Filmmaker In Focus Series: Texas Filmmakers Part Three

Next up in our Filmmaker In Focus Series are two Texas directors that reside in Austin, Bob Byington and Parker Smith. Byington is a SXSW Film alum many times over, his films, Olympia (1998), Registered Sex Offender (2008), Somebody Up There Likes Me (2012) and 7 Chinese Brothers (2015) have all premiered at our festival. Ramblin' Freak marks Parker's directorial debut. Find out more about these films below:

Infinity Baby

Q: Tell us a little about your film?

A: It's a comedy about babies that don't age.

Q: What motivated you to tell this story?

A: Commitment issues.

Q:Tell us a random fact?

A: I premiered a film at SXSW in 2008 called Registered Sex Offender.

Ramblin'Freak

Q: Tell us a little about your film?

A:This is a movie about cats, minivans, muscles and family. I was tired of being a filmmaker without any films so I decided to buy a camera and document myself driving around the country with my cat. When the camera came in the mail I found a tape inside from the previous owner: Gregg Valentino, the man with the world's biggest biceps. So instead of wandering around aimlessly, we took off to New York from Texas to meet him.

Q: What motivated you to tell this story?

A: The moment I realized whose camera I had purchased, the film's focus did a complete 180. What was originally a movie about running away from problems became the story of facing them head on.

Q:Tell us a random fact?

A: I'm a three-time film school dropout who's been selling tacos in Austin for the last two and a half years.

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