Short Cuts

• Alamo Sells Out, Takes Over World Dept.: Well, not exactly. After months of rumors, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema co-owners Tim and Karrie League have officially announced that they've sold the company's franchise and marketing operations to their CEO Terrell Braly, with an eye toward taking the nascent chain nationwide into some 200 new theatres and 20-odd franchises. Tim League is slated to remain onboard as the company's chief creative officer, and the Leagues are expected to remain in town to oversee venue programming at both the original downtown location at 409 Colorado and future expansion venues. "We're staying in Austin to continue programming, promotion, and doing the preshow tapes" says Alamo programmer Henri Mazza, "so everything should remain pretty much how it is right now, but with some changes on the inside of the company." The question now, of course, is whether Alamo's trademark guerrilla programming will play in Peoria, outside of Austin's admittedly fantastic film-friendly borders. More on this next week.

• Be a Man or Just Look Like One Dept.: It's almost August, which means, among other things, like, say, where the hell did June and July go? that the Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival is just around the corner. What started 17 years ago as a funky little cineaste get-together under the auspices of former Dobie Theatre godhead Scott Dinger has emerged as one the largest and most well-respected festivals of its type. This year's aGLIFF runs Thursday, Aug. 26, through Monday, Sept. 6, and is expected to attract an audience of "upwards of 15,000," according to their most recent communiqué. The fest kicks off with a pair of Texas premieres – Q. Allan Brocka's Eating Out and Angela Robinson's D.E.B.S. – the latter of which should draw a monster crowd of slavering hetero boyz, "Short Cuts" included, thanks to the participation of 2 Fast 2 Furious' drool-inducing Devon Aoki. That said, instead of waiting around for teenage gang debs to fall in your lap, why not offer to volunteer for the fest? Specifically needed are those with such skills as Web and graphic design, ad sales ability, and program production and layout. Head over to www.agliff.org/browse.php/volunteers for all the particulars, or give 'em a ring at 302-9889 to request an application.

• It's the Welcome Back Garry Shandling Show Dept.: The Austin Film Festival has tagged Garry Shandling not for its "Dyspeptic Jew of the Year Award," but as the recipient of their Outstanding Television Writer Award, which tells me not enough people caught former wunderkind Mike Nichols' What Planet Are You From? while it was in theatres for roughly 11 seconds four years back. Granted, Shandling's work on both seminal cathode ray hit-makers Sanford and Son and Welcome Back, Kotter, as well as the inspired The Larry Sanders Show, is the stuff of industry legend, but Garry, what have you done for us lately? Still and all, Shandling will be honored at an awards luncheon slated for Saturday, Oct. 16. Other confirmed attendees to the AFF (Thursday, Oct. 14-Thursday, Oct. 21) include perennials John August (Big Fish), Shane Black (the upcoming Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), and John Lee Hancock (The Alamo). More info at www.austinfilmfestival.com.