Paul Alvarado-Dykstra
co-founder / principal

Producer Paul Alvarado-Dykstra has worked with award-winning filmmakers Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy) and Tim McCanlies (Secondhand Lions, The Iron Giant), Emmy-nominated producer Scott Carter (Lewis Black's Root of All Evil, Real Time with Bill Maher, Politically Incorrect), and Oscar-nominated documentarian Frances Reid (Long Night's Journey Into Day). He is also co-creator of Fantastic Fest, the acclaimed international sci-fi/horror/fantasy/animation film festival recently named one of Variety's ten favorite film fests in the world, and is Central Texas Representative and board member of the Texas Motion Picture Alliance (TXMPA), the statewide industry advocacy organization for film, television, commercial and video game makers.

Recently, he executive produced filmmaker Jen White's feature directorial debut Between Floors, co-produced Tim McCanlies' The 2 Bobs, and directed and produced an advocacy video for the Texas Motion Picture Alliance (txmpa.org). Other recent projects include directing and producing a pilot for a weekly entertainment news/feature series about anime and anime fan culture, producing live concert DVDs for country artists Angela Peterson and Tommy Shane Steiner, as well as the assorted music video (e.g. "My Crazy Life" for Spencer Gibb's band 54 Seconds) and short film (e.g. Mr. Rodell Goes Swimming for director Jen White). In 2005 he made his directorial debut with the short film Termination, which was presented at the SXSW Film Festival as a work-in-progress and won Best Texas Short.

Currently, he serves as vice president of Villa Muse, an innovative mixed-use, master-planned development which will be anchored by Villa Muse Studios - a new nexus for the creative industries in Texas, offering comprehensive, globally competitive production and post facilities for film, television, commercials, music, videogames and animation. [Texas Real Estate Business cover story / Hollywood Reporter cover story] He also serves on the board of the Film Texas Fund, the advisory board of the Austin School of Film, and on the 3D Task Force, Digital Media Council, and Greater Austin Creative Alliance.

Previously, he assisted and did creative development on multiple projects for filmmakers Guillermo del Toro and Tim McCanlies, managed the former's Austin office, and produced the regional premieres for Hellboy (Sony/Revolution, 2004) and Secondhand Lions (New Line, 2003). In 2004 he also chaired the Texas premiere engagement of the renowned Unseen Cinema series for the University of Texas at Austin's Harry Ransom Center, and from 2003-2004 oversaw the acclaimed revamp/relaunch of the Austin Film Society's quarterly P.o.V., serving as Editor-at-Large.

In 2001 he was supervising producer on the groundbreaking Ain't It Cool News pilot for Comedy Central and executive producer Scott Carter, and was writer-producer and co-creator of The Ain't It Cool News Update for XM Satellite Radio. He also co-founded Ain't It Cool, Inc., with Harry Knowles and served as both COO and contributing editor.

He has repeatedly been a panelist for the SXSW and Austin Film Festivals, and a guest of KUT 90.5 FM's Eklektikos. He has also served as vice president of Austin's acclaimed Hyde Park Theatre (where he hired current artistic director Ken Webster), board member of the Austin chapter of the American Advertising Federation, and member of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce's Film and Digital Entertainment Committee. For three years he was marketing and PR director for Austin's historic Paramount Theatre (one of the largest arts organizations in Central Texas), and has also been a marketing/PR consultant for Austin Lyric Opera, Tapestry Dance Company, and the Texas Early Music Project. While earning his B.S. in journalism at Texas A&M University he founded the student-run Texas Film Festival (securing Spike Lee as its inaugural guest of honor), helped found KEOS 89.1 FM Public Radio, hosted and produced his own radio show, and got his start in filmmaking by assisting Frances Reid on her documentary Skin Deep about campus race relations.

In his spare time, he does a variety of consulting (via perchance; recent clients include Austin HD, Austin Circle of Theaters, and the Harry Ransom Center), bowls intermittently, Twitters sporadically (@robogeek) and consumes considerable amounts of chocolate soy milk.

With Glen Oliver he heads Montgolfier Heavy Industries, an Austin-based production company.