Paxton quits Lone Star Film Fest

FORT WORTH, Texas, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Actor Bill Paxton has quit his chairman position with Texas' Lone Star International Film Festival after its artistic director Tom Huckabee was fired.

Paxton -- a Fort Worth native, and the star of TV's "Big Love" and the films "Twister" and "Titanic" -- was the chairman of the festival's advisory board.

"By firing Tom, they took a mountain of goodwill and turned it into a slag heap," Paxton told the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram this week.

Paxton said none of the members of the board's executive committee has explained why Huckabee, his childhood friend and creative partner, was dismissed.

Citing a non-disclosure clause in his contract, Huckabee declined to comment on the situation for the newspaper; however, he confirmed his last day with the festival was Jan. 29.

The first edition of the festival took place in November 1997.