Latest / Austin Signal / Capital Factory founder Joshua Baer dies in plane crash

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Capital Factory founder Joshua Baer dies in plane crash · Austin Signal

• 0:08
  Joshua Baer, founder of the tech
• 0:10
  investment company Capital Factory,
• 0:12
  died in a plane crash this week on
• 0:13
  his way back to Austin.
• 0:15
  Baer was described as the godfather
• 0:17
  of the Austin startup scene,
• 0:19
  launching Capital Factory in 2009
• 0:21
  and serving as an entrepreneur in
• 0:22
  residence here at UT Austin.
• 0:24
  We're learning more about the crash,
• 0:26
  the investigation, and about Baer's
• 0:28
  larger impacts here in the Austin
• 0:29
  area. We've got more about that
• 0:32
  coming up on today's show.
• 0:33
  The Austin Signal is a production
• 0:35
  of KUT News, hosted by
• 0:37
  Jerry Quijano.
• 0:38
  Summer break is well underway for
• 0:40
  the Austin School District, but
• 0:42
  teachers and staff from 10 schools
• 0:43
  across the city are thinking about
• 0:45
  life at a different campus next
• 0:47
  school year.
• 0:47
  The final story in our series
• 0:49
  of lasts, plus a preview
• 0:51
  of the Blackall Tour Film Festival
• 0:53
  that's happening this Saturday.
• 0:55
  That is coming up next here on
• 0:57
  Austin Signal.
• 1:07
  This is Austin Signal.
• 1:09
  I'm your host, Jerry Quijano.
• 1:11
  It is Thursday, June 18th.
• 1:12
  Thank you for tuning in.
• 1:15
  Joshua Baer, founder of the
• 1:16
  Austin-based tech company Capital
• 1:18
  Factory, was killed in a plane crash
• 1:19
  on his way back to Austin late on
• 1:21
  Tuesday night.
• 1:22
  The plane crash happened in Laredo,
• 1:24
  and six people were inside the
• 1:25
  plane, according to local police.
• 1:27
  First responders took them out of
• 1:29
  the aircraft, but Baer did not
• 1:30
  survive.
• 1:31
  Here with the latest is Gabriel
• 1:33
  Velazquez-Nera.
• 1:34
  He is the breaking news reporter at
• 1:35
  KUT News. Hi Gabriel.
• 1:37
  Thanks for having me, Jerry.
• 1:38
  So we are learning details
• 1:41
  about the crash that happened this
• 1:42
  week. What do we know so far about
• 1:43
  the plane that was involved in the
• 1:44
  crash and what might have
• 1:46
  contributed to it?
• 1:47
  We know for a fact there was a
• 1:48
  mechanical issue with the plane.
• 1:50
  It was a charter plane
• 1:52
  owned by the company NetJets, and
• 1:54
  these types of private jets tend to
• 1:56
  have multiple flights in one day.
• 1:58
  So in this case, I think there was
• 2:00
  three flights before the eventual
• 2:01
  flight back from Mexico to Austin.
• 2:04
  I think it was Arizona, Mexico,
• 2:05
  and then another place in Mexico
• 2:07
  before making its way back to
• 2:08
  Austin,
• 2:10
  not to say that Bayer was
• 2:12
  making all of those trips, but the
• 2:14
  jet itself has a very high usage
• 2:15
  rate.
• 2:17
  And we know that it was a mechanical
• 2:18
  failure, but we don't know which
• 2:19
  part of the plane failed.
• 2:20
  We do know that there were other
• 2:22
  passengers on the plane.
• 2:23
  What do we know so far about their
• 2:25
  conditions and their identities?
• 2:27
  So besides Bear, there were five
• 2:29
  other people on the plane, two of
• 2:30
  them pilots, and then three
• 2:32
  teenagers.
• 2:33
  We know that some were family
• 2:35
  friends and some were part of Bear's
• 2:36
  family, but we don't know how many.
• 2:38
  And the plane crashed into a
• 2:40
  highway in Laredo and eventually
• 2:41
  came to rest on a vehicle barrier.
• 2:43
  Were there any injuries?
• 2:44
  On the ground?
• 2:45
  So the person that did get
• 2:46
  questioned to that was driving on
• 2:48
  the highway he did go to the
• 2:49
  hospital or they went to the
• 2:50
  hospital and they have
• 2:52
  since been released.
• 2:54
  You reported your story
• 2:54
  that the National Transportation
• 2:56
  Safety Board and the FBI are looking
• 2:57
  into the crash.
• 2:58
  What have they said so far about
• 3:01
  the crash and what happens next in
• 3:02
  this investigation?
• 3:04
  So at 2 p.m. Today.
• 3:05
  We have, there is a
• 3:06
  press meeting basically where we're
• 3:08
  hoping to learn more information and
• 3:10
  we're really just waiting on that
• 3:12
  National Transportation Safety Board
• 3:13
  preliminary report.
• 3:15
  Hopefully that will give some more
• 3:17
  details on the After Effects
• 3:19
  and we are also getting
• 3:21
  the 911 calls from
• 3:23
  the Laredo Police Department.
• 3:25
  Okay, well, we will continue to
• 3:26
  follow this story and bring you the
• 3:28
  latest right here on AustinSignal
• 3:29
  and at KUT.org.
• 3:31
  We've been speaking with Gabriel
• 3:32
  Velázquez-Neira.
• 3:33
  He is the breaking news reporter
• 3:35
  here at Kut News.
• 3:36
  Gabriel, thank you for your time.
• 3:37
  Thank you, Jared.
• 3:40
  Bear has been called the architect
• 3:42
  of Austin's tech scene, and
• 3:44
  the city's startup ecosystem might
• 3:45
  not look like it does today without
• 3:47
  Bear's venture capital firm, Capital
• 3:49
  Factory, founded in 2009.
• 3:52
  Brent Weistrom is assistant managing
• 3:54
  editor of Austin Business Journal.
• 3:55
  He got to know Bear over the years,
• 3:57
  reporting on Austin's startup scene,
• 3:58
  and he joins us now to talk about
• 4:00
  the impact he left.
• 4:01
  Brent, thank you for being here.
• 4:02
  Yeah, thanks for having me.
• 4:03
  So, for our listener who
• 4:05
  might not be familiar, who exactly
• 4:07
  was Joshua Bayer?
• 4:09
  Cash Bear is probably the most
• 4:11
  prominent and well-known
• 4:13
  startup
• 4:15
  incubator in Austin.
• 4:16
  He launched Capital Factory years
• 4:18
  ago and put Austin on the
• 4:20
  map in terms of being a startup
• 4:21
  community and helped grow the
• 4:23
  investment ecosystem and the startup
• 4:25
  ecosystem over course
• 4:27
  of a couple decades, so it's
• 4:29
  a long tale.
• 4:30
  Story called him the the godfather
• 4:32
  of the Austin startup scene how
• 4:34
  big how big was his
• 4:36
  impact on the local scene
• 4:38
  Tough to overstate it.
• 4:40
  Capital Factory itself invests in
• 4:41
  startups and I think is probably the
• 4:43
  most active investor in Texas.
• 4:45
  They mostly make small investments
• 4:46
  to hundreds of companies.
• 4:48
  So he's touched like a ton of people
• 4:50
  through that investment, but he's
• 4:51
  also a mentor.
• 4:52
  He's a guest lecturer at the
• 4:54
  University of Texas.
• 4:54
  So he was working with students,
• 4:56
  journalists, entrepreneurs, and
• 4:58
  these sort of much higher
• 5:00
  stature defense to tech
• 5:02
  leaders and tech leaders across
• 5:04
  the country.
• 5:04
  Yeah, can you tell us about some of
• 5:05
  the projects that he was working on?
• 5:07
  Yes, the most recent thing, you
• 5:09
  know, people might recognize now
• 5:10
  Austin has this huge defense tech
• 5:12
  ecosystem and he was a huge part of
• 5:14
  that. If you wind the clock back,
• 5:16
  like, I think seven or eight years,
• 5:18
  he was starting to have those
• 5:19
  initial meetings with members of the
• 5:21
  defense community that helped lead
• 5:22
  to Army Futures Command being
• 5:24
  planted in Austin.
• 5:26
  And many of the branches of the
• 5:28
  military had their innovation
• 5:29
  offices set up inside of Capital
• 5:31
  Factory and they're building
• 5:32
  downtown in the Omni Center.
• 5:34
  So he was just very instrumental in
• 5:36
  that. And that seems to be the
• 5:37
  biggest impact that we see right now
• 5:39
  here today.
• 5:40
  But if you wind the clock back
• 5:41
  further, the early investments he
• 5:43
  made in a lot of startups that might
• 5:44
  not have otherwise gotten invested
• 5:46
  in and have grown up, have created
• 5:48
  thousands of jobs, hundreds of
• 5:50
  companies, and given people sort of
• 5:52
  a leg up in the startup world.
• 5:54
  Are some of those names that we
• 5:55
  might recognize some of these
• 5:56
  companies?
• 5:57
  Yeah, I think one that's really
• 5:58
  prominent right now is Aptronic,
• 6:00
  they make humanoid robots and
• 6:02
  Capital Factory made the biggest
• 6:03
  investment they've ever made into
• 6:04
  that company. And I think Josh met
• 6:06
  the folks at Aptronics when he was
• 6:08
  at the University of Texas where
• 6:09
  Aptronik was spun out of.
• 6:12
  So, he's sort of in every corner
• 6:14
  of the tech and startup world here
• 6:16
  in Austin and across the state and
• 6:17
  country really.
• 6:18
  You said you told me earlier that
• 6:20
  you got a chance to know him
• 6:21
  professionally as well as outside of
• 6:23
  that professional scene.
• 6:24
  What kind of person was he?
• 6:26
  Yeah, he was just,
• 6:27
  I mean, unabashedly
• 6:30
  passionate about tech.
• 6:31
  So like when I look back at some of
• 6:33
  the text messages I've gotten from
• 6:34
  him in the past month or so, he's
• 6:36
  talking about vibe coding a lot.
• 6:37
  He's like, check out this app I just
• 6:38
  built, it's so cool.
• 6:39
  And I joke with my wife like, hey,
• 6:41
  this guy is like, you know, pretty
• 6:42
  high flyer and he sounds like a
• 6:44
  college student discovering clod and
• 6:46
  learning how to vibe code.
• 6:47
  He was extremely easy to know,
• 6:49
  very personable.
• 6:51
  He had his quirks about him,
• 6:53
  like the shoes.
• 6:54
  He would always wear shoes that were
• 6:56
  related to either somebody he was
• 6:57
  meeting or a new technology.
• 6:59
  So I'd always be looking to his feet
• 7:01
  to kind of get a hint at what might
• 7:02
  be coming or what's on his mind.
• 7:04
  He always had his little puppy with
• 7:05
  him pretty much everywhere he went
• 7:07
  and just constantly munching on
• 7:09
  candy. Like mid-interview, he would
• 7:11
  take a bite of a Snickers or
• 7:12
  something and that always stuck out
• 7:13
  to me as like he's just got, you
• 7:15
  know, this sort of
• 7:17
  high schooler personality with like
• 7:19
  a genius brain at the same time.
• 7:21
  So it was kind of cool to see both
• 7:23
  those aspects of him.
• 7:25
  I know it's really early since
• 7:26
  the news came out, what has the
• 7:28
  response been so far?
• 7:30
  Just an outpouring,
• 7:32
  I've seen a lot on social media.
• 7:33
  My phone's been ringing off the
• 7:35
  hook. People across the country
• 7:37
  really that have had touch points in
• 7:38
  Austin, reaching out and saying
• 7:40
  like, it's just such a shock.
• 7:42
  Obviously nobody saw anything like
• 7:44
  this coming. So I think the broader
• 7:46
  community is just kind of in a state
• 7:47
  of shock about all of a sudden he's
• 7:49
  gone and he was sort of the
• 7:51
  leader of the local community.
• 7:53
  Do you think somebody will stand
• 7:56
  up in that spot or do you think he
• 7:57
  kind of was a one of one and
• 7:59
  the startup scene here
• 8:01
  will just kind of have to adapt now
• 8:02
  that he is gone.
• 8:03
  Yeah, unfortunately, I think it's
• 8:05
  kind of the latter. I think he was
• 8:07
  sort of a one of one in
• 8:09
  respect to how much tenacity
• 8:11
  and how much effort he put into
• 8:13
  pumping up the local ecosystem and
• 8:15
  really giving us a name around the
• 8:16
  country.
• 8:17
  There's plenty of talented people at
• 8:19
  Capital Factory, so I'm sure they'll
• 8:20
  continue on and continue to be a
• 8:22
  powerhouse.
• 8:23
  But as a singular person,
• 8:25
  I don't think his shoes will be
• 8:27
  filled anytime soon.
• 8:28
  Okay, we have been speaking with
• 8:30
  Brent Wiestrom.
• 8:31
  He is Assistant Managing Editor at
• 8:32
  the Austin Business Journal.
• 8:34
  Brent, thank you for your time.
• 8:35
  My pleasure, thank-you.
• 8:39
  Summer break is underway for
• 8:41
  the Austin Independent School
• 8:43
  District, and teachers and staff
• 8:45
  from ten campuses that are closing
• 8:46
  or getting ready to go to new
• 8:48
  schools in the fall.
• 8:49
  But one teacher at Martin Middle
• 8:51
  School is taking a different path.
• 8:54
  KUT's Greta Diaz Gonzalez-Vasquez
• 8:56
  has the story.
• 8:58
  All right, let's get started.
• 9:00
  So as I promised you yesterday,
• 9:04
  we were going to do something
• 9:06
  different today.
• 9:07
  We've been working.
• 9:07
  Michele Scroggs has been...
• 9:08
  Teaching for as long as she can
• 9:10
  remember. I've always been a teacher
• 9:12
  when I was eight years old I was
• 9:14
  making lesson plans and making my
• 9:15
  friends do it.
• 9:16
  By the early 90s, she became an
• 9:18
  educator in Ohio, and ever since she
• 9:20
  moved to Austin in 2014, she has
• 9:22
  been working at St. Martin Middle
• 9:23
  School teaching math.
• 9:25
  Her students have always been at
• 9:27
  the center of everything she does.
• 9:29
  I love teaching.
• 9:30
  I absolutely adore teaching.
• 9:31
  I adore my kids.
• 9:32
  I adore the ones
• 9:34
  that give me hugs.
• 9:35
  I adore that knuckleheads that
• 9:37
  wanna say some inappropriate
• 9:39
  things to me.
• 9:41
  By the end of the school year, they
• 9:42
  used to end up being my friends.
• 9:44
  As the school year came to a close,
• 9:46
  Scruggs tried to have fun lessons
• 9:48
  for her students.
• 9:50
  All right, so what we're
• 9:51
  going to do is we're going
• 9:53
  to play a game.
• 9:55
  On a Thursday in late May, 8th
• 9:57
  graders are learning about vectors
• 9:58
  through a racing game.
• 10:00
  They move imaginary cars across a
• 10:02
  piece of paper while writing down
• 10:04
  coordinates.
• 10:05
  So what is a vector?
• 10:07
  This is new language for you.
• 10:09
  What is a Vector?
• 10:10
  Scroggs walks around her classroom
• 10:12
  explaining the lesson to those who
• 10:14
  don't get it.
• 10:15
  Here is zero-zero.
• 10:17
  Are you going to go down or are you
• 10:19
  going go down?
• 10:20
  Room 208 is the only classroom
• 10:21
  at Martin that has a blue sky and
• 10:23
  clouds painted on the ceiling.
• 10:25
  The walls are decorated with
• 10:27
  students' art and colorful paper
• 10:29
  airplanes.
• 10:30
  Scrugg says it's important to make
• 10:32
  her students feel like this is
• 10:34
  their space.
• 10:35
  There's a special type of student
• 10:37
  here at Martin Middle School.
• 10:38
  Not everybody can relate to them.
• 10:40
  But Scroggs can, they remind her
• 10:42
  of herself growing up.
• 10:44
  More than 80% of Martin's students
• 10:45
  are African American or Hispanic.
• 10:47
  95% come from economically
• 10:49
  disadvantaged families.
• 10:51
  One in every three need special
• 10:53
  education, almost double the state's
• 10:55
  average.
• 10:56
  Eighth grader Vincent Moreno says
• 10:58
  some adults underestimate them,
• 10:59
  but not Ms.
• 11:00
  Scrog.
• 11:01
  She just feels like herself.
• 11:02
  She feels more genuine than most
• 11:04
  teachers, because she'll
• 11:06
  joke with us.
• 11:08
  We have inside jokes.
• 11:09
  It just feels real, you know,
• 11:10
  whenever we're in this room.
• 11:12
  The student says Krox stays after
• 11:13
  school to explain things they don't
• 11:15
  understand.
• 11:16
  She also lets them make up tests
• 11:18
  they have missed.
• 11:19
  Moreno says she pushes them to be
• 11:21
  better.
• 11:21
  There will be teachers who will give
• 11:23
  us enough work so that it's
• 11:25
  really easy to get done, right?
• 11:27
  But like, Ms. Gruggs, it's never
• 11:29
  easy to all of our work done.
• 11:31
  It's always a challenge.
• 11:33
  It's always a challenge they can
• 11:35
  overcome.
• 11:36
  It's not always about the grade,
• 11:38
  it's just getting them to recognize
• 11:39
  that you have the ability
• 11:41
  to succeed in life wherever
• 11:44
  you want to go.
• 11:45
  It's about your choices and not
• 11:47
  what society chooses for you.
• 11:50
  So that's my goal in math.
• 11:52
  In middle school has received three
• 11:53
  consecutive federal grades from the
• 11:55
  state.
• 11:56
  Students say sometimes it feels like
• 11:57
  adults don't believe in them.
• 12:00
  Seventh grader Motaz Al-Shiblawi
• 12:02
  says Ms.
• 12:03
  Cruggs does.
• 12:05
  Instead of a student and
• 12:07
  always gives us a better
• 12:08
  understanding of her teaching
• 12:10
  and she always is playful,
• 12:13
  kind, funny, helpful and
• 12:14
  a great teacher in general.
• 12:16
  Scrag says her goal is for students
• 12:18
  to know
• 12:18
  they are capable.
• 12:20
  I would love it if they were all
• 12:21
  perfect A students but more
• 12:23
  importantly I need them to know that
• 12:25
  they are valued human beings and
• 12:27
  they can go anywhere in life.
• 12:29
  And yes, being in the classroom is
• 12:31
  not always easy, especially
• 12:33
  when, as Greg says, in some classes,
• 12:36
  50% of our students need
• 12:37
  a special education or bilingual
• 12:39
  specialist. Most of the time it
• 12:41
  was just me and those kids,
• 12:44
  and we did the best that we could.
• 12:48
  On the day after school ended,
• 12:50
  teachers and staff at Martin are
• 12:51
  packing their belongings.
• 12:53
  They won't be coming back to this
• 12:54
  campus in the fall.
• 12:56
  As everyone wishes each other a
• 12:57
  great summer, Scruggs says it's
• 12:59
  hard to say goodbye to people she
• 13:01
  has worked with for over a decade.
• 13:03
  We bond together to take care of
• 13:05
  the kids, and not only take care the
• 13:07
  kids take care of each other, and
• 13:09
  so we form a family.
• 13:11
  Yeah, we look out for each other.
• 13:14
  Crocs walks with a cart up to her
• 13:16
  classroom, but she keeps getting
• 13:18
  stopped by her colleagues.
• 13:23
  I should be going in that direction
• 13:24
  pretty soon, you know.
• 13:26
  I promise you that if Martin wasn't
• 13:27
  closing, I wouldn't be retiring.
• 13:29
  I hear you.
• 13:30
  Yeah, but enjoy.
• 13:31
  Thank you. Take care.
• 13:33
  During the last 12 years, Scrogg
• 13:34
  says Maureen has had at least six
• 13:36
  different principals and assistant
• 13:38
  principals.
• 13:39
  She says every one of them came with
• 13:40
  their own ideas.
• 13:42
  And they want to shoehorn
• 13:44
  the teachers into that
• 13:46
  idea without taking the
• 13:49
  time to get to know the teachers,
• 13:51
  their styles, and everything.
• 13:53
  And that's time consuming.
• 13:55
  And it's frustrating for them.
• 13:57
  So while most of her colleagues are
• 13:59
  going to other schools, Scruggs
• 14:01
  decided to retire from teaching.
• 14:03
  I just don't feel like going through
• 14:05
  that again.
• 14:06
  She plans to pivot and work for her
• 14:08
  family business.
• 14:10
  As Scrugg packs her things and takes
• 14:12
  posters off the wall, colleagues
• 14:13
  come to say goodbye and bring her
• 14:15
  flowers.
• 14:16
  I'm sure I'll be asking you teaching
• 14:18
  questions. Thank you.
• 14:20
  Absolutely.
• 14:21
  Okay. Where's my phone?
• 14:22
  They're all sad that Martin is
• 14:24
  closing.
• 14:24
  Some more than others.
• 14:30
  It's okay.
• 14:31
  It's ok.
• 14:32
  I get it.
• 14:33
  I Get it. But they all find comfort
• 14:35
  in scrugs. Everything's gonna be
• 14:37
  fine.
• 14:38
  I hope so.
• 14:41
  You're gonna be fine, you're gonna
• 14:42
  do amazing over at
• 14:44
  Travis. Just like with her students,
• 14:46
  she tells colleagues they can do
• 14:47
  whatever they set their mind to.
• 14:49
  You're gonna be okay.
• 14:51
  You got my number.
• 14:52
  I know.
• 14:54
  It's hard. I just walked around
• 14:55
  taking pictures of the whole school.
• 14:57
  Okay. Yeah.
• 14:58
  They talk about the hard times, but
• 15:00
  it's the good times that they're
• 15:01
  taking with them.
• 15:03
  It was fun though.
• 15:04
  Yeah, it was.
• 15:09
  After everyone leaves, room
• 15:11
  208 feels empty.
• 15:13
  The walls are now back to their
• 15:15
  beige color.
• 15:16
  Skrug says the room no longer feels
• 15:18
  like it's hers.
• 15:19
  It hurts.
• 15:21
  It hurts,
• 15:23
  yep.
• 15:24
  Not ready for it to happen,
• 15:26
  but it is
• 15:28
  as they say, it
• 15:30
  is.
• 15:31
  Scrock says she'll try to look out
• 15:33
  for her colleagues,
• 15:35
  but as much as she has made up her
• 15:36
  mind, it's not easy to think she
• 15:38
  won't be close to her students
• 15:39
  anymore.
• 15:41
  I'm Greta Diaz-Gonzalez Vazquez
• 15:43
  in Austin.
• 15:45
  We have more Austin Signal coming up
• 15:47
  for you after this break.
• 15:48
  Thank you for making us part of your
• 15:50
  day.
• 16:00
  This is Austin Signal, welcome back.
• 16:02
  A Travis County District judge has
• 16:04
  ruled Austin's plan to fund the
• 16:05
  expansion of the Austin Convention
• 16:07
  Center is lawful.
• 16:09
  Earlier this week, a judge oversaw a
• 16:10
  hearing between the city, state, and
• 16:12
  opponents over the validity of bonds
• 16:14
  to fund this project.
• 16:15
  The Austin City Council approved
• 16:16
  last month issuing up to $1.35
• 16:18
  billion in bonds to move the
• 16:20
  project forward.
• 16:22
  The city would use hotel occupancy
• 16:23
  tax funds to help pay down the debt.
• 16:25
  The ruling means the project can
• 16:27
  move forward as planned.
• 16:28
  Completion is set for 2029.
• 16:32
  An extreme heat warning remains in
• 16:33
  effect today in the area through 8
• 16:35
  p.m. The National Weather Service
• 16:37
  warns that heat indices in the
• 16:39
  region could range from 108 to
• 16:41
  118 degrees.
• 16:43
  Stay cool out there and
• 16:45
  make other plans if you were planned
• 16:47
  to be out in the sun and if those
• 16:49
  plans involve a swim,
• 16:51
  be advised Barton Springs Pool
• 16:52
  remains closed due to flooding
• 16:54
  brought on by heavy rains earlier
• 16:56
  this week.
• 17:02
  The Black Auteur Film Festival
• 17:04
  is in its third year running,
• 17:06
  showcasing short films directed by
• 17:08
  black Texans.
• 17:09
  It's happening this Saturday out at
• 17:10
  Austin Film Society, and joining
• 17:12
  us now are co-founders and festival
• 17:14
  directors Alex Chu and Ryan
• 17:16
  Darbin. Thank you for being with us.
• 17:18
  Thanks for having us.
• 17:19
  Yeah, thank y'all so much.
• 17:21
  So for a listener out there who
• 17:23
  might not be familiar with Black
• 17:24
  Alter Film Festival, where did this
• 17:26
  idea come from? How did it get
• 17:27
  started?
• 17:28
  A little bit of, I
• 17:29
  guess, context.
• 17:30
  Alex and I have both, we're
• 17:31
  filmmakers, but in addition to that,
• 17:33
  we have both kind of programmed
• 17:34
  throughout our time in Austin.
• 17:36
  I used to work at Austin Film Festival
• 17:37
  as a programming director there in
• 17:38
  2013.
• 17:40
  Programmed my own repertory series.
• 17:41
  Alex programmed her own festival
• 17:43
  that she started, the Austin Youth
• 17:44
  Film Festival.
• 17:45
  And so as a result of that, I got
• 17:47
  asked by Coletown Theater, which I
• 17:49
  did a lot of stuff with them over
• 17:50
  the course of 10 years to
• 17:53
  help program.
• 17:54
  They wanted to program a tiny little
• 17:55
  black film festival because they had
• 17:56
  a filmmaker coming in from.
• 17:58
  New York to screen his movies, his
• 18:00
  name's Tarek, amazing filmmaker,
• 18:02
  wrote for the Amber Ruffin Show.
• 18:04
  So I needed help so I asked Alex and
• 18:07
  it was going to be a one and done
• 18:08
  thing and we weren't going to do it
• 18:09
  again. And then, yeah, we
• 18:11
  did it, we had fun and we were like,
• 18:12
  oh, this is great, we want to do
• 18:14
  more of this. It was nice getting
• 18:15
  all these people in a room to sort
• 18:17
  of champion black films and black
• 18:18
  filmmakers from Texas and just the
• 18:20
  vibe and the energy was great.
• 18:21
  And so we continued.
• 18:23
  Doing it.
• 18:24
  Yeah, we're the only black film
• 18:26
  festival in Austin, and as
• 18:27
  black filmmakers, we really noticed
• 18:29
  that vacuum, and we just
• 18:32
  wanted to fill that hole in
• 18:33
  the community and create a space for
• 18:35
  us to come together and really
• 18:36
  support black directors.
• 18:39
  And all of our black auteurs
• 18:41
  that you'll see on Saturday, June
• 18:42
  20th at AFS Cinema are
• 18:45
  Texas-based.
• 18:47
  Okay, cool. We're going to talk
• 18:48
  about that film festival.
• 18:49
  I wanted to talk about other ways
• 18:50
  that you shine a light on
• 18:52
  black film here in Austin.
• 18:53
  I know this is the third year of the
• 18:54
  festival but in what other ways
• 18:56
  do you shine a light on these
• 18:57
  directors?
• 18:58
  Right, well, our mission is
• 19:00
  to celebrate, elevate,
• 19:02
  and preserve black cinema.
• 19:03
  So we have programming all year
• 19:05
  round. We show repertory screenings.
• 19:07
  We just did a 35-millimeter
• 19:10
  screening of Creed at the Paramount
• 19:12
  Theater.
• 19:12
  Oh, very cool.
• 19:13
  Which was really fun.
• 19:14
  We did Coming to America before
• 19:15
  that.
• 19:16
  And then we've had local showcases
• 19:18
  with filmmakers here in Austin, too.
• 19:20
  We did a thing at We Love Video
• 19:21
  called We Real Cool, which was a
• 19:23
  shorts block of Austin filmmakers
• 19:25
  as well.
• 19:26
  And just kind of, again, we're not
• 19:27
  just the festival, right?
• 19:28
  It's a sort of this year-round
• 19:29
  programming of not only repertory
• 19:30
  filmmaking, but also just trying to
• 19:32
  highlight these local filmmakers
• 19:33
  aswell.
• 19:34
  Right, so with Coming to America,
• 19:36
  we had a film from
• 19:38
  Prince Adabla, who we love, who
• 19:40
  screened his film, Mamaya, with us.
• 19:43
  And it had a connection to Coming to
• 19:44
  American. So we played that.
• 19:46
  He got to show his film at the
• 19:48
  Paramount to this big audience
• 19:50
  that's there for Coming to America.
• 19:51
  But they also got to be introduced
• 19:52
  to his work.
• 19:53
  And we have a lot more screenings
• 19:56
  like that planned for the fall
• 19:57
  and for next spring as well.
• 20:00
  Okay, well, tell us about what's
• 20:01
  happening this Saturday.
• 20:03
  Who's gonna be showcased, and what
• 20:04
  are some of the films that you're
• 20:05
  really excited about?
• 20:06
  Yeah, so I mean, it's our festival
• 20:07
  this year is gonna be a little bit
• 20:08
  bigger. We've got our shorts block.
• 20:10
  We got our audience award.
• 20:11
  We have our audience raffle prizes
• 20:13
  and we also have a special guest
• 20:14
  coming in from LA.
• 20:16
  This director named Jason Perez,
• 20:17
  who did this Peacock series
• 20:19
  about black cowboys.
• 20:21
  Yeah, High Horse, The Black Cowboy.
• 20:23
  It's a three-part docu-series about
• 20:24
  black cowboy culture.
• 20:27
  And someone featured in the
• 20:29
  documentary lives in South Austin.
• 20:31
  They run the Alexander farm, and
• 20:33
  they've experienced eminent
• 20:35
  domain takeovers of their land.
• 20:37
  So the film explores that.
• 20:39
  And they'll be with us as well.
• 20:41
  And we're going to have a conversation
• 20:42
  about black cowboys.
• 20:43
  And it's, you know, it's about a
• 20:45
  South Austin farm.
• 20:46
  And so we'll be there with
• 20:48
  Jason Perez.
• 20:49
  And then we have these wonderful
• 20:51
  shorts, all different
• 20:53
  genres.
• 20:54
  I'm really excited.
• 20:55
  One of my favorites, they're all my
• 20:57
  favorite first on the record.
• 20:59
  They're all, my equal favorite,
• 21:01
  but also another one of my favorite
• 21:03
  is Esther.
• 21:05
  Esther was directed by Joey
• 21:07
  Hunt, who is local.
• 21:09
  He's a local, not only local
• 21:10
  filmmaker, but a really amazing DP
• 21:12
  here in Austin.
• 21:13
  Yeah, amazing director of
• 21:14
  photography and it's
• 21:16
  a very like black and white shot on
• 21:18
  film, old Hollywood studio
• 21:21
  kind of film, which I love because
• 21:23
  I grew up on Turner Classic movies
• 21:24
  and the classics.
• 21:25
  So if you like that, you're going
• 21:27
  to get it with Esther.
• 21:29
  And then we have another local
• 21:31
  Austin-based filmmaker, Prince
• 21:33
  Adabla again with his short
• 21:35
  Fugu.
• 21:36
  Prince is from Ghana
• 21:38
  and he now lives here in Austin.
• 21:39
  He's an Austin filmmaker, but a lot
• 21:40
  of his stuff is centered around the
• 21:42
  immigrant experience, right?
• 21:43
  The black immigrant experience.
• 21:45
  And so really excited for that one
• 21:46
  as well.
• 21:46
  Okay well as filmmakers, creators,
• 21:49
  yourselves, what is it like to see
• 21:51
  these other folks that you're
• 21:52
  shining a light on?
• 21:54
  What does that bring to you as a
• 21:55
  filmmaker? Like how does that kind
• 21:57
  of fuel the work that you're doing
• 21:58
  seeing younger generations
• 22:00
  or just different people getting
• 22:02
  their work to be seen?
• 22:05
  Jealous.
• 22:06
  I'm jealous, on the record,
• 22:08
  quote me.
• 22:09
  No, I think it's rad.
• 22:10
  I mean, like Alex had said earlier,
• 22:12
  BAF is not an avenue for us to
• 22:13
  promote ourselves, right?
• 22:14
  And so the whole thing is kind of a
• 22:16
  selfless, us giving back
• 22:18
  to the filmmakers that we admire
• 22:19
  because we're inspired by them as
• 22:21
  well. And so I think, it's really
• 22:22
  nice.
• 22:23
  Filmmaking is very hard, anyone
• 22:25
  that's done it on any level, it is
• 22:26
  very to get anything made.
• 22:28
  And so, you know, the point of
• 22:29
  making things, you're not hoarding
• 22:30
  it, you wanna share it with an
• 22:32
  audience. So it's very nice to, not
• 22:33
  only, shared with an audience, but
• 22:35
  seen on a big screen at AFS cinema
• 22:36
  and shared with the
• 22:38
  kind of audience.
• 22:40
  Bath is for everybody, right?
• 22:41
  But I think there's certain things,
• 22:43
  certain nuances about the Black
• 22:44
  experience that I think growing
• 22:46
  up Black you're going to get.
• 22:47
  And it's really nice to share those
• 22:48
  kinds of films with an audience like
• 22:50
  that who would get it, right.
• 22:51
  You don't have to, you can kind of
• 22:53
  circumvent the hand-holding process
• 22:54
  or explaining certain jokes or
• 22:56
  certain things or certain
• 22:57
  experiences.
• 22:58
  And we're vocal.
• 22:59
  So it's an experience being in the
• 23:01
  theater. You're gonna hear people
• 23:03
  not afraid to laugh out loud
• 23:06
  and really experience and go on
• 23:08
  the ride of the film.
• 23:09
  So it just feels like this
• 23:11
  community, this communal
• 23:13
  cinematic experience, the way that
• 23:14
  cinema was always supposed to be.
• 23:17
  Fantastic all right we have been
• 23:18
  speaking with Alex Chu and Ryan
• 23:20
  Darbin co-founders and festival
• 23:22
  directors of the black auteur film
• 23:24
  festival We're gonna have a link to
• 23:25
  more about the fest in today's show
• 23:27
  notes. Thank y'all for being with us
• 23:29
  Thank you for having us.
• 23:30
  Yeah, thank y'all so much.
• 23:32
  And thank you for tuning out, tuning
• 23:33
  in out there.
• 23:34
  There's more from us at...
• 23:35
  Jerry.
• 23:36
  Jerry, I'm sorry.
• 23:37
  I need to interrupt.
• 23:40
  Jimmy? Jimmy Moss,
• 23:42
  KET program director here, and
• 23:44
  I've got something special
• 23:47
  for you, Jerry.
• 23:48
  I hope so.
• 23:49
  You're interrupting my show.
• 23:50
  I know, I know.
• 23:51
  It's weird and unconventional, but
• 23:53
  this is an unconventional day.
• 23:55
  As you may know, dear listener,
• 23:57
  the Austin Chronicle Best
• 23:59
  of Austin Awards are
• 24:01
  out today and we
• 24:03
  have some great news.
• 24:08
  You, Jerry
• 24:10
  Quijano, are once
• 24:12
  again winner of...
• 24:14
  Of best radio or podcast
• 24:16
  host in the reader poll and the best
• 24:18
  of Austin Awards.
• 24:20
  Congratulations.
• 24:21
  This is your second win,
• 24:24
  a one-year absence from the award,
• 24:25
  but that's fine.
• 24:26
  Whoever won last year, it's no big
• 24:27
  deal.
• 24:29
  I'm pretty sure it was Laurie.
• 24:30
  Yeah, we have. It was Laurie, yeah.
• 24:31
  We stop mentioning KTX
• 24:33
  yeah they are
• 24:34
  Sorry, sorry.
• 24:36
  KUT won other awards as
• 24:38
  well, best talk show for, not
• 24:40
  this show, but Texas Standard.
• 24:41
  We were a close runner up.
• 24:43
  You got the best host.
• 24:45
  I mean, come on, what are you going
• 24:46
  to do?
• 24:47
  And we also won
• 24:49
  best reporter most, Bouchelle.
• 24:51
  And I'm
• 24:53
  jealous.
• 24:54
  We just talked a little bit about
• 24:55
  jealousy in the last interview.
• 24:58
  KUTx won best radio station and
• 25:00
  is program director of KUT.
• 25:03
  It hurts a little bit, but, you
• 25:04
  know, as friends of everybody over
• 25:06
  at KUTX, but
• 25:08
  I do have something special for you.
• 25:12
  I gathered a
• 25:14
  series of fake awards from around
• 25:15
  since in lieu of a physical thing to
• 25:17
  give you.
• 25:18
  Here is a trophy for
• 25:21
  Junior softball most prolific.
• 25:23
  Yeah, there you go.
• 25:24
  And here's a copy.
• 25:26
  You'll have to give this back, but
• 25:27
  this is a placard.
• 25:30
  Of a best of Austin award from
• 25:32
  2023.
• 25:34
  And so it'll be like when
• 25:36
  you get so eventually.
• 25:38
  I appreciate it.
• 25:39
  You know, I'd like to keep the
• 25:40
  spirit of John Ailey going forward
• 25:42
  And I really feel like he would have
• 25:43
  been proud of that segment that we
• 25:45
  just pulled off right there.
• 25:46
  So congratulations
• 25:46
  Congratulations.
• 25:47
  I feel like it was just yesterday.
• 25:49
  I plucked you from obscurity and now
• 25:51
  here you are. Oh wait, I didn't do
• 25:52
  that
• 25:53
  And here we are now, and thank you
• 25:55
  for being with us.
• 25:56
  Austin Signal will be back at the
• 25:57
  same time tomorrow.