The Man from Orlando Arrives in Austin

If there was one film that I had really hoped that I could have included on my Roll Call: Best of Austin Film 2012 post it was Craig Elrod’s The Man from Orlando. So, why didn’t I include it, if my negligence was weighing so heavily upon my conscience? Well, this local production has never screened in Austin, and I have never found any other opportunities to see it.

From all reports, however, The Man from Orlando sounds like a film that deserved to be [world] premiered at a local film festival. So, does this mean that there have been too many recent local productions for the local film festivals to support or are local film festivals not paying close enough attention to local productions (specifically those that seemingly measure up to the other films in their program)? While I am in no way in favor of favoritism, I do believe that high quality local productions need to be showcased in their hometown alongside other quality film festival programming. Sure, we definitely want to show off Austin-centric films to local audiences, but it would be a lot cooler if an international film festival audience was present as well.

Not only does this Austin-produced comedy boast a bevy of local talent in its cast — Jason Newman (who co-wrote the script with Elrod), Lee Eddy, Chris Doubek, Kelli Bland, John Merriman, Sam Eidson, and Byron Brown — but I have heard that it is a well-written film with high production value. Instead, The Man from Orlando premiered at the 2012 Cincinnati Film Festival and went on to screen at the 2012 Lone Star Film Festival; and, to date, it has sadly never screened in Austin…

But for those of us who have been impatiently awaiting the hometown screening of The Man from Orlando, the Stateside at the Paramount has stepped up to the plate to host the Austin premiere of The Man from Orlando on January 12th. Finally!!!