Universal Cinema Film & TV Journal’s Amir Ganjavie interviewed Andy Volk from the Austin Film Festival. Their conversation touches on the film selection process and focusing on the work of writers.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Amir Ganjavie, UniversalCinema Magazine (UM): Can you introduce yourself and tell me about your role in your organization?
Andy Volk (AV): I’m Andy Volk. I’m the Senior Film Programmer over at the Austin Film Festival.
I oversee the film competition and submissions from entry all the way through programming. And I also work with partner studios and filmmakers to share upcoming releases from studios like A24, and Neon, and Paramount, help celebrate these films in tangent with our independent filmmakers.
(UM): Can you tell me a little bit about the selection process in your festival? How do you make the final decision? What is the process?
(AV): We are kind of known as a writers’ festival. Because of that, we focus everything we do from our screenplay competition, film competition, and conference panels – all on the topic of writing. We’re always looking at films from that perspective. When we’re watching films in the office and talking about what we’re responding to, a lot of times we are discussing story structure and the arc of characters and how the dialogue feels. If it’s a coming-of-age film, we’ve all seen coming-of-age films, so we talk about what has the screenwriter done that feels new with the coming-of-age topic versus if it’s a similar story that we’ve seen. Is there something unique about it that would be worth celebrating? A lot of times in the industry, we don’t see writers celebrated. They’re a big backbone of the industry. There’s no movie without a writer. The screenplay is the blueprint for films. And so, we’re always looking to celebrate writers and celebrate what it takes to sit in the room for a few months to a year, just writing by yourself and that’s why we always try to look at films from that perspective.
(UM): In terms of film selection, are you mostly looking for US films or is it kind of international or a mixture?
(AV): It’s across the board, really. If it’s a good story and it’s an enjoyable experience, that’s the one we’re looking for. And for me, personally, it’s just really cool to see films from places that I’ve never been to or haven’t really seen films from. And that’s what I think is something we all love about the job, is that you get to see films from pockets of the world that you wouldn’t get to see in a national theater chain. Like, last year, we had a digital series from Kazakhstan and another film from Tunisia. It’s just really cool to see films from places that you wouldn’t expect and then you get to have a moment of understanding a little bit more about another corner of the world. So, that’s always really fascinating.
(UM): Does it mean that you prefer movies that are directed and written by the same person? Sometimes there are discrepancies between who writes and who directs and the writer might have a great idea, but how it was put into the movie might be very different. So you’re basically asking for both the script and the result? I’m just curious about how you are trying to evaluate the writing versus directing.
(AV): We do love to have writer-director hybrids. But we still look at films beyond that lens. If somebody just wrote the film and then somebody else directed it, that’s still totally fine. Because that also opens up a dialogue for conversations about collaboration with other people. How do you convey the meanings and messages of your script to somebody else? You give that trust to the director or actor to make those words come to life. So we do celebrate directors as well. We still always keep the conversations focused on the screenwriting process or what the adaptation process was for the director and working on set, bringing the pages to life, and what changes might happen. We also love to hear about writers who are also directors or who are also actors. We see that a lot. There are actors who write scripts so that they can play a role that they’ve always wanted to play. Or because they haven’t seen a film that has a character they feel is authentic to them. And we especially see that a lot with writers from under-represented communities, who don’t see roles for themselves that have those true, authentic perspectives. We love seeing filmmakers take that initiative and tell the story that is true to them.
(UM): Does it mean that you’re having programmers that specializein different genres?
(AV): A little bit. We have a selection committee that helps screen first-round submissions. We have that split up between documentary and narratives. We also have sub-genres for people who are generally more inclined to certain films or genres. You can tell, I’m wearing a Hereditary t-shirt, so I’m a big horror fan. I always love watching the horror submissions, whereas the other people in the team might be more inclined to watching more scripted dramatic films or comedy. We always try to find films that appeal to each person because they can find what’s special about that film sincethey’re well-versed in that genre. Plus, it’s just really cool seeing what people are making. I love seeing what indie horror filmmakers are making in contrast to the $20 million budgets that you might see from a Blumhouse film. I love thecontrast between those worlds.
(UM): Do you have any kind of quota when you are picking the movies in terms of race or gender or geography?
(AV): In a way, yeah. As a Texas-based film festival, we always try to support as many local artists as we can. It’s a big mission for a lot of film festivals to you support your local region of filmmakers. It’s part of the belief that you can create film anywhere, that voices deserve to come from anywhere – not just LA or New York. We firmly believe in that. We have a shorts block dedicated to Texas filmmakers. We have a featured category we call the Texas Independent Features, which is devoted to showcasing Texas films. Whether made in Texas, about Texas, or by Texas filmmakers. And a lot of times we see our alumni come through there and it’s always really cool. In terms of under-represented communities, we always try to build a really diverse program and make sure that these films are all in conversation together. I don’t want to say it’s a hard-and-fast number, but we’re always working to support filmmakers and make sure that the films we are programming are being told from these authentic perspectives. We do the research to make sure that these films are made by people who have the truest experiences related to the film’s subject, and we work to celebrate that. We’re always looking to make sure that we’re programming a diverse selection of story, of content, of themes, and of filmmakers.
(UM): Do you have any kind of red flags in the message or filmmakers who can’t submit? Suppose, for example, Polanski or Woody Allen. Will you accept those movies? If the script is very good, but they are controversial?
(AV): Not necessarily… I want to say there’s like a metric for it. It is an examination of what that film is, what that filmmaker is, and what the perception would be. We are always thinking about our audiences, and how a film might affect our audience members. Because we really care about audiences. Our audiences are often filmmakers too. We don’t want to support films that might hurt somebody. When a film comes in, we always talk about what the film is, what is it saying, who’s making the film, and think about how it might play against a hundred and fifty other films.
(UM): Suppose that a film is submitted by a distributor, a well-known distributor versus a film that’s submitted by an unknown filmmaker, is there any kind of hierarchy in this process?
(AV): There is not any hierarchy. We get thousands and thousands of submissions, and we do have a separate category for the studio features. Those are often films that we receive from distribution partners, like A24, MGM, or Amazon. We often host a regional or a US premiere for something like that. For festival submissions, there isn’t a hierarchy in terms of consideration. We always look at how good is the film, what do we like about it, what is it doing or saying that’s new. We like to look out for all kinds of storytellers, whether it’s first-time screenwriter or somebody who’s been writing for 10-15 years. We always like to continue to support people who have been through the festival, so we often love having our alumni come back even if they’ve made a couple of feature films. We love to see the evolution of their career because that’s also what we are all about. It’s demystifying the filmmaking process. Because that can be very difficult for a lot of people not in Hollywood or New York, to feel that there’s access, to feel like there’s a chance. We have these conversations with the filmmakers, talking about their careers and how they got started, and what their process looks like. We still consider films from our distribution partners because it’s always fun for an independent filmmaker to say their first short film played alongside a movie from Darren Aronofsky or Rian Johnson, and then possibly go to a conference panel and be in the same room with that person. We’re always trying to create as many different opportunities and pathways for filmmakers to learn and to grow in their career.
(UM): When you’re evaluating a script, are you looking for innovations more, for example, to see how the filmmakers try to subvert or change the genre…
(AV): Anytime somebody does something new, it’s always really cool to see that. Because that’s what stands out as somebody who’s not afraid to try and break the mold. Especially, from a screenwriter’s perspective, there’s a traditional three-act structure. You can write a screenplay with 90 pages, and on page 5, that means minute 5, my inciting incidentneeds to happen, and then Act 1 break is page 25 and that’s where my character goes on their journey. Sometimes a film fits that mold and it hits all the notes perfectly, and it’s still an enjoyable time. And sometimes a film kind of throws that all out the window and because of that, it’s a really great experience. When the film breaks those rules, it’s always exciting to see what it’s doing differently. It also opens up the conversation for how film is evolving as a medium, how filmmakers can constantly subvert expectations. It’s thrilling to see horror and comedy filmmakers break apart their genres, because itshows they have an understanding of the genre to then break the rules and try something different. It’s just really exciting to see a filmmaker who’s not afraid to be ambitious, be bold and try something new.
(UM): You mentioned that a script is very important and sometimes you are looking for a 3-act structure or journey structure. There is an argument that it is a kind of Western or a US structure and right now with this conversation about diversity and that we should be open to other forms of experience or other people or other cultures or other modalities of narration. I’m just curious, are these kinds of conversations happening at your festival? What is your position or your reflections about these kinds of conversations that sometimes question the dominant structure of how we understand and appreciate a movie?
(AV): I think that’s just an overarching theme across the board. I don’t think it’s happening just here, it’s happening at a lot of festivals. Especially, with the mission of supporting independent filmmakers, it’s the idea that you don’t need the traditional studio structure to make a good film. And it obviously helps in some instances, like, if you are able to get nameactors or a budget with nine zeros attached to them, but I think it’s more that. We’re supporting filmmakers and independent filmmakers. They have these creative ambitions, they don’t really have to try to fit a mold that makes sure that they will make a certain box office return, right? They’re telling a story that they need to tell and they want to tell. That somebody is willing to try to break that structure a little bit, I think that’s worth celebrating.
(UM): In terms of education, do you also have educational panels for children?
(AV): Yeah. We, actually just started our Summer Film Camp, which goes through July. This is through our Young Filmmakers Program which is year-round. The camps explore everything from Animation 101 to filmmaking basics to writing and filming short scripts. It’s a lot of fun to see what these students are doing from the ages 8 to 18. They’remaking stop motion films or they’re making a film that’s a parody of a noir. It’s a joyful thing to see all these kids learn thegenres and modes of filmmaking and have fun with them. We also have year-round events here in Austin like advancescreenings or conversations in film with special guests. We film panels and conversations with some of our marquee films at the festival and produce them into about 20-to-30-minute segments for our On Story tv show/radio/podcast. These are conversations about the film or about a certain topic and we air those on podcast platforms and also on PBS.
(UM): There are two other big festivals that are happening in Austin, the South by Southwest and the Fantastic Film Fest. So, I’m just curious how you are trying to differentiate yourself from those two festivals. And if a film is being submitted and accepted by, for example, South by Southwest, is it a film that you are going to take more or are you looking mostly for an Austin premiere?
(AV): For short films, it’s always an Austin premiere, and for features, it’s a Texas premiere. If a film is played by South by or Fantastic Fest, we then, unfortunately, can’t play it here. But what separates us is our focus on writing and our conference. Our conference is four days during the festival and it brings in 200 panelists from all across the industry; writers, producers, development executives, distributors, managers, talent agents, you know, all these people who have a plethora of experience and no story is the same. How they got started and what they are doing. We have all these conversations at the conference about screenwriting, we have workshops, we have networking roundtables, we have parties and happy hours, so people can just network and hang out and really celebrate the art of writing. I think that’s what really separates us as a festival. We don’t like to have VIP sections or a lot of velvet ropes, it’s a lot of people hanging out in a very casual environment. It gives you the chance to meet anybody and finding a potential collaborator, no matter their age or stature in the industry. What we’re all about is trying to provide a space for anybody to celebrate filmmaking and screenwriting, and possibly find your next collaborator.
(UM): In terms of awards and prizes, do you offer any kind of cash prize for the filmmaker? How are you trying to support the films that got an award or recognition at your festival?
(AV): We have a jury award for all 9 of our categories. They do receive a cash prize and some reimbursement for their travel expenses. With the jury awards, a lot of our juries are comprised of notable writers, producers, and executives who can bring a lot of different perspectives into reviewing these films. And the idea is that a horror filmmaker who really loves horror movies and they have probably watched all the classics, might have their film is being reviewed by somebody like Roy Lee from Vertigo Entertainment, or a documentary filmmaker has their film being reviewed by a documentary distributor. A possible pathway is that one of the jurors can be like,” Oh, hey, I like that movie, I would like to talk to that filmmaker.” So, that’s the idea behind the jury competition. Here’s this chance for an independent filmmaker to meet somebody in the industry who can get their films seen by somebody else or bring them on to set. We always try to place people on the jury who can provide that type of opportunity.
(UM): Did COVID change in any way the structure of your festival? Some festivals are now more hybrid?
(AV): We did do an online festival in 2020, and then a hybrid in ’21, but last year we reverted back to just being fully in-person. A part of that is because we’re a small team and sometimes, you can only be stretched so far. But the festival is really about the in-person experience, of being in the room; where you can talk to anyone when you’re exiting a movie; talk about your favorite short; or you’re at the conference where you are talking to the person next to you about that piece of wisdom that the screenwriter just from writing on Ted Lasso. It’s those in-person moments that you can’t find elsewhere. We have a story of this screenwriter who, I believe, was just at a coffee shop and bumped into Mike Schur, who created Parks and Rec, and they hit it off. And a couple of years later, that screenwriter has been writing on TV shows, is active in development as a showrunner because he just managed to befriend Mike Schur in a coffee shop in a way he wouldn’t have in LA. Because LA is just so huge. We’re always striving to encourage attendees and encourage possible attendees to come to the festival so that they can have those experiences.
(UM): In terms of the new challenges caused by AI or for example, new technologies, I’m just curious if you if that affects your festival?
(AV): That’s a complex issue going on right now, especially because it’s constantly developing. It’s a machine-learning tool, so the more we use it, the more it learns. Whatever is happening now, it could be totally different come October when the festival is live.
It’s both fascinating and scary in a sense. We don’t really know, it’s unpredictable. It’s something that we’ll be having conversations about as movies get submitted and people might be using AI elements. I think those conversations will be happening for a long time and we will probably be having panels that discuss the tool of AI and how it fits into the role of a writer or filmmaker or just general creativity. It’s really interesting. We’ve also all seen Terminator so, I think we know where one of the possibilities lies.
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