'Hysteria' overtakes Austin, TX

Not sure where TV drama pilot Hysteria from Amazon Studios is headed, but it's got some interesting star power both in front of and behind the camera and is currently shooting in Austin.

Mena Suvari (American Beauty) stars as "an exceptionally bright, driven, complicated, charming but socially awkward neurologist/psychiatrist at the University of Texas Medical School who travels to her hometown of Austin to investigate a mysterious epidemic among high school girls that may be spreading through technology."

Her brother is played by Grey's Anatomy alum T.R. Knight as "a fiercely intense man who’s been on death row since he was 19 years old and is two months away from execution. In the last few days of his life, and after attempting to kill himself by setting fire to his cell, he tries to convince his sister that the panic currently swallowing Austin is the same hysteria that sent him to prison 25 years ago, and if she will help to exonerate him, he’ll give her the clues she needs to resolve the crisis."

 Also in the cast is Mixology star Adan Canto.

Once-upon-a-time teen heartthrob Shaun Cassidy turned writer/producer  (American Gothic) is behind the project.

'Boychoir' films in Taylor, Texas

Most of the film was shot in Connecticut, but the Texas-set film Boychoir stopped in Taylor, Texas, for a brief two-day shoot this week at a former school and a few other locations.

Dustin Hoffman, Kathy Bates and Debra Winger (who replaced Sissy Spacek) star in the story of a troubled Texas teen who gets rescued by a prestigious N.J., choral group. Connecticut got the bulk of the filming because of generous 30 percent state incentives, which have now been put on hold for two years.

Odessa officials were apparently not happy with how their city is to be portrayed in the film.

'Sonny' finally set for HBO

The conjecture is Lawrence Wright's God Save Texas will make fun of Rick Perry, Wendy Davis and company, and it very well might. But the truth is the series just put into development by HBO dates back to 2000 when Pulitzer-winning author Wright penned a screenplay called Sonny's Last Shot with hopes of directing it himself. Then he transformed the screenplay into a stage play after HBO at that time nixed the story.

That story was inspired by Texas Democrats hiding out in 1979 to kill a bill in the Legislature, only in Wright's story they hid out in the back of the Alamo. Right before the stage play premiered in 2003, Dems did in fact run off--to Oklahoma--to unsuccessfully kill a bill.

The potential HBO series is described thus: "... an idealistic cowboy who, looking to save his ranch and marriage, tries to get elected to the Texas Legislature, where he becomes the target of the powerful energy lobby and learns how to survive in the crazy, brutal world of Texas politics." The original screenplay also had that cowboy, Rep. Sonny Lamb of West Texas, fathering a love child with feisty Rep. Angela Jackson of Houston, a character with a hint of Rep. Dawnna Dukes of Austin, Wright previously said.

Back in 2000 the play got a table reading with newby actor Dan Gattis taking the lead role. Gattis went on to serve as a state representative from 2002-2010.  His father, Dan A. Gattis, is currently Williamson County Judge.

Yep, NBC cancels Texas-shot 'Revolution'

Photo by Joe O'Connell

It's official. The Bartlett, Texas, (and Austin) shot NBC series Revolution has been canceled.

Wasn't I just predicting this would happen?

Over on Twitter, hopeful fans are latching onto the hashtag #RelocateRevolution. 

Will 'Revolution' get a third seasion (a second in Texas)?

Photo by Joe O'Connell

I drove through Bartlett, Texas, the other day and saw the courthouse facade for NBC series Revolution was packed up, the headless statue that usually rests in front of it moved behind a fence. The show's metal gate remained in place. I took these (and word from solid sources) as signs the folks behind the show are ready to come back to the small town not too far from Austin.

The show moved to Texas after a first season shot in North Carolina. I wrote a bit about it for The Austin Chronicle.

Photo by Joe O'Connell

But will the series survive into a third season? The final word is expected in the next couple of days, but Variety hints it's not looking good: "Revolution started out with promise in 2012-13 when it was assisted by a lead-in from The Voice. But its sophomore year has been an uphill climb after it moved last fall to the lead off slot on Wednesday."

The bottom line, as always, is cash, and Revolution may be too expensive. Stay tuned. And while you're at it, here are some more photos from the set and a few more and some folks in costume.

The homeless man who became a movie star

From Gary Poulter's Facebook page.

Gary Poulter looked like the stereotypical homeless guy you might see in Austin: big smile, skin wrinkled from the sun and alcohol abuse, hair like white cotton candy. He's been my obsession for recent months as I tried to track down his real, human story. I didn't want to just know the guy on the streets. I wanted to know the guy who played Little League, the guy who fell in love, the guy who went off the tracks.

Courtesy Debbie Altis.

Read my piece in today's Austin Chronicle for the results. Poulter's sisters Maria and Debbie opened up to me. The casting agents who chose Gary for David Gordon Green's film Joe (which by no coincidence opens today) sat down with me and production coordinator Shanti Delsante. Without these folks there would have been no story. I give them big thanks.

In the modern meta-world, there's also at least one article about the article, this one at Gawker. Now that level of writing about writing makes me smile.

Kat Candler's long journey to overnight film success

Photo by Joe O'Connell

I sat down to talk to Kat Candler for The Austin Chronicle about her adventures along the way to Hellion, which premiered at Sundance earlier this year and screens at South by Southwest in the next few days.

I was the first person to ever interview Kat back in 2000. It's an honor to interview her again now. Hellion is a fine film. Check it out.