| For a long time, Austin has been considered | | | | of cult hit Slacker Richard Linklater, helped |
| the Third Coast in the film industry, with | | | | create the Austin Film Society as a |
| more filmmakers on the rise in Austin, and | | | | non-profit educational organization. Though |
| more Hollywood types coming to Austin to | | | | the organization began strictly as a film |
| shoot their movies. | | | | appreciation group, today the Austin Film |
| | | | Society holds their own filmmaking camps for |
| One of the biggest proponents of the up and | | | | Austin's youth, has discussion panels with |
| coming filmmakers is UT's | | | | experts in different aspects of moviemaking, |
| Radio-Television-Film department. Though the | | | | and offers an internship program. |
| film courses are a challenge to get into, | | | | |
| with many vying for a slot and low numbers of | | | | In 1999, Richard Linklater, Robert Rodriguez, |
| students per class, many consider the red | | | | and other movie making heavy hitters |
| tape worth it, as UT has become a highly | | | | approached the Austin City council explaining |
| regarded film school, comparable to UCLA or | | | | that Austin was becoming a moviemaking hotbed |
| NYU. | | | | which could lead to several million dollars |
| | | | for the city. |
| Though UT's film school is on the rise, | | | | |
| Austin is still not the heart of the movie | | | | Linklater and Rodriguez went on to point out |
| industry, but some graduate students have | | | | that office and studio space was hard to come |
| taken it upon themselves to get UT's student | | | | by, due to Austin's constant popularity and |
| films in from of Hollywood big shots, and | | | | the tech boom of the time. In November of |
| created their own film festival called | | | | 2000, the Austin Film Society leased the old |
| CinemaTexas. The award winners of the UT | | | | Robert Mueller airport from the city for a |
| student film festival, with help from | | | | mere 100 dollars a year, and has turned the |
| prominent UT alumni, get their movies | | | | old hangars into official sound stages called |
| screened before the Director's Guild in Los | | | | Austin Studios. |
| Angeles, solidifying CinemaTexas as a true | | | | |
| festival. | | | | Sandra Bullock was the first to bring |
| | | | Hollywood to town with her Warner Brothers |
| In 2003, the University of Texas Film | | | | movie Miss Congeniality which used two stages |
| Institute (UTFI) was set up. Not only does | | | | for 5 months. Since then, several feature |
| it help students keep up with the newest film | | | | length movies have been shot at the studios, |
| technologies, but it is also partnered with | | | | as well as documentaries, television |
| Burnt Orange Productions, allowing students | | | | commercials, music videos, and photo shoots. |
| to participate directly on feature length big | | | | |
| budget independent films. | | | | With over 100,000 square feet of production |
| | | | space, and a tolerance for productions at any |
| Some local budding filmmakers looking to gain | | | | budget level, the Austin Studios have become |
| some skills, but not deal with UT's | | | | popular among multimillion dollar |
| bureaucracy find themselves enrolling at | | | | blockbusters and local low budget creations |
| Austin FilmWorks. Their 14 week-long course | | | | alike. |
| is taught by former UT professor, Steve Mims. | | | | |
| When Robert Rodriguez couldn't get into UTs | | | | With the variety of filmmaking options to |
| film school due to a low GPA, he turned to | | | | local Austinites, and the amount of high end |
| Mims classes for insight, and considers him a | | | | productions coming into town, the possibility |
| crucial influence on his filmmaking skills. | | | | of becoming a filmmaker, or running into a |
| | | | Hollywood movie star, are ever increasing. |
| In the mid 1980s, local filmmaker and creator | | | | |