Urban Cowboy' TV pilot to lens in Austin

The 1980 film Urban Cowboy is being dusted off and set in the modern day for a Fox television series. No word on casting yet, but  the pilot will shoot in Austin in September with Craig Brewer, who also brought us a Footloose film remake, behind this re-imaging of a modern Cissy and Bud.

If picked up for series, it could air as soon as mid-season or not pop up until next summer. No major casting has been announced (will John Travolta's hairpiece and Debra Winger's smirk make cameos?), but we can expect the pilot to be loaded with twangy music.

Meanwhile, John Ridley's American Crime is gearing up for its second season shoot in the Austin area right now. Yes, right this moment. Learn how to be an extra over at Brock Allen Casting's Facebook page. You soon will find extra info for Urban Cowboy there as well.

SXSW 2015 in photos and words

 

I've been remiss is posting here lately, so here are some random images from South by Southwest that give a bit of the feel of the combo music, film and interactive fest. The images are all  ©Joe O'Connell.

I once again covered the film fest for The Austin Chronicle. I interviewed Alan Berg, the head of Austin's very cool Arts & Labor film cooperative about his new doc The Jones Family Will Make a Way. I also got an inside look into the moment the punk rock scene exploded in Austin. I reviewed the films Steve Jobs: Man in the Machine, The Goob and Sailing a Sinking Sea.

Terrence Malick filming again at Austin City Limits fest

We've got confirmation that Terrence Malick's untitled film formerly known as Lawless--which has been lensing around Austin of late--has already been spotting filming at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, which just kicked off. And, yes, Ryan Gosling, was in front of--and in this case behind--the camera. See more pix here.

And somewhere in this video, actress Rooney Mara is supposed to be on stage dancing as the Black Keys perform.

Photos begin to surface from Terrence Malick's Austin film shoot

The first action photos are starting to surface from the Austin shoot of Terrence Malick's film formerly known as Lawless. Ryan Gosling and Rooney Mara join Malick in this shot taken this week. See more photos here at Justjared.com.

For my earlier report on the film, which is set in the Austin music scene, go here.

Terrence Malick's next film ready for Austin-Taylor shoot

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Chris, a piano tuner showed up to audition in Taylor.

 It’s (probably) no longer called Lawless, but Terrence Malick’s next film has officially opened production offices in Austin, Texas, my source confirms. Earlier word had the film, which is set in the Austin music scene, to lens this fall, which looks to be on track. Two casting calls were held this weekend—one in Austin and one in nearby Taylor.

It’s not likely a coincidence that Taylor recently attained the Film-Friendly City status from the Texas Film Commission. Smithville got the same title around the time filming of Malick’s The Tree of Life took place there.

The casting calls were more intensive than the normal extras call most major films have with actual footage taken of applicants. In Austin one  applicant was asked to tell a story about love for the camera, while yours truly applied in Taylor and just plain jabbered on. The casting calls didn’t include the name of the film, but a closer look revealed that Buckeye Pictures--Malick’s joint—is behind the pic.

A piece of the film—possibly just pre-production—shot last fall with Christian Bale during the Austin City Limits music festival, then later with Ryan Gosling during Fun Fun Fun Fest.

The film’s logline is said to be: “Two intersecting love triangles. It is a story of sexual obsession and betrayal set against the music scene in Austin, Texas.”

Casting calls listed on Facebook give a hint of the extent music will play in the film. That includes a Peter Tosh look-alike, musicians, scenesters, comedians, indie bands, country club types, Latina women ages 50 and up, rappers who can freestyle, local storytellers and people from other countries.

The in-recent-years-prolific Malick has been shooting Knight of Cups this summer in Los Angeles, also with Bale and Natalie Portman, who is also said to be in the Austin project with Bale as well. Malick has been adding large casts to his recent films, with many a star ending up on the cutting room floor. Some folks conjecture that the two films are actually one and the same film. With the secrecy behind a Malick project, nothing is certain except that it will be interesting, and now that it will be shot in Central Texas.

Malick's Oklahoma-set and -shot film To the Wonder was to premiere today at the Venice Film Festival.

Janis Joplin biopic close to actually shooting

This just in from Deadline: Stage actress Nina Arianda will play Texas singing legend Janis Joplin in a film titles either Joplin or The Gospel According to Janis  that concentrates on the last six months of Joplin's life. Sean Durkin, director of the creepily interesting Martha Marcy May Marlene (I finally saw it this past weekend) will helm the Joplin pic, so it could be a very different approach.

It's supposed to start shooting early in 2013 at a budget of about $20 million. This is from the folks who have rights to 21 of her songs.

If I'm remembering right (I am), there were at one time dueling Joplin biopics in the works, so I will truly believe it when I see it. The producers were said to be looking at Philadelphia as a shooting location.

Terrence Malick's Oklahoma film gets a new name

Formerly The Burial, it's now To the Wonder according to The Playlist, and, who knows, this completed film about a love triangle and shot in Bartlesville, Oklahoma,  featuring Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko, Rachel McAdams, Rachel Weisz, Javier Bardem, Barry Pepper, Michael Sheen and Amanda Peet, may come out soon. First it has to find a U.S. distributor. But, hey, it's rated R for tasteful nudity and is said to have a similar tone to The Tree of Life!

Meanwhile, we're still awaiting more info on Terrence Malick's Texas-set (and to be Texas shot?) films whose names may or may not at this moment be Lawless and King of Cups and what this all has to do with pal/mentee David Gordon Green moving to Austin.

The king of SXSW

We were wandering South Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas, during the final weekend of South by Southwest when this guy loomed above at the Hotel San Jose. I thought it was somehow the perfect shot of SXSW. You can see a lot more SXStrangeness here.

I didn't write this

OK, I'm late to notice that Ramiro Burr, a longtime San Antonio Express-News music writer resigned after allegations that he had someone else ghostwrite a lot of his columns. Sounds like a great plan. Isn't that what at least one famous painter did? And then there's V.C. Andrews, in my mind one of the worst ever American writers, who continues to write long after her death.

If anyone wants to purchase the Joe O'Connell brand for your own crappy writing, please inquire within.

Alert! Alert! Waterloo Video sells off inventory!

No, this doesn't affect the music store. Hustle on down to Waterloo and buy your fill of DVDS before this news goes public. You have been warned.

Separated at birth?

is it just me? Tell me it's not just me...