THE MENTOR
PAUL STEKLER
Why Austin: Seduced from New
York
in 1997 to teach at UT's Depart-
ment of Radio-Television-Film, award-
winning documentary flmmaker Paul
Stekler was tasked with completely
overhauling the school's production
program. "[More than] 18 years later
I can confdently say we have the best
production program for its price in the
United States," says Stekler, who has
chaired the department since 2010. He
arrived in Austin just as the flm scene
was catching fre here. "SXSW was
much smaller, and the Austin Film Soci-
ety was just gearing up," he says. "It was
a really cool place to be, and we were
able to really revise the flm program
here, which was in large part a driver
of the growth of the flm community."
His Impact:
Any Austin filmmaker
worth his or her salt probably owes
some form of debt to Stekler, named
Mentor of the Year by Variety in 2014.
Today the RTF program has 1,000
students, many of whom want to stay
and work in Texas. "I used to joke
about looking for the film community
in New York. There were tons of film-
makers, but there really is a filmmak-
ing community here."
What's Next:
From the originals
like Linklater and Rodriguez to the new
generation such as Jeff Nichols, Kat
Candler, and Ben Steinbauer, everyone
is a friend and supporter of the talent
RTF is helping groom. "This is a really
wonderful place to live as a flmmaker,"
says Stekler, who will host the 50th-
anniversary student showcase screening
at the State Theater on November 1.
Clothing and accessories Stekler's own
in his wor ds: "If you have
a support group that you
work with and projects
that you really want to do,
it seems that being in
Austin is just fine, as
opposed to being
unemployed in LA."
