They say everything is bigger in Texas. After my recent trip, I may start to agree with this adage. Everything from the food to the truck stops were indeed, bigger. As we drove from Dallas to Austin, scenes from Friday Night Lights, No Country for Old Men and Blood Simple floated through my brain. I was lost in the fields of cows wondering what kind of experience Texas would bring us, you know, in real life.
I was afforded the opportunity to attend the Austin Film Festival through friends who had their script make it to the Semi-finalist round of the famed script competition. This is high praise as over 9,000 scripts were submitted in 2016, and semifinalists accounted for the top 1%. This is a huge opportunity to not only meet agents, managers, producers and the like, but to actually bask in the glory of acheivement around people who really appreciate writers and the sweat they pour into their work for the sake of entertainment. This festival was different, I could tell from the get-go.
Aside from the festival activities that included conference sessions, Q&A with writers, producers and filmmakers, and screenings of yet-to-be-released films, Austin is also home to my little brother and his lovely wife. At some point, it was time for me to take a break from the downtown hustle between the Driskill Hotel and the Paramount Theater to spend time with them.
The first rite of passage is Texas Barbecue. We went to Stiles Switch BBQ, which we learned is also the exterior location for the Emporium in one of my favorite films, Dazed and Confused. I was enamored. After ordering a little bit of every kind of meat on the menu we settled down at a picnic table on the porch across from a couple of strangers who, by the end of the meal became our friends. They lived in the same neighborhood as my brother and they even made plans to hang out at an upcoming block party. The food was of course, incredible. Even the sides... don't pass up the corn casserole if you're there! It was magic.
Filmmaker Jeff Nichols introduces his new film, Loving.
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Voo Doo Doughnuts
Bouncing back and forth between "tourist," wandering around 6th Street in downtown Austin and "local," who has the inside track to the best nooks and crannies the city has to offer became the best of both worlds, and yet, exhausting. Had a few beers at Lala's Little Nugget, a Christmas-themed bar that I will definitely return to next time we're in Austin. We stopped at VooDoo Doughnuts, (which I had no idea existed outside Portland, OR,) sampled whiskeys and chicken & waffles at Moonshine Bar & Grill, and so much coffee to get to the next AFF event which had free champagne anyway! It was a whirlwind of food and drink. Possibly too much of both.
I was able to see *almost* everyone I know in the state of Texas, not just my beloved kid brother. An actor friend from undergrad who, I'm proud to say, is still a working actor took me to his favorite coffee stop, Vintage Heart Coffee. It was the kind of place you could get really comfortable in, having serious conversations or working on the next script. There were more than a few people working on their next masterpiece there.
I was fortunate enough to also see a good friend from grad school at the Texas Roller Derby Championship bout. It was not my first rodeo. I love derby and if you haven't experienced it, TXRD is a great place to start. They know how to entertain the crowd. It is also the league that inspired the 2009 film, Whip It with Ellen Page and produced by Drew Barrymore.
There is something to be said for connecting with people in Texas, whether it's over a coffee in a quiet place, or a beer while you scream "LET'S GO CHERRY BOMBS!" with a thousand other fans. Texans seem extremely kind, always willing to lend a hand or hold the door. People are friendly here! And while I hold many different social or political views than a majority of the state, it never seemed to come in conflict with politeness we were shown on our trip. Of course, we were in perhaps the bluest part, so maybe politics has nothing to do with it.
Texas Forever.