OWA’s DAN O’BANNON AWARD offers
$1,500 Grant to Texas SciFi Filmmakers
Other Worlds Austin SciFi Film Festival is excited to announce that it will award a $1,500 grant for the production or post-production of a short film to an emerging Texas filmmaker who exhibits an equal passion for Science Fiction.
Dan O’Bannon is best known as the creative force and screenwriter behind ALIEN, but his work on TOTAL RECALL, SCREAMERS, and HEAVY METAL further cemented his place in the SciFi pantheon. He even did special effects on the original STAR WARS. His first film, the John Carpenter SciFi cult classic DARK STAR, found him taking on the roles of writer, special effects, editor, production design and actor.
“In naming the grant after O’Bannon,” says Bears Fonté, OWA Founder and Artistic Director, “we can think of no better artist that better exemplifies the drive and singular determination it takes to make a SciFi film, and that’s what this award is for, to help someone with that drive.
O’Bannon was born in Missouri, where he made his first SciFi film, THE ATTACK OF THE 50-FT CHICKEN. At USC he met John Carpenter and the two colloborated on a short, then a feature about a space clean up crew called DARK STAR. After a few other SciFi gigs, he ended up writing ALIEN, one of the most important and influential SciFi films of all time.
Diana O’Bannon, Dan’s widow, thinks Dan would enjoy that OWA’s other award is named for Marry Shelley, saying “I will never forget Dan and I seeing her screen credit, as ‘Mrs. Percy B. Shelley’ while watching the old Frankenstein film! I’m glad, as Dan would be, that you are getting it right about writers, and I’m certain he would be thrilled to be included in your festival.” The O’Bannon Company is co-sponsoring the award with Other Worlds Austin.
Free to enter, the Other Worlds Austin Dan O’Bannon Filmmaker Award will be gifted to a filmmaker whose proposed short film follows our mission statement’s explanation of a phenomenal SciFi film: a great story that isn’t afraid to push the boundaries of the audience, thrilling them both visually and intellectually.
“It is our wish to be able to help bring more quality SciFi into the world,” says Fonté, “by contributing to an artist who shows promise, skill, and creativity, as well as to encourage the exciting Texas film scene. Film festivals have always been great curators of content. With this grant, we can help give back to the filmmaking community that has given us so much joy with their artistry.”
The deadline for all applications is September 30, 2016. The grant winner will be announced in the fall with OWA’s film lineup and posted on our website at that time. An independent panel of esteemed professionals from the Austin film community will convene to review applications: aGLIFF program director Jim Brunzell, Cine Las Americas director Jean Anne Lauer, SFX artist Meredith Johns, ZERO CHARISMA director Andrew Matthews, SLASH star Tishuan Scott, AMFM editor/publisher Christine Thompson, and Ain’t It Cool News’ Mike Saulters.
