AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 02, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Austin Film Festival & Writers Conference (AFF), the premier festival that champions the writers’ contributions to film, television, and new media, announced today two distinguished awardees to be honored at this year’s festival from Oct. 27 – Nov. 3. Academy Award-winning producer Dede Gardner will receive AFF’s Polly Platt Award for Producing, and Emmy, BAFTA and Golden Globe winner Stephen Merchant will receive AFF’s Outstanding Television Writer Award.

Gardneris an Academy Award-winning producer and co-president of the production company Plan B Entertainment. Throughout her career, she has produced both Academy Award- and Golden Globe-nominated and winning films, including Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari, Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talkand Moonlight, Adam McKay’s The Big Short and Vice, Ava DuVernay’s Selma, Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave and Terrence Malick’s Palme d’Or winner The Tree of Life. Gardner’s recent features include Gaz Alazraki’s Father of the Bride and Miranda July’s Kajillionaire, as well as the forthcoming features Blonde, She Said, Women Talking and Landscape With Invisible Hand. Her recent television releases include the HBO/Sky limited series “The Third Day,” created by Dennis Kelly, the Amazon Prime series “The Underground Railroad,” created by Barry Jenkins and “Outer Range” created by Brian Watkins.

In addition to accepting the Polly Platt Award for Producing during this year’s Writers Conference, Gardner will participate in a special screening of Women Talking. The new film by Oscar-nominated writer and director Sarah Polley. Based on the best-selling novel by Miriam Toews, Women Talking follows a group of women in an isolated religious colony as they struggle to reconcile their faith with a series of sexual assaults committed by the colony’s men.

Polley will also attend the Festival to present Gardner’s award and participate in a post-screening discussion.

Stephen Merchant is an Emmy, BAFTA and Golden Globe-winning actor, comedian, writer, director and producer and one of the most versatile talents in TV and film. He first shot to prominence as co-creator (alongside Ricky Gervais) of BBC’s “The Office” and “Extras,” both of which were critically acclaimed, earning multiple comedy series awards, including three BAFTA Awards, two British Comedy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Peabody Award. Merchant also served as an executive producer on the long-running U.S. adaptation of “The Office,” which received five Primetime Emmy Awards and 42 nominations during its run on NBC. Merchant also received a British Comedy Award for “Best TV Comedy Actor” for his role in “Extras,” which he also co-created and executive produced alongside Gervais. In 2004, they won the “Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Award” for the series. In 2013, he served as a star, co-creator, co-writer and director of HBO’s “Hello Ladies,” a sitcom based on his live stand-up show of the same name. The series ended with a feature-length HBO special and received two nominations at the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards.

Merchant currently serves as creator, executive producer, writer, director and star of BBC/Amazon’s “The Outlaws,” which premieres its second season on Aug. 5. He co-created the series with Elgin James, which follows a group of misfit lawbreakers in a community service group.

Gardner and Merchant will be recognized at the 2022 Awards Luncheon on Saturday, Oct. 29, and will participate in Festival and Conference programming. Additional panelists confirmed to speak at the Writers Conference, held the first four days of the Festival, Oct. 27-30,include Max Borenstein (“Winning Time”), Nkechi Okoro Carroll (“All American”), Edward Neumeier (RoboCop), Vanessa Taylor (The Shape of Water), and many more.

Badges and passes are available for purchase online at www.austinfilmfestival.com or by phone at 1-800-310-FEST.

Modern Keyboard Wizard JORDAN RUDESS Recreates GIORGIO MORODER’s Epic “Chase” Theme From MIDNIGHT EXPRESS On Collection Of New Recordings By Leading Synth Masters!

Features performances by Rick Wakeman, Derek Sherinian, Geoff Downes, Patrick Moraz, Thijs Van Leer, Larry Fast & Nite Jewel!

Los Angeles, CA – Some of the most heralded and widely-respected keyboardists on the planet have gathered together on a unique collection to offer their fresh new takes on some of the tracks that laid the foundation of electronic music and influenced thousands of synth-sational artists and players! Ever wonder what Mike Oldfield’s groundbreaking “Tubular Bells” might sound like in the hands of Dream Theater keyboardist Derek Sherinian? Or think that Moody Blues/Yes keyboardist Patrick Moraz would do a fantastic version of Jean-Michel Jarre’s superb “Oxygene?” Well, wonder no more as Synthesizer Classics has come to answer all of your synth-related prayers!

The new collection features all exclusive and brand new recordings by such world-renowned pros as Rick Wakeman, Asia’s Geoff Downes, Focus’s Thijs Van Leer, and Larry Fast, who along with several others, have reached back into the past and recreated classics by Kraftwerk, John Carpenter, and lots more! Check out the first single to be released from the collection, Jordan Rudess’s tantalizing take on Giorgio Moroder’s award-winning score for the 1978 prison drama Midnight Express!

Stream the single: https://orcd.co/jordan_rudess_chase

Synthesizer Classics will be available everywhere starting August 12. Pick up your copy on CD or vinyl or stream the album on all the major digital music platforms!

Order the CD/vinyl: https://cleorecs.com/store/?s=Synthesizer+Classics&post_type=product

Pre-order/pre-save the digital: https://orcd.co/synthesizer_classics

Los Angeles, CA – Chicago’s hard hitting rock quartet SOiL are well into their third decade of their incredible music year career. Beginning with their blockbuster major label debut album, 2001’s Scars, which featured two monster hit singles, “Halo” and “Unreal,” SOiL have maintained a devout following by focusing on what they do best, writing and playing some of the most visceral and melodic rock by any modern band on the scene!

Now these veterans are giving their fans a special treat – a new studio album, entitled Play It Forward, consisting of some of the songs that inspired them throughout the years. They’ve already previewed two of the album’s songs, releasing their version of Neil Young’s anthem Rockin’ In The Free World” as well as the Foo Fighters cover “Monkey Wrench,” in honor of drummer Taylor Hawkins. And much more is in store including covers of White Zombie, The Ramones, Leadbelly and more. Today, the band is proud to share an absolutely ripping version of Halsey’s “Nightmare,” accompanied by a suitably sick and twisted music video!

Stream the single: https://orcd.co/soil_nightmare

SOiL bassist Tim King adds, “When we were approached by Cleopatra Records with the idea to record a covers album it seemed both exciting and challenging. Outside of the song ‘Black Betty’ we have never really covered any songs before. This gave us a chance to explore some songs we enjoyed growing up on and also taking songs that were never intended to be Hard Rock or Metal and put our own spin on them. It proved to be quite the challenge with our down tuning and figuring out all the different parts and effects in the original versions that you never quite notice during casual listens. The songs we thought were going to be super easy turned out to be the most challenging. In the end we were very happy with the way it all came out and we feel it will give the SOiL fans something to enjoy and have fun with. That was our main goal. To do something fun in the wake of all the horrible things that have been going on in the world.”

Play It Forward will be released on all formats starting August 26. Two album designs were created for the release: a “cassette” design that will be used for the CD packaging and a “skeleton” design that will be used for the first vinyl pressing. A second vinyl pressing featuring the “cassette” artwork will be released in September. 

Pre-order the CD/Vinyl: https://cleorecs.com/store/?s=soil+play+it+forward&post_type=product

Pre-order/pre-save the digital: https://orcd.co/soil_play_it_forward