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Welcome to the third annual edition of the Slackerwood SXSW Survival Guide. This time we've taken more of a mix-tape approach to our tips. You could always make a playlist of the bolded tips and listen to them as you work on your schedule.

Here are some of our tried-and-true tips for making the most of SXSW Film Festival as well as Austin. Keep an eye out for our Dining Guide, and some tips from the filmmaker community, in the next week.

In These Shoes?

You may be tempted to dress to impress, but those smokin' new shoes could leave you with major blisters, not to mention very sore feet. Go for comfort, not speed, unless you happen to score a pair of shiny gold hightops that do both (I’m looking at you, Carla Jackson, when you rocked a sassy full-length gown and "Super Woman Sneaks" at Aff 2011 for...

Welcome to our latest entry in Their Holiday Favorites, a series in which members of the Austin film community tell us about movies they enjoy watching during the holiday season. This one is from Kelvin Phillips and Carla Jackson, who made their feature film debut this fall at Aff with A Swingin' Trio. 

Kelvin: Though technically more of an Easter film because of its story, we love going back to Jesus Christ Superstar -- the original 1973 film directed by Norman Jewison -- for repeated viewings, particularly around the holidays. Firstly, there is the music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, plus there's the witty lyrics and controversial book (story) that presents Judas's argument in a sympathetic light.

But the thing we Really Love is the singing -- everyone is great, but special shoutouts have to go to Carl Anderson as Judas, Ted Neely as Jc, and Bob Bingham as the bass-singing Caiaphas.

A husband slaving over the stove for dinner. A Valentine's dinner set for three. This is not the usual setup for a romantic drama, but it is for the promising debut A Swingin' Trio.

Kelvin Phillips and Carla Jackson's first feature is a tense tale of secrets, lies and revelations interspersed with the cool jazz stylings of the Jeff Lofton Trio. Homer (Johnny Walter) is a writer married to successful producer Trude (Timeca Seretti). He has all the time in the world while collecting rejection letters on his literary masterpiece. Meanwhile, Trude can't seem to detach herself from her phone and her business deals, breezing through the house as if it's a hotel. Homer has something special planned for Valentine's Day dinner, but it's not just his signature seafood gumbo. 

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The 18th Austin Film Festival is almost here. To help celebrate all the locally connected movies at this year's fest, we've reached out to a number of filmmakers to find out about their Austin and Texas-tied films screening at Aff, and to hear about what they're looking forward to doing during the festival.

Writer-director Kelvin Phillips and producer/partner Carla Jackson made A Swingin' Trio here in Austin. A Swingin' Trio is their first feature film.

Slackerwood: Describe your film for us, in a quick and dirty paragraph.

Kelvin Phillips: It's a film about a married couple who find themselves at an impasse. The wife, Trude Garçon-Moore, is at the start of an exploding career as a film producer. She's "busy, busy" as her husband, Homer Garçon likes to remind her. Homer is a "househusband" of sorts; he's a smart and talented writer, but it hasn't happened for him yet,...