Short Cuts

R.I.P. David Boone Dept.: Austin's creative community is mourning the loss of filmmaker David Boone, who died this past Saturday at the age of 47. Boone had recently completed directing the digital feature Midnight Taco with longtime friend Kirk Hunter. "He'd been fired from Dell," says Hunter, "and he was just so ecstatic about that because it allowed him to make the film." Boone's mark on the local film scene began in the mid-Seventies at the University of Texas film department, where he and fellow filmmaker Brian Hansen were introduced to director Jonathan Demme by Chronicle Editor Louis Black. Demme and Boone became close friends, with the director subsequently using a portion of Boone's film Invasion of the Aluminum People in Demme's 1986 feature Something Wild. Other projects Boone directed or was involved in include Everyman, The Texas Comedy Massacre, Redboy 13, Brujeria, and Barn of the Blood Llama, as well as The Clash's infamous "Rock the Casbah" video and a locally shot Talking Heads film lensed during the band's Speaking in Tongues Tour in the summer of '83. "That was the real heyday of David, Brian, Kevin [Booth], and I making movies long before the time of Slacker," says Hunter. Boone's wife Sandy Boone has announced that an open wake for friends and fellow filmmakers will be held tomorrow, Friday, Aug. 3, 7pm, at the Boone home at 23717 Pedernales Canyon Trail. The Chronicle sends its condolences… Are you project-oriented with strong initiative and follow-up skills? Are you able to keep a cool head when faced with unrelenting stress? Does the idea of possibly spending hours debating the pros and cons of pop-culture self-reflexivity in modern American cinema with Quentin Tarantino get your motor racing? If you answered yes to most of the above and can commit 10 hours/week for a term of no less than three months, then perhaps the Austin Film Society's Fall Internship Program is for you. Internships are unpaid but provide a great opportunity to learn the nuts and bolts of exhibition and nonprofit arts administration. Rumor has it the coffee's pretty top notch, too. Interested? Send a résumé and brief cover letter (via snail- or e-mail) to the AFS, c/o Cecilia Conti, 1901 E. 51st St., Austin, TX 78723, or e-mail them at [email protected]… Cinemaker Co-op will present a workshop on "The Basics of Super 8," Saturday, Aug. 11, noon-4pm at the Hideout (617 Congress Ave.). Co-op tech director Andre Silva and board member Shannon Owens will teach everything you need to know to join the elite ranks of the Super 8 filmmaking revolution, all for a paltry $45 general admission/$30 Co-op member. Spaces are limited, and payment is due by Aug. 6. E-mail [email protected] to sign up… The Eighth Annual Austin Film Festival is right around the corner, and the deadline for submissions to their film competition is Aug. 15, 2001. Categories include Full Length Feature, Short, and Student Short, and there's a $50 submission fee. Visit www.austinfilmfestival.com, or call Courtney Davis at 800/310-FEST for more info… Snoochie Boochies Alert: AFS will present indie auteur Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma) and the regional premiere of Smith's new film, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, at the Paramount Theatre (713 N. Congress) on Aug. 13. Smith will be on hand to introduce the film and then conduct a Q&A afterward. Tickets go on sale soon at the Paramount box office: The prime orchestra seats plus admittance to the afterparty at Antone's cost $25 for AFS members, $30 for nonmembers; balcony seats (sans entrance to Antone's) run at $10/members, $15/nonmembers. Look for more info in next week's edition.