The music documentary Takin’ Care of Business took care of business at the inaugural Round Top Film Festival in Texas.
The film about Canadian rock musician Randy Bachman – founder of the bands The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive – earned the Audience Award at the debut event in the small town 75 miles east of Austin. The feature directed by Tyler Measom explores how Bachman searched for decades for a precious musical instrument that was stolen from him – his beloved 1957 Gretsch 6120 guitar on which he wrote the hits “American Woman,” “Takin’ Care of Business,” and “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet.”
Round Top Festival Institute
“We are so honored to receive the Audience Award from the Round Top Film Festival!” said Russell Wayne Groves, producer of Takin’ Care of Business. “From the incredible festival founders, Shanna and Skylar Schanen, all the way to the amazing volunteers who kept things running smoothly, we are just humbled by the love for our film at RTFF. It’s so rare to have a film festival show such love and care for art these days, but RTFF did that in spades. I highly recommend that all filmmakers pay attention to RTFF as it continues to bring the celebration of film to the great state of Texas.”
The festival founded by the mother-daughter duo of Shanna Schanen and Skylar Schanen ran from Nov. 7-10, screening 48 films, including seven world premieres and 17 Texas premieres. Prizes were handed out in 8 categories, including the above-mentioned Audience Award:
- Best Live-Action Drama Short Award – DEEP IN MY HEART IS A SONG directed by Johnathan Pickett and produced by Mehrdad Sarlak, Katie Burkholder, and Jonathan Pickett
- Best Overall Short Award – ONCE MORE, LIKE RAIN MAN directed by Sue Ann Pien
- Best Documentary Short Award – HOW TO SUE THE KLAN directed by John Beder
- Best Live-Action Comedy Short Award – THE WORD directed by Rob Neilson
- Best Music Video Award – FUNERAL directed by Vanessa Pla
- Maverick Stunt Performer Award: RJ Casey, prolific stunt actor (DUNKIRK, INCEPTION and EXTRACTION 2)
- RTFF Legendary Screenwriter Award: Bill Broyles, Jr. (CAST AWAY, APOLLO 13, FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS)
Round Top has already set dates for its second-ever festival: Nov. 6-9, 2025.
The Rising Star Showcase at Round Top Film Festival
Round Top Festival Institute
“Reflecting upon the past four days, I am over the moon with the level of execution, attention to detail and the way in which the town of Round Top rallied around this film festival; RTFF grew from a dream that my daughter, Skylar, and I had into a significant undertaking – but an undertaking that we gladly took on and one that we look forward to evolving next year and beyond,” said Shanna Schanen, Round Top Film Festival co-founder and executive director. “I met so many talented people, heard unique perspectives and insights into the film industry, and saw the town come alive in an entirely new way. The energy the entire weekend was palpable, and I was deeply moved by all of the stories of filmmakers being recognized and appreciated for their work – in many cases for the first time.”
Schanen added, “They say it takes a village, and this village is one that took on the challenge of taking a small TX town with a population under 90 and transforming it into the site of a world-class film festival. The challenge was answered and then some, and now we look forward to the challenge of building upon 2024’s success and making RTFF 2025 even better.”
An audience for the inaugural Round Top Film Festival in Texas
Round Top Festival Institute
Jurors for the first-ever event included industry veterans Michelle Krusiec, James Portolese, and Christian A. Pierce.
“It was a true pleasure to serve on the jury of the inaugural Round Top Film Festival,” said juror Portolese, a producer known for Hypnotic, Unhinged, and All Stars. “I was so impressed by the quality of all of the features, documentaries, dramatic and comedic shorts, music videos as well as the special screenings. Each film was so well crafted and a true joy to experience.”
Portolese continued, “I’ve been to a lot of film festivals in my career, and Round Top went above and beyond with every film, event, gathering, Q&A, dinner party, filmmaker cocktail hour and after party; basically, every detail was first class.”