Joe M. O'Connell

Last updated

Joe M. O'Connell
Occupation
  • Novelist
  • documentary filmmaker
  • short story writer
  • photographer
  • journalist
NationalityAmerican
Education Texas State University (MFA)
Genre Literary fiction

Joe M. O'Connell is an American novelist, documentary filmmaker, short story writer, photographer and journalist based in Austin, Texas.

Considered an expert on the Texas film scene, O'Connell wrote columns about the Texas film industry that appeared in the Austin American-Statesman from 2000 to 2004 (titled "On Location"), in the Dallas Morning News from 2005 to 2011 (as "Shot in Texas") and in The Austin Chronicle from 2004 to 2009 (as "Film News.") [1] His film articles also have been published regularly in the San Antonio Express-News since 1997 and nationally in Variety . He has also contributed to Texas Monthly . [2]

His documentary film Love and Other Stunts [3] examines the life of B-movie stuntman Gary Kent. In 2017 he was at work on a second documentary titled Rondo and Bob [4] about Robert A. Burns, the art director for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and his obsession with actor Rondo Hatton. [5]

Born in Austin, Texas, to noted architect William R. O'Connell and nurse Wylma Castleberry O'Connell Ruelke, Joe was raised mainly in Austin, but lived briefly in Northglenn, Colorado, and India. He then went to Southwest Texas State University and received a degree in journalism in 1984. O'Connell worked as a newspaper reporter/editor in various cities around Texas, concentrating on covering government and politics. He later returned to SWT (now known as Texas State University) to earn an MFA in creative writing in 1995 while working long distance with the late, famed short-story writer Andre Dubus.

His first novel, Evacuation Plan, centered in a residential hospice was published in 2007 by Dalton Publishing, won the North Texas Book Festival Award in fiction, [6] and was a finalist for the Violet Crown Book Award [7] given by the Writers' League of Texas. O'Connell's short stories have taken first prize at both the Deep South Writers Conference and the Louzelle Rose Barclay Awards, and have been published in literary journals including The G.W. Review , Confrontation, Lullwater Review and Other Voices.

O'Connell currently teaches writing at St. Edward's University and Austin Community College. [8] He lives outside Austin, Texas, with his wife and young son.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry McMurtry</span> American novelist (1936–2021)

Larry Jeff McMurtry was an American novelist, essayist, and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas. His novels included Horseman, Pass By (1962), The Last Picture Show (1966), and Terms of Endearment (1975), which were adapted into films. Films adapted from McMurtry's works earned 34 Oscar nominations. He was also a prominent book collector and bookseller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tobe Hooper</span> American filmmaker (1943–2017)

Willard Tobe Hooper was an American filmmaker, best known for his work in the horror genre. The British Film Institute cited Hooper as one of the most influential horror filmmakers of all time.

<i>The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2</i> 1986 film directed by Tobe Hooper

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is a 1986 American black comedy slasher film co-composed and directed by Tobe Hooper and written by L. M. Kit Carson. It is the sequel to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and the second installment in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre film series. The film stars Dennis Hopper, Caroline Williams, Bill Johnson, Bill Moseley, and Jim Siedow. The plot follows Vanita "Stretch" Brock, a radio host who is victimized and abducted by Leatherface and his cannibalistic family; meanwhile, Lt. Boude "Lefty" Enright, the uncle of Sally and Franklin Hardesty—both prior victims of the family—hunts them down.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Bob Briggs</span> American film critic, writer, and actor; alter ego of John Bloom

John Irving Bloom, known by the stage name Joe Bob Briggs, is an American syndicated film critic, writer, actor, comic performer, and horror host. He is known for having hosted Joe Bob's Drive-in Theater on The Movie Channel from 1986 to 1996, the TNT television series MonsterVision from 1996 to 2000, and The Last Drive-in with Joe Bob Briggs on Shudder beginning in 2018. In 2019, he was named the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards' Monster Kid of the Year, and in 2023 was inducted into the Rondo Hatton Awards' Monster Kid Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rondo Hatton</span> American journalist and actor (1894–1946)

Rondo Hatton was an American journalist and actor. After writing for The Tampa Tribune, Hatton found a career in film due to his unique facial features, which were the result of acromegaly. He headlined horror films with Universal Studios near the end of his life, earning him a reputation as a cult icon.

Timothy Ray Lucas is an American film critic, biographer, novelist, screenwriter and blogger, best known for publishing and editing the video review magazine Video Watchdog.

<i>The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre</i> 1995 film by Kim Henkel

The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a 1995 American slasher black comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by Kim Henkel. It is the fourth installment in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre film series. The film stars Renée Zellweger, Matthew McConaughey, and Robert Jacks. The plot follows four teenagers who encounter Leatherface and his murderous family in backwoods Texas on the night of their prom. It features cameo appearances from Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, and John Dugan, all stars of the original film.

<i>The Texas Chainsaw Massacre</i> (2003 film) 2003 slasher film directed by Marcus Nispel

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a 2003 American slasher film directed by Marcus Nispel, written by Scott Kosar, and starring Jessica Biel, Jonathan Tucker, Erica Leerhsen, Mike Vogel, Eric Balfour, and R. Lee Ermey. Its plot follows a group of young adults traveling through rural Texas who encounter Leatherface and his murderous family. It is a remake of Tobe Hooper's 1974 film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and the fifth installment in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise. Several crew members of the original film were involved with the project: Hooper and writer Kim Henkel served as co-producers, Daniel Pearl returned as cinematographer, and John Larroquette reprised his voice narration for the opening intertitles.

Kim David Henkel is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and actor. He is best known as the co-writer of Tobe Hooper's horror film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Harrigan</span> American journalist

Stephen Harrigan is an American novelist, journalist and screenwriter. He is best known as the author of the bestselling The Gates of the Alamo, for other novels such as Remember Ben Clayton and A Friend of Mr. Lincoln, and for his magazine work in Texas Monthly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolyn Banks</span> American writer

Carolyn Banks is an American novelist, short-story writer, editor, and screenwriter residing in Bastrop, Texas.

Al Reinert was an American journalist, film director, screenwriter and producer. He co-wrote the screenplays for the Ron Howard film Apollo 13 and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, but is best known for directing and producing For All Mankind, an award-winning 1989 documentary about NASA's Apollo program. He died of lung cancer at his home in Wimberley, Texas on December 31, 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Shapter</span> American filmmaker (1966–2019)

Andrew Shapter was an American film director, producer, writer and photographer. Shapter is known for his documentaries, Before the Music Dies (2006) and Happiness Is (2009), his feature film The Teller and the Truth (2015), his music videos with Willie Nelson and The Roots, and his U.N. Summit video on refugees, Refugees Are... Shapter completed cancer treatment in October 2014. Shapter was a partner at the creative production company Roadwings Entertainment, which has offices in Austin, Las Vegas, and San Francisco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skip Hollandsworth</span> American screenwriter

Walter Ned "Skip" Hollandsworth is an American writer, journalist, screenwriter, and executive editor for Texas Monthly magazine. In 2010, he won the National Magazine Award for Feature Writing from the American Society of Magazine Editors, for "Still Life", the story of John McClamrock. His true crime history, The Midnight Assassin, about a series of murders attributed to the Servant Girl Annihilator that took place in Austin, Texas, in 1885, was published in April 2016 by Henry Holt and Company.

Tommy G. Warren is an American screenwriter, director and producer. Warren is also CEO/President of TWarren Investments, inc. founded in 1975. Tommy Warren began working in film and video in the 1970s. He has worked on film, videos, and television with MGM and had offices at Paramount Picture, Studios in Hollywood. In 2004, founder and Owner of Spiderwood Productions [SpiderwoodStudios] & [Spiderwood Magic] - began creating feature films, videos, television, music and media. Then in 2009 Warren opened Spiderwood Studios, a full service motion picture, television studios, and backlot along the lower Colorado River just outside Austin, Texas. Warren, the founder and owner of T. Warren Investments,inc.(TwarrenInvestments.com) Other businesses include director at Bold Ventures / Projekt 202 Dallas, Austin & Seattle.

Kimmie Rhodes is an American singer-songwriter. She has recorded and released a total of sixteen solo CDs, written and produced three musicals and published a novella/cookbook, served as an associate producer for a documentary, They Called Us Outlaws presented by the Country Music Hall of Fame and produced radio documentary/music programming for her show Radio Dreams, which focused on the history of American roots music and artists. She has also appeared in multiple films and a theatre production, Is There Life After Lubbock? Her songs have appeared on multiple television and film soundtracks. She has established and released her own records on her label, Sunbird Music for over 25 years. Kimmie's promotional tours created a solid fan base in the U.K., Ireland and Europe. She has headlined with her band at festivals throughout the world and has appeared on many European and American TV and radio broadcasts and at Willie Nelson's Farm Aid concerts and July 4 Picnics. Together with Willie Nelson she recorded two of her originals for his album Just One Love and a duet CD, "Picture in a Frame". She lives and records in Austin and tours internationally with her son and producer/multi-instrumentalist, Gabriel Rhodes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Minutaglio</span> American journalist

Bill Minutaglio is a journalist, educator and author of nine books. He is the recipient of a PEN Center USA Literary Award and has served as a professor at The University of Texas at Austin, where he was given The Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert A. Burns</span> American art director and production designer

Robert A. Burns was an American art director, production designer, and actor who worked on many films including The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, The Howling, Re-Animator, and From Beyond.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E. R. Bills</span>

E. R. Bills is an American author and journalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duane Graves</span> American film director, screenwriter, and editor

Duane Graves is an American film director, writer, producer, cinematographer and editor who has produced a body of work spanning multiple genres. In 2023, Deadline Hollywood announced he was named one of Coverfly's best up and coming screenwriters. His career began with the documentary Up Syndrome, which premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in 2001. A portrait of his childhood friend born with Down syndrome, Up Syndrome won numerous awards, including the National Media Award from the National Down Syndrome Congress in 2002, and the Grand Prize at the 2006 Movies Askew Film Festival hosted by Clerks (film) director Kevin Smith. He formed Greeks Films with film school peer, actor and filmmaking partner Justin Meeks in 2001.

References

  1. as Film News
  2. Joe O'Connell: Texas Monthly
  3. Love and Other Stunts
  4. Rondo and Bob
  5. Kelso, John (June 2, 2017). "Documentary on man who put the gore in 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'". Austin American-Statesman . Retrieved June 9, 2017.
  6. North Texas Book Festival Award
  7. Violet Crown Book Award
  8. "teaching at Austin Community College". Archived from the original on March 19, 2015. Retrieved April 23, 2015.