FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 21, 2005
Contact: April Burcham, KLRU-TV
(512) 475-9070

COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS UNITE
FOR FILMING AUSTIN’S LIVES PROJECT
Independent film initiative gives Central Texans chance to tell their stories

AUSTIN, TX—KLRU-TV, Austin PBS, in collaboration with News 8 Austin, the University of Texas Humanities Institute and the Austin History Center present a new community project called Filming Austin’s Lives.

This independent film project is designed to capture the stories of Austin told through the eyes and voices of its people. This project is an expansion on the UT Humanities Institute’s book Writing Austin’s Lives: A Community Portrait, which features stories about life in Central Texas written by Austinites and is currently the Mayor’s Book Club selection for the summer 2005. Filming Austin’s Lives will take this project from the page and onto the television screen. Amateur and professional filmmakers of all ages can submit short films, each less then three minutes, which explain why they call Austin or Central Texas home.

Selected films will be aired on KLRU and News 8 Austin or streamed on the project’s Web site

The deadline for submission is September 30th. Films will begin airing in November. Complete entry details and the mandatory entry form are available at filmingaustinslives.org. All submitted films will become part of the permanent archive of the Austin History Center and will serve as a visual record of what life is like in Central Texas in the 21st Century.

KLRU-TV
For more than 40 years KLRU-TV - Austin’s PBS - has enriched the lives of Central Texas viewers through quality television programming community services and public events. KLRU’s mission is to serve as a catalyst for positive community change, to provide lifelong learning and to bring diverse elements of our community together. Funding for KLRU is provided by more than 21,000 Central Texas members. KLRU is broadcast channel 18, cable channel 9. For more information about KLRU visit www.klru.org.

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