Screenwriters, movie stars and all sorts of Hollywood types are in town as the Tenth Annual Austin Film Festival gets underway.

The thing that makes Austin's film festival so unique is that it's the only one that's really based around screenwriters. Many looking to get their first big break. There are enough new films and stars to make any movie buff happy too.

It could look life a typical night out in Austin if you watched the film "Prey For Rock and Roll." The saga of an all-girl band trying to make it big kicks off the Austin Film Festival Thursday night.

"I think people can relate to this film on a universal level where it's not just about the music. But I think there's a lot of struggling musicians in this town that they'll watch and hopefully be like, 'Yeah, I know that one.' So it'll be exciting. I'll be really curious to see how it plays here," actress Gina Gershon said.

"There's no other festival like this that you can really meet some of the top people face-to-face and hear some of their personal experiences," screenwriter Don Hewitt said.

Writing team Don and Cindy Hewitt should know.

"We came in 2000, and we had two scripts in the top 10 for the screenplay competition, and while we were here we met a representative from Pixar. She interviewed us and got really excited about us and hired us to do something right after that," screenwriter Cindy Hewitt said.

Actor Eric Stoltz is in town to promote two films with Austin ties. The screenplay for "Happy Hour" was discovered at a previous Austin Film Festival, and "When Zachary Beaver Came to Town" was shot here.

"I don't know how the Austin Film Festival is perceived among the Austonians, Austintonians, Austinites. But I think it'd be really cool if they came out and supported it and saw the films and harassed all the writers, not the actors, all the writers. When you go to other towns like Toronto, everyone comes out to see the films, and it's really nice to feel that the town participates," actor Eric Stoltz said.

For a complete listing of film screenings, panel discussions and other Austin Film Festival events, check out the Austin Film Festival Web site.