When Mopac Media's owner Kevin Triplett moved to Austin, he discovered an interesting character through a project of his cousin Jon Smith and Jon's business partner Ryan Rader. They were recording a tribute album of songs written by the late Blaze Foley. Blaze's story is unique. Though the man experienced a glimpse of success in his life, it was nothing compared to the notice taken since his passing. Blaze Foley was only 39 when he died and the way he died was shocking. The outcome of the trial of the man who shot him was equally shocking to the community. When Kevin decided to make a documentary of Blaze's life, digital technology was making micro-budget filmmaking possible. ''Microbudget'' still wasn't within his, students', or other indie producers' budgets for long-term projects, however, so Kevin used charge cards for the basic production package and to keep up card payments, he began renting the equipment to other microbudget filmmakers at rates typically lower than the large rental houses' rates. Renting Kevin's equipment included Kevin's tech support and suggestions and through word of mouth, Mopac Media grew. So it's only through Kevin's documentary that Mopac Media even exists and it's exciting to finally have picture lock on the doc. The credit cards are maxed out again and Kevin's selling his car on ebay to pay for the online editing, color correction, audio mixing and HDCAM mastering. The film benefits ARCH, the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless. Blaze was homeless and participated in musical benefits that raised money for shelters. Blaze's last project was a live recording which was to be sold with 20 percent of the profits going to ARCH. Since we've written about the beginning of Mopac Media, let's answer the gnawing question, ''Why is Mopac Media called Mopac Media when it's not on Mopac Expressway?'' Kevin spent a lot of time on Mopac, originally delivering equipment to his very first clients...but actually, Kevin associated ''Mopac'' with Austin. ''Mopac'' had good associations for him; his dad had worked for MOPAC (which is short for the Missouri-Pacific Rail Line that was). Mopacmedia.com was available as a domain name and Kevin wasn't exactly sure what his company would actually be, so ''Mopac Media'' was vague enough to cover a lot of jobs. By now, Mopac Media has covered most of those jobs. Kevin did know he'd being doing something with media. And here it is... ''Drunken Angel--The Legend of Blaze Foley'' premieres in the 2009 SXSW Film Festival Austin Convention Center, March 18, 2009 at 7 PM. (Take me to more information) Created: 2009-02-18 Modified: 2009-02-19 [Return to Previous Screen]