Kirk Hunter was dead center in the first wave of Austin’s independent film scene, working alongside noted filmmakers Brian Hansen, Marcus van Bavel and David Boone on films including Speed of Light, Redboy 13, Midnight Taco and Invasion of the Aluminum People. Known as Kirkomatic, he immersed himself as the the ‘70s-’80s scene exploded, first earning a film degree from the University of Texas, then becoming an experimental filmmaker, producer and film trainer during the heyday of Austin Access Television—where he met a young Richard Linklater. The son of an actress and a UT drama prof, Hunter is best known as the co-writer/co-producer of the cult horror comedy Barn of the Blood Llama. In recent years he worked as a cinematographer/editor for Joe’s O’Connell’s documentaries Danger God and Rondo and Bob.
Googenhomee is Kirk Hunter’s swirling, fever dream about the Austin scene as he knew it. In it he is the filmmaker always on the lookout for the next job as an A.I. voice drones on. Surreal and touching, it features cameos from the late Texas Film Commissioner Tom Copeland, Hansen, Boone, legendary horror art director Robert Burns, B-movie icon and stuntman Gary Kent, Slacker’s Jerry Delony and more. It’s an ode to creativity on a shoestring budget.
