Hipstercrite says

Leaving L.A. behind: The Hollywood of Texas

Hey, Lauren. I'm kind of done with L.A. and thinking of moving to Austin. Is there work in the film business there?

Since moving to Austin, I've heard these words leave the lips of my battered and broken industry friends time and time again. Hollywood people moving to Austin has become such a growing trend that in 2010 a film panel was hosted at SXSW called "Making the Move from California to Austin." Even stickers touting "Go Back to Hellifornia" have been sprouting up around town.

So why are so many Californians moving to Texas?

Because when creative types move to L.A., they don't realize there is nothing creative about Hollywood.

Wow. That sounds like the sentiments of a super jaded and bitter lady, but it's true. I am both of those things.

But L.A. is also a void of lost hopes and dreams and after a few years, burnt-out Angelenos start taking notice to this "Shangri-La-esque" place that Forbes or Yahoo or CNN keep putting on their top places to live, and next thing you know, Austin is full of Californians.

So what do I tell people that ask about the film industry in Austin?

That Austin is a great place to make your movie, write your screenplay, cool down and reclaim your creative mojo if you have the time and resources, but if you want steady employment as a producer/director of photography/crew member/actor, it's better to stick with the reality shows in Tinsletown.

Austin is not a film town where you can quit your day job. Let's face it, L.A. and New York are where most of the productions are, and it will probably always be that way. Even though Austin has its high times of production, it's not enough to keep someone from worrying about their mortgage payment or feeding the kiddies—except for a select few.

When creative types move to L.A., they don't realize there is nothing creative about Hollywood.

Not only are productions limited in Austin, but there is already a built-in crew based here in Austin. Spots will be claimed on set early, and trying to break into the small and tight-knit film community here might be difficult. It's not that people don't want to help you—there just aren't enough jobs to go around! Local producer, Will Semons, busted his butt in and out of Austin for a year before he was able to find steady work. "But once you're in, " he adds, "You have to fit in as well. People get ousted or black-balled because there are enough people here who can do the job and it's a small town."

Also, Austin doesn't pay L.A. wages. This town is cheaper to live in, so bloated paychecks are not common. In fact, you might find yourself being asked to work for free. Not because people are being cheap, there just isn't the money spent on productions here. Austin is the guerilla filmmaking capital of the world- small crew, zero budget, shoot whatever you can get.

Though you most likely will not find the financial backing you need or the agents to tout you here in Austin, you will find the head space and crew to help you get the job done.

Which leads me to: If you're passionate about filmmaking, then Austin far exceeds Hollywood or the Big Apple. Austin is a creative mecca filled with talented and supportive artists. Not only do people here want you to succeed, they will do everything they can to help you. This ideaology is inspiring and I can say first hand that Austin helped me find the writing voice I always hoped for but never found in Los Angeles. This is why Austin is a great place to finally finish that screenplay or finally start shooting that movie idea you've been playing around with for the past five years but never got around to doing.

Though you most likely will not find the financial backing you need or the agents to tout you here in Austin, you will find the head space and crew to help you get the job done. But that's not to say that there aren't "business" related resources here in Austin, as well. The Alamo Drafthouse and SXSW are both very supportive of their local filmmakers and they both have the industry connections. Year after year, talented filmmakers in Austin get their work seen by a broader audience because of these two pillars in the film community, but again, there are no agents, lawyers, sales reps or producers here to help push your product except once a year.

So is Austin a good film town to move to? I guess the answer is, it depends on what you are looking for.

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Sounds Like Austin

4 Austin records share the stage on Paste's top 100 albums of 2024 list

Photo courtesy of Being Dead

Being Dead are looking forward to this "real delicious treat."

Online music and entertainment magazine Paste has released its 100 Best Albums of 2024, and four are by artists from Austin. Being Dead, Good Looks, Hovvdy, and More Eaze are all representing Austin in some way — intentionally or otherwise.

The list, released December 2, was compiled by the magazine's music team, who used staff picks, review scores, and contributor votes to determine which albums would make it, according to an introduction by music editor Matt Mitchell. To be eligible, a record had to be full-length (an EPs list is being compiled separately) and released since December 1, 2023.

There was no genre requirement, but it is immediately evident that the list favors smaller acts. Of course, it had to mention albums like Charli XCX's Brat (No. 6) and Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter (No. 56), but the top album of the year went to Jessica Pratt, who only had her Hot 100 chart debut this year as a feature on ASAP Rocky's single "Highjack." Her winning album was Here in the Pitch.

Many Austinites won't be surprised at all to learn that Being Dead snagged the top spot of all the locals, at No. 46. The band has been skyrocketing in popularity, and their sophomore album, Eels, offers an approachable mix of weirdness, pleasant harmonies, trancey messiness, and just a bit of edge — not quite enough to cut listeners on.

"Opening track 'Godzilla Rises,' for example, has it all: electric guitar chug, male and female voices, unexpected rhythmic shifts, irresistible melodies and a sense of resonance that feels like you’re practically in a bathtub with the band," writes Ben Salmon in the Paste list. "In just under three minutes, Being Dead evoke immersive pop heroes like Neutral Milk Hotel, Animal Collective, That Dog. and the Beach Boys—a touchstone not only for the band’s surf-y foundations, but also their variegated vocal harmonies."

Just two spots behind them at No. 48 were Good Looks with Lived Here For A While, an agreeable indie rock album that Salmon describes as "openhearted." This is also a sophomore album, cementing the group's propensity for an assertive guitar solo. Good Looks — again, intentionally or otherwise, although listeners should note the name of the record — have nailed the vaguely Southern sound that gives listeners a hint of where they're from, without parading around pedal steels or 12-bar blues. Salmon astutely compares them to famous Floridian Tom Petty.

This was also the only write-up that specifically mentioned Austin.

"Across 10 tracks, [Tyler Jordan] sings directly to an ex-girlfriend, his current girlfriend, childhood friends and his family, leaving very little to the imagination," Salmon writes. "Gentrifiers and greedy real estate developers get songs, too, as if Jordan just can’t help himself. He is from Austin, Texas, after all."

Next up was Hovvdy's self-titled album (pronounced "howdy") at No. 61. While Being Dead and Good Looks put forth rock albums, Hovvdy is more stylistically diverse and much mellower, featuring a couple of charming piano tracks, some electronic elements, and vibes ranging from cinematic to lo-fi alt-country — with a heavy lean toward the latter. Fans of Radical Face can get lost in this one.

"Charlie Martin and Will Taylor take chances in their songwriting and recording processes, which gets them the well-deserved attention of their peers, but nothing about the end result is haughty or frosty," writes list contributor Ellen Johnson. "Hovvdy is the perfect showing of their absorbing but approachable product. It takes a ton of courage to write vulnerably about one’s family. The Texas indie-pop pair take this leap not just on one song but many times throughout Hovvdy."

Finally, More Eaze shows up with pardo and Glass on paris paris, texas texas, No. 55. Actually, this placed higher than Hovvdy, but Mari Maurice, a.k.a. More Eaze, has recently relocated to New York City. The three artists came together because they're all on the Florence, Italy-based label OOH-sounds. So now Austin has to share the claim to Maurice's legacy. This grandiose, dreamy, and semi-ambient record certainly sounds like it was inspired by Texas' wide-open spaces, but there's a lot more layered in.

"To listen to 'Le Grand Souffle Céleste' is to expose yourself to calming ambient then pummeling noise in quick succession while Eaze’s voice hovers beyond," writes Devon Chodzin in a blurb that goes a staggering number of evocative and sometimes baffling places. "The conclusion, 'Orris Butter,' has my vote for best closer of the year with its wafting pedal steel and measured strums setting the stage for an acoustic guitar experiment atop a bed of cosmic noise."

Predictably, Austin had the greatest representation of any Texas city. (It's tempting to include Vampire Weekend's Only God Was Above Us, No. 71, which the band announced at the same time as their cool Austin solar eclipse show. But we won't be greedy.) From elsewhere in Texas, the following albums made Paste's Top 100:

Dallas: Minotaur by Tex Patrello
Houston: Cowboy Carter by Beyoncé
Amarillo: Live in Amarillo, Texas by Hayden Pedigo

If you find an Austin connection we missed, please send us a message.

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