By Amber Mullins
Joshua Butler navigates the red carpet ropes of a local coffeehouse with a swagger, then plops himself down to discuss a “hobby” that’s become his passion: documentary film. Choosing the venue with a movie theater twist seems conscious, or maybe not. With Joshua, nothing is ever as it seems, which is the concept behind his startup – the Thin Line Film Fest. The documentary film festival, now in its fifth year, invites its audience to explore the “thin line” between reality and fiction in film. His question: Can a documentary ever be real?
By J.K. Nickell
A baby mannequin swaddled in multicolored Mardi Gras beads peers out from behind the storefront window of Brave Combo’s office. The band’s headquarters and rehearsal studio just off Denton’s historic Downtown Square is shuttered. Where is the pink-top-hat-wearing mad scientist of a musician who’s famous for herding people onstage to perform the Chicken Dance? Just then, Carl Finch’s baby blue Mercedes convertible cruises into view and Brave Combo’s co-founder steps out dressed totally in black, his shoulder-length silver locks billowing in the wind.
Bill Ledbetter and his red 1966 Chevy Chevelle are not used to losing auto competitions. He and wife Pam figure they have won at least 10 contests in the past year – their first to compete. On more than one occasion, they’ve been told the Chevelle, an original, is as close to perfection as one can get.