Filmmakers, actors, musicians and special effects experts from Southeast Texas and beyond will converge on the Golden Triangle for the sixth annual Spindletop/Lamar University Film Festival April 15 to 17 to showcase independent film and music.

Featured speakers include actress and Beaumont native Irma P. Hall; actor William Atherton; animator and Port Neches-Groves High School graduate Lance Myers; and Los Angeles blues musician Becky Barksdale, formerly of Port Arthur.

This year's festival will include musicians as well as people involved in the film industry, said Cindy Greene, festival coordinator. Festival organizers decided to add a music component to the festival because music plays a vital role today's movie and television industry, Greene said. The festival will include panels on acting, special FX, screenwriting, animation, the music industry, music videos and several other topics.

Other speakers include Southeast Texan J.D. Feigelson, producer and writer of “Red Water”; FX expert Steve Wolf; Stuart Gordon, director of “Re-animator” and co-writer of “Honey I Shrunk the Kids”; Templeton Thompson and Sam Gay, award-winning country music artists; David Carren, screenwriter of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”; and Mike Gasaway, a director of “Jimmy Neutron” series.

The Lafayette, La., band Greyline, which performed at the South By Southwest Music Festival in March, and Thompson and Gay will perform at the opening party April 15 at the Art Studio Inc., 720 Franklin St. in Beaumont. The party also will feature movies from the Houston Film Commission's Texas Filmmaker Showcase — an anthology of the best short work from Texas filmmakers.

Festival panels will be April 16, with screenings that evening and also April 17 at Lamar. Panels will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with movies screenings at 6:30 in the University Theatre on the Lamar campus near Lavaca and MLK Jr. Parkway. Film festival finalists also will screen throughout the day as part of the festival

The film festival will induct two veteran actors and a renown art director into the Southeast Texas Filmmaker Hall of Fame at 8:30 p.m. April 16 in the University Theatre: Hall; former Seguine resident Robert A. Burns; and Atherton, a Los Angeles character actor.

Hall received a special jury prize for her role in the Cohen Brothers film “Ladykillers.” She has played opposite Tom Cruise, James Earl Jones and Tom Hanks. Her other film credits include “Soul Food,” which will be screening at the festival, and “Collateral.”

In May 2004, Burns was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He died less than a month later. Gordon and other industry insiders including “Puppetmaster” director David Schmoeller and Carren will talk about his work and pay tribute to Burns at the festival. Burns was an accomplished art director on films including "Re-Animator," "The Hills Have Eyes," "Wolfen," and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

Gordon, director of "Re-animator," will screen that film at midnight April 16 in the University Theatre as part of the Burns tribute.

Actor Williams Atherton, a native of Connecticut, has play roles from presidents to scientists throughout his career. Atherton's breakthrough film was "Surgarland Express," which marked Steven Spielburg's directorial debut. The movie, starring Goldie Hawn, was shot Texas. He most recently starred in the acclaimed film "The Last Samurai" with Tom Cruise. His other credits include "Die Hard," "Ghostbuster," "Mad City" and "Bio-Dome."

As well as having music at the film festival's opening party, Templeton, Gay and Barksdale will discuss the business of music during the festival.

Barksdale’s music can be heard in film, television and video games. Her music has appeared in trailers including “Finding Neverland,” “Mr. 3000,” “Cold Mountain,” “The Jacket,” “Flight of the Phoenix,” “Bogeyman,” “Exorcist: The Beginning,” “Mean Girls,” “Timeline,” “Dawn of the Dead,” “The Prince & Me” and “Daredevil.” She also was the songwriter and performer on “For Something,” featured in the film“D.E.B.S.,” an official section at the Sundance Film Festival. Barksdale, a Lamar University graduate, is a noted blues musician. LA Weekly has called her music “absolutely thrilling” and Los Angeles Magazine says she’s a “major talent.” She was a featured guest performer at the recent Jimmy Simmons & Friends concert at Lamar.

Templeton is touring to promote her most recent release "I still feel". Her new single, "If I Didn't Need The Money", released in June of 2004, spent 7 weeks on the Top 10 of The Texas Music Chart. Templeton's current CD, "I still feel", was selected by Texas DJs and program directors as one of the top CDs of 2004.

Gay, a 25-year veteran in the music industry, began his career in Memphis in 1979 playing guitar and singing in local bands. In 1989, he moved to Nashville and was signed as a staff songwriter at the Acuff-Rose Publishing company where he wrote "Me And The Moon" which was recorded by Bryan White on Bryan's million-selling debut album.

Collera, who has directed music videos, and filmmaker Benny Mathews of Houston will conduct a workshop on making music videos. Bands from Southeast Texas and Louisiana will perform from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 16 at Mirabeau's Café on campus, offering a range of entertainment from R&B to alternative rock and more. The 2005 festival will feature about five hours of music.

Myers and Gasaway will discuss the art of animation at the festival. Myers is lead animator on Richard Linklater's film animated feature "A Scanner Darkly," scheduled for release in early 2006. The movie features the voices of Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson and Winona Rider. Gasaway, a graduate of the University of Cincinnati, works at DNA Helix in Irving. He is one of two directors of the Annie award-winning television series "The Adventures Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius." The Annie Award is the oldest and most prestigious award given for animation. Gasaway also has been nominated for an Annie Award as director of the series.

Myers has been has been a professional artist/animator for more than seven years. His work can be seen in feature films including "Space Jam," "Anastasia," "Quest for Camelot" and "Prince of Egypt. Myers' original animated shorts have shown on MTV PBS, HBO and Canada's Movieola as well as on screens at the Director's Guild Theatre in Los Angles and the Houston Museum of Fire Art. He received a grant from the Austin Film Society to complete his third original animated film, "Subsidized Fate." The short film won a special jury award at the South By Southwest Film Festival in 2004.

From October 2001 to August 2004, Myers worked for Acclaim Studio in Austin, where he was lead artist on the third-person shooter game 100 bullets. While at Acclaim, he also contributed work to projects including Turok Evolution and Vexx. In April 2002, Myers was hired as lead animator and artist director for the animated sequences in the Sony Music video "I Feel Fine," by Columbia Records' recording artists The Riddlin' Kids.

Myers and his wife, Beth, a Nederland High School graduate, live in Austin with their three children.

Writing for Television     ^Top

Local celebrity J.D. Feigelson, who launched his career after shooting "One of the Missing" in Beaumont, will conduct a panel on writing scripts for television. Feigelson has written numerous TV movies including "The Lake." Feigelson has written screenplays for actors including Charles Durning, Lou Diamond Phillips, Kristy Swanson, Yasmine Bleeth, Haley Joel Osment, Sam Elliot , Louise Fletcher, James Brolin and many others. Carren, who recently wrote "Mr. Hell," a horror film shot in Houston this past summer, will also serve on the panel. Carren's writing credits include such series as "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Stargate SG-1." Carren's writing credits also include "Buck Rogers," "TekWar," "Battlestar Galactica," "Beauty and the Beast," "Diagnosis Murder," "Murder She Wrote" and "Walker, Texas Ranger."

Steve Wolf is returning to the film festival to showcase his special FX magic. Wolf, who did special effects or stunt work on "Castaway," "The Firm," "The Client," "A Time To Kill," "Do the Right Thing," "Three Men and A Baby," "Crocodile Dundee II," "James Cameron's Expedition: Bismark" and "The Jungle Book," captivated film festival attendees in 2003 with a simulated bullet blast, by bending metal and other film tricks during his “magic of Hollywood” panel.

Sandy Collora, creature designer and director, has become noted for his short films showcasing comic heroes including Batman and Superman. In 1987, he landed a job at Stan Winston Studios to work on "Leviathan." Collora honed his skills as a creature designer and sculptor, eventually going on to work with industry giants Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and FX expert Rick Baker. After more than a decade of concept design, sculpting, storyboarding and visual FX art direction on major motion pictures, he made his foray into directing with several award winning short films, including "Archangel," "Batman Dead End" and "World's Finest." Collera will discuss his career and how to make it in Hollywood.

Talent from the Golden Triangle and beyond will lend their talent for the panel “Acting: The front row vs. The back row.” Actors will share their experience on the stage and in front of the camera, and discuss the differences between stage and screen. Actors including Dominick Brascia, “Friday The 13th Part V,” “Last Resort,” and “Rush Week”; Dixie Tucker,who starred in the local independent film “Searching for Wooden Watermelons”; and Randle Wheatly, an actor and playwright, will help working and aspiring actors get the best our of their performances. Brascia is a local radio personality for KOLE AM 1340 / 1380. Wheatly is an assistant professor of theatre at Lamar.

Austin residents Wade Rowland and Ken Pajak will discuss the business of launching a career in the movie industry. Rowland is a film development coordinator at Westpart Foundries, and Ken Pajak is an entertainment attorney. Rowland counsels, educates, represents, and manages the promising writers and directors. By providing these artists with a network of contacts – and by guiding them through the development of both intellectual properties and crucial skill sets, Westpark Foundries enables them to achieve the success. Pajak, a Lamar graduate, represents clients in a variety of areas, including music, film, and multimedia. His film clients include independent filmmakers, screenplay writers, actors, directors, producers, production companies, investors, and talent agents.

In 2004, the film festival screened about 22 hours of movies during the three-day event. This year, in addition to screening winning film festival contest entries, the festival will show "Soul Food," "Re-Animator" and other movies during the three-day event. Screenings April 16 and 17 will be at Lamar University. Lance Myers will screen his award-winning animated short films "The Astronomer" and "Subsidized Fate," and Collera will show his short projects "Batman Dead End," "World's Finest" and "Archangle."

Greg Carter of Houston will showcase his film "Resurrection: The J. R. Richard Story," about former Astro's pitcher J.R. Richard who suffered health problems, fell into drugs and ended up on the streets before making it out of poverty and drug addition. The festival will also screen "The Breakdance Kid," an official selection of the Austin Film Festival, directed by Larry McLaughlin of Austin. The director of photography on the film was Wyatt Cagle, a Lamar University graduate and former Bridge City resident.

"Surgarland Express," starring Atherton, is scheduled to screen Sunday, followed by a Q&A with Atherton. The festival will end with an indie film by Houston director Benny Matthews. “Where is the party Yarr?” is about Indian immigrant Hari Patel, who is trying to find his way in the U.S. and trying to get into the coolest parties. Longtime immigrants from India say he is “fresh off the boat, or FOB, and don’t think he is cool enough for them. While the scene is hip and happening in Harri’s new home of Houston, the guardians of cool don’t want the FOBs crashing their dance parties.

The festival is sponsored in part by a grant from the Southeast Texas Arts Council, funded by the Texas Commission on the Arts and the City of Houston. Funding also has been received through a tourism grant from Jefferson County Commissions.

Registration fee is $65 for general admission and $25 for students and senior citizens. A $15 movie pass includes festival movies Friday and Saturday nights, as well as Sunday. A $15 music pass includes entry to the Friday Opening Party and musical events from 10 a.m. To 5 p.m. Saturday at Lamar’s Mirabeau’s Cafe in the Setzer Student Center. Festival attendees can get a room rate of $65 a night by calling the host hotel, Holiday Inn Beaumont Plaza, (409) 842-5995.

Tickets also will be available at the door and at the Opening Party and at the door. For more information about the film festival or to see an updated schedule visit www.spinfest.org or call 880-8490 or 880-8038.