Adulthood

Austin reunion to celebrate 12th anniversary of groundbreaking film Boyhood

The film Boyhood has now been out for as long as it took to film it.

Still from Boyhood

The famous film Boyhood, created by Austin director Richard Linklater over the course of 12 years, has now been out in the world for the same amount of time. A special screening, reunion, and celebration on July 18 will mark the occasion before the film is re-released in theaters nationwide.

Casts and creators, including Linklater, will get together for the reunion, which will include a red carpet and a live Q&A, a press release says. Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, and Ellar Coltrane will be in attendance, and the Q&A will be moderated by AFS lead programmer Lars Nilsen.

The screening is organized by Linklater's nonprofit Austin Film Society (AFS), and tickets will be available as part of a special tiered donation, except for a limited number that will be distributed to lucky members via a giveaway on a later date. For donors, $1,000 gets two tickets, plus other merch, perks, and event access; higher tiers are also available up to $10,000.

If fans don't have $1,000 or luck of the draw, there will be more screenings to come at AFS in the late summer and early fall, a statement from AFS adds. When the film releases in theaters on July 31, the recorded Q&A will also be screened. AFS will update newsletter subscribers about all the details when more information is available.

Boyhood is a feat of cinema that took astounding patience and longterm vision, making it immediately famous. It then earned six Academy Award nominations and Arquette won Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Olivia, the divorced mother of the main character, who starts as an 8-year-old. The film takes place in Texas, including San Marcos and the University of Texas at Austin.

“This moment is a celebration of the enduring power of Richard Linklater’s visionary work,” said AFS head of film and creative media Holly Herrick in the release. “12 years to the month since we hosted the theatrical premiere of BOYHOOD at the AFS Cinema, we will be hosting a milestone reunion of this iconic Texas film, a treasure of our state’s cultural heritage.”

Donations made for Boyhood reunion tickets will help AFS build a new theater, its third in total. The funding goal is $250,000 for a theater that seats 165 people or more.

movies film reunion richard linklater

Reduce, Reuse, Relisten

Austin record store joins pilot for recycling damaged vinyl records

Antone's Record Shop/Facebook

Bob Livingston plays and reads from his book at Antone's Record Shop.

Austinites going through the disappointment of discovering a damaged vinyl record in their collection can at least avoid sending it to the landfill. A new initiative is turning 11 independent record stores across the United States, including Antone’s Record Shop in Austin, into vinyl take-back points for potential recycling.

The pilot is a collaboration between the record stores, Warner Music Group (WMG), and Virterras Materials, a recycling technology business that specializes in "challenging" materials like plastics and rubber. It will run from "the end of June through September," a press release says, and all participants have to do is drop off damaged records — any kind or condition is accepted.

The program is still in an exploratory phase; the partners don't know the best way to organize the collection yet, and they are vague about what the records might become. The release says the goal is "to better understand how damaged or unwanted records can be collected, consolidated, and directed toward potential material recovery pathways." Funding comes from a grant from the Vinyl Institute.

The partners will gather information about participation rates, material quality, the work it takes to move and process the records, and of course the different possible outputs after recycling. The release notes that vinyl records have become more popular over the past decade, but that industry-wide information about disposal is lagging.

This May, WMG, GZ Media, and Abbey Road Studios completed a manufacturing study that confirmed that it is possible to turn unsold and obsolete records into new pressings with audio quality that is high enough for commercial sale. The take-back pilot continues pulling that thread.

Launching the pilot at different stores around the U.S. — those in "major music markets," the release says — serves to diversify the communities getting involved, whether it's locals with specific preferences or fans of different kinds of music.

Two other stores in Texas are participating: County Line Records in Keller and Red Zeppelin Records in McKinney. These are two of only three suburbs on the list, along with Easton, Pennsylvania. All other participating stores are in major cities like Los Angeles, New York City, and Atlanta.

"Independent record stores have long served as gathering places for music fans and stewards of music culture," said Warner Music Group senior director of ESG Madeleine Smith in the release. "The pilot brings together retailers, recovery partners, and music fans to explore an important question: what would it take to create practical pathways for recovering unplayable or damaged vinyl records? It’s a vital first step in understanding what’s possible."

Participating stores include:

Amoeba Hollywood (Los Angeles, CA)
Antone’s Record Shop (Austin, TX)
County Line Records (Keller, TX)
Criminal Records (Atlanta, GA)
Easy Street Records (Seattle, WA)
Home Rule Records (Washington D.C.)
Red Zeppelin Records (McKinney, TX)
Rough Trade NYC (New York City, NY)
Spin Me Round (Easton, PA)
Reckless Records (Chicago, IL)
Sweat Records (Miami, FL)

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