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Alamo Drafthouse premieres at-home movies during COVID-19, plus Austin's most popular stories

Alamo Drafthouse North Richland Hills auditorium

Alamo Drafthouse and other local theaters have rolled out Virtual Cinema, a service that brings movies inside your home.

Photo by Kathy Tran

Editor's note: It's that time again — time to check in with our top stories. We are continuing to cover Austin amid the COVID-19 crisis and share stories of how this is changing lives across the region. These are the stories that captured our attention over the past seven days.

1. Alamo Drafthouse and Violet Crown roll out at-home movies during COVID-19 shutdown. The Drafthouse and Violet Crown are rolling out Virtual Cinema, a service for film fans to support Austin movie theaters. For the price of a standard ticket, viewers can stream movies at home, but with the money going directly to a local theater instead of a major streaming platform.

2. Austin Parks closes all facilities to curb spread of COVID-19. Austin Parks announced this week it closed all park amenities in an effort to combat COVID-19. This effectively closes everything but open green spaces inside the city limits.

3. Amazon Prime to stream SXSW 2020 films for free for first time ever. Among the many devastating things about the novel coronavirus pandemic was the cancellation of SXSW and its film festival. Now, thanks to a new partnership between SXSW and Amazon Prime, the 2020 films will be screened for audiences across the country for the first time ever — for free.

4. Austin restaurants unpack unique community event to combat COVID-19. On Saturday, April 4, local restaurants are joining together for a very special social distancing event. Learn how to buy your own basket, support local, and take part in this extraordinary community gathering.

5. Thousands of Austin dockless scooters zoom off streets due to COVID-19. Have you wondered why Austin has so few scooters lately?

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Reexamining Don Draper

Jon Hamm, Henry Winkler, and more headed to Austin for TV festival

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Jon Hamm is coming to Austin to talk about Don Draper.

From May 29 to June 1, 2025, the ATX TV Festival will take over downtown Austin, and this year Jon Hamm will be joining the festival for the first time.

Hamm will be here for an event called A Mad Men Retrospective, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the show's finale. In this panel (the moderator of which is not yet announced), Hamm will reflect on his Emmy-winning performance as Mad Men's Don Draper, the uniqueness of the character in the TV canon, and the show's influence 10 years after it ended.

Jon Hamm may be best known as Draper, but he's also given celebrated performances in several movies and other shows like Fargo, Black Mirror, and — fun fact! — Gilmore Girls.

Celebrating TV is what the ATX TV Festival is all about. This annual summer event is put on by ATX TV and consists of screenings, Q&As, and panel conversations; plus all sorts of parties, live music, happy hours, and other events. It's known for reunions of classic series and cult hits, and according to the website, it's like "TV camp for grownups."

Jon Hamm isn't the only heavy-hitter in this year's lineup.

Programming also includes an acting class and Q&A with Henry Winkler himself, a live script reading of classic episodes from The Golden Girls and Designing Women (guest actors to be announced), a reunion of the creatives and cast of the HBO hit series The Leftovers, a live recording of the podcast Sidebar: A Suits Watch Podcast with Suits stars and co-hosts Sarah Rafferty and Patrick J. Adams, and much more.

Additionally, the festival's annual Pitch Competition is still accepting open pitch submissions through January 17. This gives creatives in Austin a chance to pitch their show idea in front of some of the industry's biggest showrunners and executives. Those in the top 10 will receive a year of support to make the next steps in their TV careers.

Festival badges and passes ($150-535) are on sale now.

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