Rodriguez seeks extras as 'Alita' begins Austin shoot

Robert Rodriguez is back in action directing Alita: Battle Angel for Fox in Austin from now until February.

According to Deadline, it's set in a 26th-century dystopian future: "The film follows the story of an amnesiac cyborg who, after being rescued from a scrap heap by a doctor (Christoph Waltz), becomes a bounty hunter tracking down criminals."

Actress and singer Eiza González has the lead role. She also stars in Rodriguez's El Rey Network series From Dusk Till Dawn. Rodriguez shocked Austin locals when he moved series production to film friendlier (as in incentives) New Mexico for season three. The cast also includes Lana Condor, Rosa Salazar, Jackie Earle Haley and Ed Skrein.

It's an adaptation of  the graphic novel series Battle Angel Alita by Yukito Kushiro. James Cameron wrote the script with Laeta Kalogridis.

Third Coast Extras is handing background roles, which include punk rocker types, Asians and East Indians, but also general folks of all ages. Get more info at the casting company's Facebook page.

The film is set for a 2018 release.

Robert Rodriguez sends 'From Dusk Till Dawn' to New Mexico

Rodriguez and Linklater (photo by Joe O'Connell)

Cuts to Texas film incentives have a new casualty: Austin-based Robert Rodriguez likes to shoot at home, but he's setting up the third season of his El Rey network's From Dusk Till Dawn series in New Mexico with filming beginning as I type this. The first two seasons shot in the Austin area, of course. But money talks and Rodriguez walks. As have other recent Texas-set shows.

This is what happens when the Texas Legislature slices and dices its two-year film incentive program budget from $95 million to $32 million. In recent years, the incentive program has been most effective at attracting TV series to the state, including Austin-shot American Crime and The Leftovers. The former shot in Austin for both of its two seasons, while the latter shot its second season around Central Texas. The Leftovers already has a third season commitment while American Crime's future is unknown. Will either return to Austin? Stay tuned, but don't get your hopes up. At least we still have Richard Linklater. Right, Rick? Gulp.

'American Crime' returns to Austin for second season

When I interviewed American Crime creator John Ridley for The Austin Chronicle prior to the show's 11-episode run on ABC, he hinted that a second season was possible and that it likely would lens in the Austin area as the first season did. Correct on both. 

(Read down for even more TV shooting in Austin....)

According to Deadline, both Felicity Huffman and Timothy Hutton will come back for season two, which will center on an entirely different crime. The first season was an ambitious telling of the impact of a double murder on the lives of the victims' and suspects' lives. Ratings weren't spectacular, but it received plenty of critical acclaim and is expected to garner award nominations for its deft handling of issues of racial and class divides in America.

"TV has overtaken film here of late," Gary Bond of the Austin Film Commission said of the welcome Austin film industry news. 'I like it. Steady work for our crew. The gift that keeps on giving."

Indeed, Robert Rodriguez's series From Dusk Till Dawn is shooting its second season around town, and HBO's The Leftovers relocated and is currently lensing its sophomore season to Austin. ABC's Shonda Rhimes pilot The Catch shot here recently and just got picked up to series. No word on if the series will shoot in Austin, but insiders say it is a distinct possibility.

The American Crime announcement also comes as the Texas Legislature hammers out just how much funding in the coming two years will go to the state's Moving Image Industry Incentive Program, which allocates bucks to attract films, television and video game production to the Lone Star State. Some of the official silliness has including attacks on actor Sean Penn's political views (he had a role in Terrence Malick's Oscar-nominated The Tree of Life, which shot in Texas five years ago) as an excuse to cut funding. Those in the know have said in recent years that current Texas incentives are more attractive to television productions than films, which often veer across the Texas border to Louisiana or New Mexico.

Ridley told me incentives were indeed a factor in bringing to the show to Texas. They'd also looked at Georgia and both Louisiana and New Mexico. A lot of that was the wide variety of locations, with Ridley praising the Hays County Courthouse in San Marcos in particular as a welcome find for the many judicial scenes. 

"There were other places where we could have done a good job, but Austin ended up being the right place," he said. "Beyond our headline cast there was a really, really deep group of actors that delivered."

Look for the series to shoot in July, when Texas temperatures soar. It's something Ridley told me he did not look forward to in a second season. "Everything else is wonderful, it’s a terrific environment, but the weather…," he said.

'From Dusk Till Dawn' comes to SXSW, TV and Netflix

Robert Rodriguez's El Rey network will premiere the TV version of From Dusk Till Dawn in the U.S. on March 11, Austin audiences can see the pilot at South by Southwest and you foreigners can look to Netflix for the show shot in the Central Texas area (A former downtown Taylor bank turned art gallery stands in as that robbed Abilene bank).

'From Dusk Till Dawn' TV series fires up in Austin

Robert Rodriguez acknowledges he's the king of reworking the same premise, so why not TV, which is all about the series? His new El Rey network has started the engines for a From Dusk Till Dawn series for the network with local casting happening right now in Austin.

The network is English language, but will aim to discover new Latino talent both in front of and behind the camera. Chief among the latter is Robert Orci's untitled action series, which has been dubbed a Latin James Bond. That series will likely film in Los Angeles with a 13-episode commitment beginning in March.

Rodriguez says the network, which is paired with Univision and Comcast, is aimed at

--> "people who like irreverent, visceral action and comedy." Think Walking Dead and Breaking Bad with a lot more Latino faces.

It should be a boon to Austin, but will it mark a slowdown in Rodriguez's filmmaking? He says any future films will be somehow tied into El Rey.

El Rey will have a soft launch on television in December then go full force in 2014.

Oh, and here's the extras call from Beth Sepko Casting:

Third Coast Extras is taking general submissions for extras to work on FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, a new TV series (based on the 1996 film of the same name) and produced & directed by Robert Rodriguez, shooting in the Austin, TX area between November 2013 to March 2014.

-READ CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU SUBMIT-

You'll need a flexible schedule with ability to clear your schedule for the WHOLE day and/or night that we book you to work (we don't get call times or map until the night before a shoot!) & you'll need to have your own reliable transportation to get to the sets- either in Austin or outside of town on location.

Minimum pay guarantee for extras is $79.75 per shoot. If a shoot goes past 10 hours, overtime pay kicks in.

Who we need- Adults ages 18-80s of all ethnicities and ALL types and looks including great character faces.

To submit, email us at: thirdcoastextras@gmail.com w/ subject heading "Dusk Extras" and follow directions below exactly:

Men: include name, age, phone #, height/weight, jacket size, collar size, pants size (waist/inseam), and shoe size. Attach plenty of clear, well-lit, current photos in high resolution - including both close up photos and full length photos that show your body.

Women: include name, age, phone #, height/weight, dress size, measurements (bust-waist-hips), & shoe size. Attach plenty of clear, well-lit current photos in high resolution - including both close up photos and full length photos that show your body.

IMPORTANT: Must be Texas resident w/ valid Texas ID who lives in (or at least nearby) to Austin, TX since shoots days can change at the last minute. Please don't submit if you're not local to the area or nearby. Even if you've submitted or worked with us on a previous project, please follow directions and submit again for this project. We want your most updated info & current photos to show Director. Also, if you don't hear from us for a booking soon, we may need you later on in the project so keep submitting to our postings. Thank you!

David Gordon Green: third Austin-area film and counting

How many films has Richard Linklater shot recently in the Austin area? I suppose there's Boyhood, his 12-year indie project that shot in yearly spurts and Bernie filmed a few years ago. Robert Rodriguez quietly pumps movies out in his secluded bat cave (with occasion trips out to block downtown Austin traffic.

But compare that to newish Austin resident David Gordon Green who has two Central-Texas shot films done: Prince Avalanche shot covertly in Bastrop last summer (he's learning from his secretive mentor Terrence Malick) and Joe shot all around the area last fall.

Now add something called Mangelhorn that will shoot in Austin this fall featuring Al Pacino, Holly Hunter, Harmony Korine (director of Gummo) and Chris Messina (Greenberg).  Manglehorn is about "an eccentric man who tries to come to terms with a past crime that cost him the love of his life."

Three films in about two years? It's probably premature to crown a new king of Austin indie-ish film, but Green might want to come in for his royal fitting.

Favreau's 'Chef' eats Austin barbecue

       
                   

As we told you the other day, John Favreau is shooting a segment of his film Chef in Austin. We can now tell you where: Franklin's Barbecue. And, as you can see, Robert Rodriguez stopped by for a snack.

'Machete' sues Texas, but Rodriguez wants not part of it

Perry OKs film incentives in 2010.

 

The never-ending saga of the Texas Film Commission's denial of filming incentive funds to Robert Rodriguez's satirical slasher film Machete, well, continues.

According the the Houston Chronicle, papers have been filed in Austin seeking $8 million in incentives denied in late 2010. But now Rodriguez says he doesn't support the lawsuit and actually appears with Gov. Rick Perry in a commercial urging businesses to move to the Lone Star State. Perry signed 2009 film incentives legislation at Rodriguez's Troublemaker Studios surrounded by politicians and movie props.

It's all part of a twisted saga that includes radio conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, former Texas Film Commish Bob Hudgins--who left the job with a sexual harassment claim clouding the picture but whose efforts effectively created the film incentive program--and an oddball and quite vague "content clause" approved by the Legislature that restricts funding for projects that show Texas in a bad light.

A side effect of the story is the various film commissioners who have followed Hudgins (three to be exact) are no longer allowed to speak to the media and instead refer media reps to Perry's press office, which seldom returns calls.

Austin is the best city for indie filmmaking?

That's the word from MovieMaker Magazine's latest ranking of the top 10 cities for independent filmmakers. Austin ranks No. 1 followed by New York City, Seattle, Los Angeles and Portland.

The criteria include: “Film Community” (scored on a 10-point scale), “Access to New Films” (10-point scale), “Access to Equipment” (7-point scale), “Cost of Living” (reverse 5-point scale), and “Tax Incentives” (4-point scale).  Austin got 32 point out of a possible 36.

New Orleans, last year's No. 1 on the list (Austin was No. 2 in 2012) dropped out of the top five. 

The reaction among Austin filmmakers on Facebook today wasn't that rosy. "Wait, WHAT? Is this from 5 years ago? I'm so confused! Or maybe it's the best place to be a moviemaker because there is so much amazing behind-camera talent looking for work here these days?" one industry insider said after Gary Bond of the Austin Film Commission posted a notice of the list. 

Another called it nothing but hype. "Actors, in particular, need to get themselves to a bigger market and fast. Great talent pool, absolutely. Opportunities for said talent to make a living in the biz... little to none."

But the comment that got the most notice came from major Hollywood producer Lynda Obst, who brought Hope Floats to Smithville in the late '90s and Heartbreak Hotel to Taylor before that. "It's certainly my favorite place to make a movie but it's rebates are too far below the norm to compete with the bad places to make a movie," she wrote on Facebook. "If you match NM everyone, but everyone will be back in tonnage."

So why is Austin No. 1? Bond points to the currently in action at the Sundance Film Festival which is teeming with Austin (and Dallas) filmmakers this year, both fairly new faces and the old standbys of Richard Linklater and Robert Rodriguez.

'Sin City 2' continues Austin shoot

Robert Rodriguez has proven he can shoot a film more quietly with big-name stars than just about anyone (it's all that green screen time). But, yes, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, continues to shoot in Austin intermittently this month and "goes full force" in January. Last we heard much publically from a Rodriguez set he had closed downtown streets for a late-night Machete 2 shoot.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Dennis Haysbert has taken the role of Manute, portrayed by the late Michael Clarke Duncan in the original 2005 Sin City based on Frank Miller's comic books. Returning for the sequel are Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Jaime King and Rosario Dawson.

Mira Sorvino comes to Austin for TNT's 'Trooper' pilot

If it seems like Austin is heating up as a shooting locale all of a sudden, you're right. First we've got Terrence Malick running around town with a string of big-time actors including Natalie Portman and Ryan Gosling for the music-industry-set film formerly known as Lawless, and David Gordon Green is supposed to start filming Joe with Nicolas Cage any minute now. Now add to the mix a TNT television pilot called Trooper starring Mira Sorvino and Jay Hernandez.

Extras calls are out amid talk of a quick shoot Nov. 6-13. TNT's official description of the show is: "Trooper centers on a recently divorced female state trooper who is as unconventional at work as she is at home raising her three kids. Her partner on the job is a widowed father who has a much more by-the-book approach to policing." A pilot was shot last year for CBS, but they declined, so this is actually a second series pilot. No word on whether Austin would have a chance to host the filming if it goes to series. But with ABC Family's The Lying Game just closing shop on its second season here, word is clearly getting out to the TV community about Austin.

Oh, did I mention that Robert Rodriguez is doing a little Sin City 2 shooting right now, this minute (through Nov. 8) in Austin, too? It's percolating in the Austin film/TV biz, bub.

'Machete Kills' seeks extras

Machete is back in Robert Rodriquez's Machete Kills starring the ultra-cool Danny Trejo, and they need extras. An open casting call is slated for Saturday, June 2, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Austin Studios' red building. Men and women ages 18 and up are sought and there is money (though don't expect a lot) involved. Knowning Rodriguez, you'll end up signing some sort of confidentiality agreement.

Some interesting names have joined the cast including Sofia Vergara, Amber Heard and Mel Gibson.

Now the big question is whether they'll seek Texas filming incentives...

'Corpus Christi' coming to Austin this summer

I wrote last year about Richard Kelly's plan to shoot a film called Corpus Christi, which is, of course, set in Corpus Christi, Texas. Looks like the latest from the Donnie Darko director will film there some but primarily in Austin this summer, my sources confirm. Why Austin? The movie shoot is being financed by Robert Rodriguez's Quick Draw Productions.

Edgar Ramirez is set to star as "a mentally unstable Iraq war veteran named Paciencia 'Patience' De La Rosa, who forges a strange friendship with his boss Ralph Salverson, the wealthy and politically ambitious owner of a supermarket chain."

Don't expect many more details from the filming given Rodriguez's love of having anyone who comes near him sign a confidentiality agreement, but maybe Mr. R. will be too busy with his own projects. He announced during SXSW that Machete 2 would start production this month and Sin City 2 should--finally--shoot this summer.

SHOT IN TEXAS: TV replaces films as local moneymaker

After a 12-year run--the last six in The Dallas Morning News, but previously for both The Austin Chronicle and Austin American-Statesman--this is my final Texas film industry column. I'll still be blogging, but I want to spend more time concentrating on fiction writing and other projects.--Joe


BY JOE O’CONNELL
Special to The Dallas Morning News
Filmnewsbyjoe@yahoo.com
Joeoconnell.com
@joemoconnell

Janis Burklund was in full action mode last week. Khloe Kardashian had, without notice, posted online that she was organizing a toy drive for the Children’s Hospital of Dallas, and Burklund’s Dallas Film Commission office was suddenly besieged with phone calls.

It’s a clear sign of the present and likely future of the Dallas film scene: television rules and reality TV buzzes. Feature films? Not so much.

Lamar Odom’s trade from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Dallas Mavericks brought his Kardashian wife and reality show Khloe & Lamar to town. More than 2,000 people crowded Dallas City Hall to donate toys after her web shout-out.

Meanwhile TNT’s Dallas is bringing some old-school attention to the city with its 10-episode shoot—production is on hiatus until 2012 with three episodes to go.

Burklund’s three-person office can’t afford a proper media tracking service these days, but it only takes a quick web search to see interest in the show that doesn’t air until June.

“It’s been ongoing for about a year with constant news and publicity about the show,” she said. “There’s lot of interest overseas.”

The Dallas Film Commission tracks its fiscal year from September to September, and Burklund is just now getting solid numbers for the last year and slightly more of both plusses and minuses: network television series shoots came and as quickly went with the quick cancellations/non-renewals of Lone Star, The Good Guys and Chase.

The controversial Dallas-set show originally known as Good Christian Bitches, later as Good Christian Belles and most commonly as GCB produced a pilot in North Texas but then retreated to Los Angeles for the series shoot.

“When all three shows didn’t stick, we had to wait for new ones to create again,” Burklund said. “We had to go through another cycle, and luckily Dallas was already in the cycle.”

The commission tracked 292 projects in its last fiscal year, including $73.6 million in direct spends on television and film, plus another $26.3 million in videogame projects. The way that money reverberates around the economy leads to an estimated almost $230 million economic impact.

“It was a good year,” Burklund said. “It was well above the last six or seven years.”

But feature films continue to be a no-show both in North Texas and the state as a whole. Texas film incentives haven’t slowed the flow of projects to states like New Mexico and Louisiana that offer a lot more.

“Our incentives program works best for television,” Burklund said. “Television understands in a different way about having the good crew base, good talent base, diverse locations and easy access through DFW (International Airport). They may be here for years, so they have to think, ‘If all incentives went away today, where would we want to be?’ ”

Feature filmmaking in Texas has thus turned into a mix of low-budget independents and higher-profile projects by primarily Austin-based Texas auteurs like Robert Rodriguez, Richard Linklater and to a lesser extent Mike Judge and Tim McCanlies.

Perhaps add to that list reclusive Austin resident Terrence Malick, who is quickly losing his rep for waiting a decade or more between projects. He shot likely Oscar nominee The Tree of Life largely in Smithville (and partly in Dallas) in 2008 and took three years to release it, but actually shot another as-yet-untitled film starring Ben Affleck in Oklahoma in 2010.

Now Malick has publicly announced two more upcoming projects: Lawless and Knight of Cups. In September he shot scenes with Christian Bale during the Austin City Limits Music Festival, and followed that in November filming Ryan Gosling and Rooney Mara at Austin’s Fun Fun Fun Fest. The shots have been reported to be for Lawless, but Malick never releases plot details or future filming plans if he can help it.

'Spy Kids 4' sends post production to Michigan

Want to know Robert Rodriguez's reaction to the Texas Film Commission denying incentives to Machete? Read this from The Detroit News:

Spy Kids 4 has been approved for post-production work in Michigan and has qualified for the Michigan film incentives, the Michigan Film Office announced today.

The film, which already has been shot, will be converted from 2-D to 3-D at Speedshape, a post-production facility in Birmingham. The Film Office reported that around $4.5 million will be spent on the process, and the production will receive around $1.8 million in tax credits.

Moviemaker mag names Austin #4 best film city

In its yearly tradition Moviemaker has named Austin the fourth best place to "live, work and make movies." Boston leads the list this time, followed by Albuquerque, NM, and a resurgent New Orleans, La. Last year, Austin was fifth on the list, and has been known to claim the top spot in previous years. Gary Bond of the Austin Film Office said he believes the Capital City may well have been on the list more than any other city, but don't quote him on it. Oops.

The usual suspects are credited with the Austin praise: Robert Rodriguez, Richard Linklater and a strong crew base. Also heaped with praise in the Texas film incentives program, which may not get so much lauding next year if the Legislature follows through on talk of scalping the program.

Dallas did not make the list this year.

Making sense of the Texas film industry

My latest SHOT IN TEXAS column in The Dallas Morning News looks at where things stand for the Texas film industry going into the January session of the Texas Legislature.

Incentive nix for 'Machete' marks major policy shift

I'm frankly a little shocked by word that the Texas Film Commission has denied incentives for Robert Rodriguez's Machete. And even more interested by what it says about the future of both the Texas Film Commission and the state's film industry.

A letter from the film commission is signed by Carol Pirie, the deputy director, and denies the incentives based on either "inappropriate content" or "content that portrays Texas or Texans in a negative fashion." It doesn't specify which. The letter is dated Dec. 1--the day after Bob Hudgins left as Texas film commissioner amid sexual harassment allegations that he says were unrelated.

Gov. Rick Perry's office seems to be giving credence to access televsio/radio conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who raised this issue earlier this year.

What's fascinating about all of this is the change of course it illustrates. Now former Texas film commish Hudgins had said a planned film about the Branch Davidian siege in Waco would likely be denied (filmmakers never actually applied for incentives and the film has yet to be made).

Hudgins' response to critics at the time was that the content provision only applies to films based on actual events. That was his clear take, so the move by Perry's office (I sincerely doubt Pirie made this decision on her own) is a sea change.

Hudgins told me in 2009: "If they are depicting real events and they don't do it accurately, we've got to say no to them. They can show scoundrels as long as they are accurately portrayed."

Machete is fiction. It's been termed "Mexplotation." It's not based on anything factual. The incentives denial seems more of a reaction to an early trailer for the film than the film itself. That trailer, released on Cinco de Mayo 2009, has star Danny Trejo speaking directly to the camera with a "special message to Arizona." The reference is to an immigration law passed by the state. The law was passed AFTER Machete was filmed.

The big question now is which policy will the next Texas film commissioner follow--Hudgins' or Perry's?

CBS mulls modern-day western set in San Antonio

I've heard rumors of a potential TV series looking to shoot in San Antonio. I guess this is it!

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Desperado is about a band of lawmen who enact cowboy-style justice on modern-day criminals in San Antonio. And, no, Robert Rodriguez has nothing to do with it, despite the title. Instead it's from CSI creator Anthony Zuiker.

Yes, Spy Kids 4 is now in production

How do I know it's Spy Kids 4's time before the camera? Third Coast Extras wants twins or triplets to play "Jessica's daughter" this Friday. The baby must be 24 inches long, appear to be 10 months old and have an olive complextion. Who is Jessica? MTV says that would be a certain Jessica Alba whose diaper changing on the set of Machete apparently inspired Mr. R.

Interesting other hints as to cast with this casting calls for stand-ins: "brunette Caucasian male who is between 6'3" and 6'5" tall with a slim to medium build" and "female African American that is in between 5'3-5'5 around 120 lbs." I'm guessing Rosario Dawson on the later. Anyone have any guesses?

Here's one more: "An African-American male around 6'2ish. Short to no hair is preferable." It's like a puzzle on film! (My guess is Samuel Jackson is in the house...)

Robert Rodriguez is, as ever, fairly quiet about his Austin-shot productions, but this one is very clearly in action.