American Cowboy is about Gene Mikulenka, a real live rodeo cowboy who rides both the professional and gay rodeo circuit. Gene is a real Texas character, a Houstonian, a true champion, and an American Cowboy.
The director, Kyle Henry is a Master's Candidate in film at the University of Texas at Austin. He graduated from Rice University with a degree in Film Production from the program in Art & Art History.
The film, which runs 52 minutes, provided a great opportunity to highlight a segment of gay and lesbian life that is a vibrant part of the American western heritage. Gay Rodeo is a source of pride and involvement for a large segment of the gay and lesbian community. Gay Rodeo Associations throughout the United States organize their members to support fund raising activities that provide significant funding to AIDS related charities every year.
But mostly, it was an opportunity to examine three months in the life of our American Cowboy, Gene Mikulenka as he wrestled with coming out, a broken leg, a favorite horse that dies unexpectedly, a new romance, and his drive to compete and be the best at what he does. The film traces events in this period of Gene's life and follows him to the International Gay Rodeo finals in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and back home to Texas.
Production and post-production funding is being raised by the Director and the Executive Producers, Calvin Preece, and Dan Delaney. While the film is now complete, we are still raising funds to meet the expenses of entering the finished project in festivals and to help meet the necessary music royalty payments. The producers would like to invite you to be a part of the project. Will you consider being a donor?
Donors to the film are acknowledged on the World Wide Web site and are kept informed of the project's progress.
The film is being produced under the umbrella of theAustin Film Society and is a tax exempt 501.3 (c)non-profit operation.
Here's a salute to the members of the crew. THE FILM MAKERS
