Yeah, we hate the term "movers and shakers" too. But the fact is that, in any industry, the big leagues run on star power. Nowhere is this more true than in the movie biz; accordingly, we saved the last post in our Austin Film Festival Panel Preview for appearances by the talented, charismatic, and/or sensational people appearing at this year's fest. Regardless of whether you've heard these names before, they've been around the block and they know a thing or two about making movies. (FYI, there are a few repeats from previous posts).

FRIDAY 10/12

Tell Your Story: Terry George
Come meet Terry George, writer/director of Reservation Road and Hotel Rwanda and writer of In The Name Of The Father and Hart’s War, and join the casual conversation on the couch. Last year we went to this panel with The Usual Suspects scribe Christopher McQuarrie on the couch, and it was bar none the most informative, entertaining, and unpredictable event we saw the entire festival (he stayed on for about 2 hours after the scheduled time riffing on his collaborations with Bryan Singer and Martin Scorsese). Highly recommended.
9-10:15am
Driskill Hotel, Chisolm Trail Room

A Conversation With Glenn Gordon Caron
A panel featuring Glenn Gordon Caron, legendary TV writer responsible for Moonlighting and, most recently, Medium. Moonlighting is one of the best TV shows of all time because, besides being incredibly smart and funny, it also touched on every possible human emotion, sometimes all in one episode. Come meet the guy who did that.
3:15-4:30
Driskill Hotel, Ballroom

SATURDAY

A Conversation With Oliver Stone
The one, the only. With a body of work that includes Midnight Express, Scarface, Salvador, Platoon, and Born On The 4th Of July, it's no wonder he's appearing at AFF to receive the 2007 Extraordinary Contribution To Filmmaking Award. Here here.
10:45-12pm
Driskill Hotel, Ballroom

A Conversation With John Milius
The yin to Oliver Stone's Yang, John Milius is responsible for creating some of the most red-blooded American movies of his generation. Besides directing Stone's screenplay for Conan The Barbarian, he also cowrote Apocalypse Now and is single-handedly responsible for the uber-Reaganite 80s Commie invasion flick Red Dawn. Also, he is apparently a huge Ben Stiller fan.
Driskill Hotel, Ballroom
2-3:15pm

* Microphone photo by Kevin Lawver