Austin Film Festival has announced that director Rian Johnson (“Knives Out,” “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”) will receive the Bill Wittliff Award for Screenwriting during the 2025 Writers Conference. The conference will take place from Oct. 23 to Oct. 26.
The festival will also screen the Texas premiere of “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,” the third installment of Johnson’s whodunnit franchise. The film stars Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church.
“We are thrilled to welcome Rian Johnson back to Austin Film Festival as this year’s recipient of the Bill Wittliff Award for Screenwriting,” said Barbara Morgan, AFF’s co-founder and Executive Director. “Rian is an incredibly gifted screenwriter and visionary filmmaker whose body of work and generosity to the next generation of storytellers exemplifies this award. His latest installment in the “Knives Out Mystery” cannon, “Wake Up Dead Man” solidifies his singular talent for combining intricate plotting, sharp comedic sense, and character-driven emotional impact to deliver an always unexpected, wildly entertaining story. Our audience will be delighted to experience this twisting, turning, captivating caper on the silver screen this October.”
“I’m honored to be receiving the Bill Wittliff award from the Austin Film Festival,” said Johnson. “I love the AFF and its support of established and emerging writers, and attending will be both a pleasure and a welcomed excuse to procrastinate on my own writing.”
Johnson will be recognized at AFF’s Awards Luncheon alongside producing awardee Christine Vachon and television writer awardee Yvette Lee Bowser on Saturday, Oct. 25.
Thursday, July 31
The Academy Software Foundation Welcomes Laika As An Official Member
The film animation studio behind “Coraline,” “ParaNorman” and “Kubo and the Two Strings,” Laika, has joined the Academy Software Foundation as a premier member.
“We have seen tremendous value in the work of the Academy Software Foundation,” Jeff Stringer, CTO at Laika, said in a statement. “We embarked on a complete rebuild of our production pipeline recently and relied heavily on the open-source projects supported by ASWF. Their stewardship is keeping these essential projects healthy and makes it easy for studios to contribute and share the responsibility. We are thrilled to join the Foundation officially and support its work.”
Laika has remained a longtime contributor to the Academy Software Foundation with active engineers in the Open Shading Language project, the MaterialX project and the OpenUSD Working Group, among others.
As an official member, Laika can continue to support projects, expand the foundation’s mission and address the needs of smaller studios. Additionally, Laika will participate in the Summer Learning Program and other mentorship programs to discover and develop diverse new talent.
David Morin, executive director of the Academy Software Foundation, said, “Every studio is different, but Laika is more unique than most. By combining the tradition of stop motion photography with the use of leading-edge digital technology, including open source software, they elevate the process to a whole new level. We are delighted to welcome Laika to the Foundation, and very excited for their future contribution.”
Hosted by the foundation, Laika’s leadership team and Stringer will be giving a keynote talk on “Transforming the Laika Pipeline with Open Source” at Open Source Days on Aug. 10 in Vancouver and virtually. Open Source Days is an event designed to open source software development for the visual effects, animation and digital content creation industries.
Wednesday, July 30
The hills and multiplexes will both be alive with “The Sound of Music” this September, as Fathom Entertainment adds three extra days to the film’s 60th Anniversary theatrical rerelease, now running Sep. 12-17.
The rerelease of the iconic Rodgers & Hammerstein musical is the latest in Fathom’s Big Screen Classics series. Participating theaters around the country will screen the film in 4k, restored and remastered with enhanced sound to capture and elevate the spirit of the 1965 classic.
Starring Julie Andrews as the optimistic Maria and Christopher Plummer as the hardened, yet soulful Baron von Trapp, “The Sound of Music” was directed by Robert Wise and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Though it met mixed reviews upon its initial release, the film has since become a bonafide American classic, winning five Academy Awards (including Best Picture and Best Director), launching Andrews’ career and introducing the world to unforgettable musical numbers like “My Favorite Things,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” “Do-Re-Mi” and ““Edelweiss.”
Fathom added the three days to “The Sound of Music’s” rerelease due to fan demand. Tickets are now on sale on the Fathom Entertainment website.
variety.com
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