Short Cuts

Fever Dreams Dept.: Congratulations are in order for Austin animator and Gals Panic frontman Lance "Fever-- Myers, who scored a double this past week when he was tapped by local pop-punk outfit the Riddlin' Kids and Sony Music to provide a 30-second animation sequence for the group's "I Feel Fine-- debut video on Sony imprint Columbia Records. And as if that weren't enough, Myers' sublime animated short "The Astronomer-- (which previously screened at SXSW 2001 and will screen on PBS' The Territory on April 17) was recently sold to HBO Europe via online distro group Hypnotic.com. Myers says the Riddlin' Kids gig came about through the usual maze of Austin band connections -- the band's drummer spent time in Gals Panic way back when and naturally thought of Myers to create last summer's Riddlin' Kids EP cover as well as the single art for the "I Feel Fine" single and the forthcoming CD's cover and interior illos. "Now the label wants to shoot a video and use my illustrations as a basis for several animated sequences," says Myers, who will be flying out to Los Angeles for the video shoot this Sunday. "They're shooting on the first, and I'll be taking photographs of the things that I need and making sure that our storyboards link up to the action that they're filming," says Myers. "We're already through the approval process on the storyboards, and thankfully we were given quite a bit of leeway as to what we want to do." Myers has recruited local firm Horseback Salad Entertainment to edit the final sequences here in Austin, with the entire project scheduled for completion in early May. As for the sale of "The Astronomer" to HBO Europe, the animator says he isn't sure exactly where or when the philosophical short will be broadcast in Europe, though he's clearly psyched to be going international... The Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers will hold their next meeting Monday, April 1, 7pm, at the Hideout (617 Congress). The featured speaker will be Korey Coleman (of cable access film program The Reel Deal), who will screen and discuss scenes from his current narrative feature work-in-progress 2 A.M. Admission is free and open to the public. Call Anne del Castillo at 507-8105 for more info... Finally, Friday, April 12, marks the kickoff of the Fifth Annual Cine las Americas International Festival of New Cinema of the Americas, which runs through Saturday, April 21, at the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown and other venues around town. As always, the festival will be showcasing Latino filmmaking from South America, the Caribbean, and the United States. For any and all other info, check out their Web site at www.cinelasamericas.org.