VISIT HOUSTON

Texas Filmmaker's Showcase 1996

 

 

 

HOUSTON FILM COMMISSION'S TEXAS FILMMAKER'S SHOWCASE 1996

Pictured from left to right: ...(...), 

 Texas Filmmaker's Showcase at DGA Theater, Los Angeles

The Films

 

 

Death and A Salesman (8:56 min.) 

After buying airtime on a local radio station, used car salesman Jack Howard realizes he couldn't sell a car to save his life.

Joe Grisaffi - Houston
Joe Grisaffi received his Bachelor's Degree in Radio & Television from the University of Houston. While pursuing his degree, Joe found time to work on eleven motion pictures, twelve plays, and his first screenplay "The Barber." Since graduating, Joe has worked on many more films, including extras casting for "Tin Cup" and "The Evening Star," and has been hired by veteran Hollywood actor James Hong to write the screenplay for James' story, "Missing in Texas." Joe worked closely with Lonny Reeves and Richard Watts, along with several UH classmates, to make this short film a success. 

Definition of Love (30:00 min.) 

Three couples from three generations work out the phases and stages of their relationships. Is marriage still relevant for today?

Cherie King - Austin
A native Austinite, Cherie King graduated from the University of Texas in 1978 with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and a Master of Science degree in Social Work. For over ten years she worked in the Austin area as a social worker until re-entering UT to obtain an M.F.A. in Film and Video in December 1995. She has been working freelance in television and film and working on a script which she plans to direct. 

Echo in the Shadows (9:00 min.) 

Two friends grow up with only their wits and each other. However, childhood is only the past.

Charrisma Cordero - Austin
Charrisma graduated form the University of Texas in Austin with a film degree where she completed "Echo in the Shadows." The film was shot in two days with two weeks prep. She now lives and works in Los Angeles freelancing in post-production. 

No Fair, You're Dead (7:00 min.) 

An absurd view of war is revealed to be from the imagination of a young boy on his birthday.

Clarence Pruitt - Dallas
Clarence Pruitt is a recent graduate of the University of North Texas with a Bachelor's degree in Radio/Television/Film with an emphasis in film production. Clarence is currently seeking to bring a Western screenplay he has written into production, along with Jeff Cusik, producer of "No Fair, You're Dead." Presently, Clarence is living in the Dallas area working freelance in film and video. 

Phreak Show (26:45) 

When Death & Destruction, a mild-mannered computer hacker and phone phreak (unauthorized telephone systems expert) attempts to quit hacking, he discovers that his talent is both an art and an addiction. Unable to resist his fellow phreak's challenge, D&D cracks the local phone company's computer system only to find that he has tapped into a nationwide communication web. What begins as a prank turns disastrous when D&D finds himself responsible for disconnecting over 400 million phones.

Edward Ornelas - Austin
Edward Ornelas received a B.A. in English from Stanford University and an M.F.A. in Film and Television Production form the University of Texas in Austin. He presently lives in Los Angeles where he is developing future projects. 

Skeletons (27:00 min.) 

Art, infidelity, love, photography, and asthma in a small town. An amateur photographer named Warren reluctantly finds himself hired to follow his boss' wife. His detective work proves to be better than his boss expects.

George Langworthy - Austin
George Langworthy is the recipient of the James Michener writing fellowship in screenwriting at the University of Texas. After graduating from Rice University and Trinity College-Cambridge University, he worked in feature film editing in New York and Los Angeles, and in script development for Avenue Pictures. "Skeletons" is his first 16mm film. 

Tryptych (9:45 min.) 

Somewhere between Irish limericks, American dead-baby jokes and German fairy tales, lies the uniquely Russian "Sadistkye Kupleti." It is a form of black humor that counterbalanced the state-sponsored optimism of communism. Tryptych is a visualization of three of these "Sadistkye Kupleti."

Daniel DeLoach - Ft. Worth
Daniel graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington in December 1993 with a Bachelor's of Fine Arts. Shortly ager, realizing he had no art of his own to show for his years at UTA, he went back to the university to make a film (Tryptych) even though the school does not offer a film degree. Daniel presently lives in Ft. Worth, Texas and is working on a screenplay with an independent producer.