little bit happier when they see them. I wish it just brightens people’s day a little bit,” Foster said. Reed also highlights how supportive the other filmmakers are of each other.

Marketing is one of the hardest parts of making a film, and filmmakers have each other’s backs when it comes to promoting their new projects. At film festivals like SXSW, it is like one big reunion where everyone can come together and celebrate their accomplishments in the last year. “Especially on the independent level, creators are very supportive of each other’s works and will kind of go outta their way to make sure that they either amplify their fellow filmmakers or spread the word about their work that’s being done,” Reed said.

Local creators share their favortie spots to film, produce, and create all their projcts. Each star represents the location given to us by filmmakers in the area.

Austin Skyline 1

“ I love the skyline of Austin. It’s changed a lot, obviously over the last few years, but there’s just this beautiful view of a sprawling city.”

2

“I personally love shooting in there just because it’s just like a bit of a relic in itself. The halls might be lined with a little bit of spooky energy, because it does feel like a haunted location.”

3 4

Mkinney falls STate

“It’s a beautiful place full of life where I can capture lots of scenery and appriciate the nature in Austin.”

“I photograph on UT’s campus a lot, for students graudation photos and for various projects for my schoolwork.”

Austin filmmakers

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