Honoring John McCall

Photo of John McCall by Ellen Spiro

John’s Impact on Texas Film

 

It is with great sadness that Austin Film Society acknowledges the passing of our longtime friend, John McCall. A dedicated patron of the arts, John made a tremendous impact on the Texas film community through his direct involvement with filmmakers and his generous support of AFS through the years.

If everything’s bigger in Texas, John McCall was as Texan as they come. His vision, integrity, and generosity were oversized, yet much of what he did for the film community was done in secret.

John and his wife, Amy McCall, helped establish the AFS Cinema with their transformational gift in 2016 that allowed AFS to renovate and revitalize the shuttered Marchesa Theater. This was a crown jewel of John’s decades-long support for the Texas film industry. In 2018, John was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame at a private ceremony.

To honor and celebrate his legacy and impact on the arts, our Founder and Artistic Director Richard Linklater dedicated AFS’s third annual Doc Days (Oct 2021) to John. Doc Days is AFS’s annual festival featuring new documentaries from around the globe, and spotlights the power of storytelling through film—something John was tirelessly passionate about.

Filmmakers, musicians, architects, and visual artists have lost a friend, but the many creative projects he and Amy made possible will endure.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS