Tag: documentary

May 8, 2019 ~ Mike Gassaway

Posted onAuthorGary WimmerLeave a comment

Mike Gassaway
Actor & Activist

Guess who’s coming to our mixer on Wednesday, May 8, 2019 at Opal Divine’s Austin Grill. Since our audience is so often filled with actors and aspiring actors, we present one right here in Austin who’s succeeding in making a living at it: Mike Gassaway!

Mike is an Emmy Award winning actor with a long résumé of roles in television & web series, commercials, documentaries, and feature films including The Magnificent Seven (2016), Thrilla in Manila (2018), and Dallas (2012), among others.

Some interesting facts about Mike:

  • The city of Noble, Oklahoma declared April 5, 2002 “Mike Gassaway Day” for his legal accomplishments and his commitment to democracy.
  • Awarded “The Best Dressed Man in Oklahoma” in 2005 by the Oklahoma Journal Record.
  • Set a World Land Speed Record for 250 cc Motorcycles at the Bonneville Salt Flats under the sanction of The Southern California Timing Association on a Kawasaki KR1 in the 250cc P-P class in 1989, which stood until 2007.
  • Awarded the “Criminal Defense Lawyer of the Decade” Award in 2000 by the Oklahoma City Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.
  • Ranked #28 on Sport & Fitness Magazine’s “100 Hottest Men Over 50” list.
  • Was named Criminal Defense Lawyer of the Decade by the Oklahoma Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.
  • Prolific athlete endeavoring equestrian, jockey, golf, jet skier, kick boxing, martial arts, aerobics, badminton, pool/billiards, boating, body building, boxing, motorcycle riding, sprint running, scuba diving, shooting, snowmobile, stage combat, tennis, track & field, weight lifting, wrestling.
  • Inducted into the “Professional Karate Magazine” Hall of Fame.
  • Can speak in a Southern or Scottish accent.
  • The music video for Cloud Nothings commissioned by Urban Outfitters in which Gassaway is the sole actor went to #1 on Spin Magazine’s play list.
  • 2018 inductee in to the United States Martial Arts Hall of Fame.
  • Skilled as a comedian, diver, juggler, motorcyclist, licensed driver, stuntperson, and with medical equipment, firearms, an ear prompter and a teleprompter.
  • Was selected and became member of the Rosa Parks “Wall of Tolerance” for his exemplary work in the courtroom representing and defending the civil rights of others.

Represented by one of our favorite talent agents at Acclaim, Mike’s been around the block a few times, and on more than a motorcycle! He can knowledgeably speak on acting, films, TV, the law, fitness, hogs — both the animal and the riding kind, as well as how be to be an inspiring, hard-working, caring and compassionate human being. Mike is indeed a complete package of talent, determination, and conscious living!

Last Month:

We extend our deepest appreciation to our 3rd Panel of Talent Agents for their time, dedication, insights, and answers to our questions at our #NAMixer on April 10, 2019. Thanks so very much to Laura Maxwell-Scott of Collier Talent Agency, and Jorge Elizondo & Jimmy Cobble of TAG Talent!

See photos here, and more mixer photos here.

Come on the 8th and bring a friend to network and enjoy the show. While there enjoy Opal Divine’s Happy Hour which lasts until 7, then $3 “Three for Texas” beers the rest of the evening. And don’t cook or go anywhere else for a meal or snacks because Opal’s offers a tasty and largely locally-sourced menu of goodies.

Pass along our website and check it for details about each month’s speaker(s)!
Find this month’s mixer on Facebook and invite your friends.
Get on our mailing list and keep up with us on social media:
Like our page & join our group on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

Mixing & Networking @ 6:00PM, Announcements @ 6:30, Speaker @ 6:45
Followed by More Mixing & Mingling and Networking

July 11, 2018 ~ Andrew Garrison

Posted onAuthorGary Wimmer1 Comment

Filmmaker & Professor
Andrew Garrison

Andrew Garrison

We are proud to present this month’s guest speaker, award-winning filmmaker & professor Andrew Garrison, on Wednesday, July 11th at Opal Divine’s Austin Grill. Texan & Austinite Andrew is a writer, producer, and director who has also scored numerous credits in sound, cinematography, editing, even acting, and more over his career spanning 5 decades.

Andrew has received fellowships from the American Film Institute (AFI), the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the Rockefeller and Guggenheim foundations. A couple of his films, Third Ward TX & The Wilgus Stories, aired on PBS, and several others have been selected for screenings at theaters & festivals around the world, including SXSW, Sundance, Locarno International Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, New York Film Festival, and the Berlinale. His films have won multiple awards & nominations for the highly acclaimed feature film Trash Dance and short film Night Ride.

In 1975 Andrew co-founded the Dayton Community Media Workshop that produced community-based documentaries for local and national audiences. Later he was invited to join renowned film collective Appalshop in the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky, where for a dozen years he collaborated to produce documentaries for others, as well as his own projects. Now the Audio Area Head of the Department of Radio-Television-Film (RTF) at the University of Texas in Austin (UT), Andrew founded yet another film organization, East Austin Stories, in which UT students work with residents & businesses in East Austin on documentary projects.

Watch these clips & trailers, and find more of Andrew’s works on Vimeo:

☆ Trash Dance, a collaborative documentary project between Austin choreographer, Allison Orr, and employees of Austin Resource Recovery (formerly Solid Waste Services) to make an extraordinary and transforming public dance display on film

☆ Third Ward TX, about a group of artists in inner-city Houston who have successfully revitalized their neighborhood with art as the engine of change

☆ The Wilgus Stories, a narrative triptych of a humorous and poignant perspective on the significant moments of daily life as shown through the eyes of Wilgus Collier set in the 50s & 60s

☆ Because I’m Here, rough-cut clip from a work-in-progress 35 years in the making sponsored in part by the City of Austin’s Cultural Arts Division and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities about a man named Earl Gilmore, an African-American, gay, devout Christian, gospel choir director, blues musician, coal miner, centerfielder for the Clinchco Giants, carnival hoochie-coochie dancer, Ford Fellow, and life-long resident of Clinchco, Virginia, population 500. Shown here, Earl’s friend, Eldora, avoids answering the question, “How would you describe Earl?”

And put our next mixer featuring the multi-talented successful Andrew Garrison on your calendar for Wednesday the 11th at Opal’s!

Get there early to take advantage of Opal Divine’s Happy Hour which lasts until 7, then $3 “Three for Texas” beers the rest of the evening. And don’t cook or go anywhere else for a meal or snacks because Opal’s offers a tasty and largely locally-sourced menu of goodies.

 

Last Month

We’re so grateful for you, audience members, who came out to bravely step up to our stage and pitch yourselves. New connections abounded upon hearing from one another and what each does, has done, and is up to now, providing a greater opportunity for exchanging contacts & information; networking in a nutshell. There’s a wealth of talent & skills right here in Central Texas, as you sure showed us all!
And thanks so much to our special guest Jennifer Hutchins of Austin Entertainment Business and the Austin Chapter of the Producers Guild of America (PGA), who has diligently dug in to make our local industry ever more vital and recognized worldwide.
See photos here, and more mixer photos here.

 

Pass along our website and check it for details about each month’s speaker(s)!
Find this month’s mixer on Facebook and invite your friends.
Get on our mailing list and keep up with us on social media:
Like our page & join our group on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

Mixing & Networking @ 6:00PM, Announcements @ 6:30, Speakers @ 6:45
Followed by More Mixing & Mingling and Networking