Documentary Premiere: The Magic Hole

A fast-paced examination of a nation-wide push to get cities to make huge bets on an industry in a well documented decline, THE MAGIC HOLE reveals winners and losers as the city prepares for the imminent demolition of it’s modern, under-performing convention center without providing plans or budget for a replacement facility.

City documents, archival city council video and subject-matter experts make up the tightly woven film, which leans heavily on nationally recognized convention center expert Heywood Sanders, PhD, professor emeritus, UT San Antonio. Often quoted in national publications including the New York Times and Texas Monthly, Sanders is the author of the book Convention Center Follies, a meticulously documented examination of these public spaces.

“There’s this huge rhetoric about, we’re Austin, the live music capital…people are going to come here," said Professor Heywood. "There’s this vision of economic impact and job creation. We have to compete with our competitive cities. But all that’s smoke and mirrors," he said. “The politics that drive this is the politics of land and development.”

“This business of closing it, demolishing it and digging out a big hole is jaw droppingly stupid.”

The film screens at 7:30 and will include a question and answer session afterwards. Limited seating. Sign up to reserve yours.

While there is no charge for this event, we will accept donations at the door to help offset the cost of producing this documentary.

Host or Publisher Austin Free Press