Last night's Austin Callback showcase absolutely rocked on so many fronts!

With 80+ folks in attendance, our pilot two-act (rather than the full three-act) film community showcase let people see 14 actors in professional, finished film clips -- some of which have never seen distribution.

Act II of the showcase saw four actors (two sets of two) doing a "public cold read", having received scenes an hour before the performance. The actors would run through their scene, then run through it again after receiving awesome coaching and direction from Mona Lee, who by her generous participation kicked off the event in big way.

Along with Mona, actors Ron Tater, Vivian Vives, Rick Azulay, and Sarah Paige courageously put themselves out there in front of a huge crowd, took risks, and showed us the craft they love. And Sarah's second performance was probably the highlight of the evening.

Creator and co-producer Brad Koester still got to enjoy the fruits of our collective vision, despite running around like mad on the technical front.

Of course, I don't think I'm being overly immodest in saying that Frank Brantley and I absolutely ripped it up as the tag-team, separated-at-birth Emcee duo.

Thanks to all of the actors, technical staff, sponsors and participants, and audience members who made last night possible. And if you thought this was good, wait until the first of the year ...