EXCLUSIVE: Richard Linklater has been revealed as an executive producer on Temple Baker’s feature directorial debut Deep Eddy as production wraps in Austin, Texas.
The neo-noir stars Baker as flame-out writer Eddy O’Neill, who is battling a looming deadline, a murky criminal conspiracy, and a questionable understanding of the investigatory benefits of alcohol, while tracking a kidnapped lover through the streets of Austin.
After an encounter with the enigmatic figure of Daisy Kowalsky leads to witnessing a double murder, his search for a story then spirals into a surreal, deadly game of cat and mouse.
Paul Walter Hauser (Fantastic Four: First Steps, The Luckiest Man in America), Sasha Lane (Twisters), Hassie Harrison (Dangerous Animals), and Gabriel Luna (The Last of Us) also feature in the cast.
Hauser plays Pug Browder, a violent and unpredictable figure shadowing Eddy’s chaotic stumble through Austin’s criminal underworld. Lane is O’Neill’s best friend and favorite bartender Alicia, whom he drags into his investigation much to her annoyance. Harrison plays Kowalsky.
Together, O’Neill and Alicia navigate a rabbit hole of deranged folk singers, psychotic cops, boxing promoters, line dancing enthusiasts, and worst of all, podcasters, the truth blurs, bodies stack, and the nature of their search comes into question.
The ensemble cast also includes Luna as Cisco Pike; Austin Amelio (Hit Man) as Red McHale; Will Brittain (Let Him Go) as Rocko Billingsley; Austin Nichols (One Tree Hill) as Tripp Calhoun; Olivia Applegate (Love & Death) as Britt Reilly; Paulina Chavez(Landman) as Isabella Duran; Ellen Toland (Shudder’s Doomsday); as Lilac Christian Pearce (Real Bro’s of Simi Valley) as Milk Stewart; Valin “Zeale” Zamarron as Z; and Jason Douglas as Big Kat Kowalsky.
Baker’s professional partnership with Linklater began when he landed a role in the director’s 2016 college baseball themed comedy Everybody Wants Some!! with no formal acting experience. A fan of Linklater, having grown up watching his films, Baker says he was struck by the director’s humility and collaborative spirit.
“Before we started filming, [Linklater] offered an invitation to collaborate and create,” said Baker, recalling his weeks spent at Linklater’s ranch bonding with the cast through basketball, baseball, and rehearsal exercises.
“A guy of that stature with the curiosity and lack of ego to collaborate with a bunch of twenty-year-olds, it makes an impression,” he continued.
Shot entirely on location, Deep Eddy captures Austin’s contradictions, from gritty dive bars, specifically, the titular Deep Eddy Cabaret, and boxing gyms to glossy social clubs and lakeside mansions, while weaving a story about self-destruction, redemption, and the blurred line between truth and invention.
“I love Austin and wanted to make something that captures this moment, caught between the ‘weird’ of my childhood and the cyber-trucks of the present, while still making a dark, funny film about chaos, violence, and art, and finding yourself in the mess you’ve made of your own life,” said Baker.
Producers on the film are Jennifer Kucziaj (Mutt), Kate Fitzsimons, and Dino Maglaris, with Cashdog Productions (Rent Free) as the production company, and Linklater and Todd Haisie serving as executive producers.
Baker is represented by Austin Aronson; Harrison by Gersh, Range Media Partners, and Johnson, Shapiro, Slewett, & Kole; Lane by WME, The Long Run, and Ganderson Des Rochers; Hauser by WME, Artists First, and Schreck, Rose, Dapello, Adams, Berlin & Dunham, and Luna by UTA, Entertainment 360, and Ziffern Brittenham; Amelio by UTA, Stride Management, and Johnson, Shapiro, Slewett, & Kole.
Brittain’s reps are Gersh and Burbridge Artists Entertainment; Toland’s, Sovereign Talent Group and Framework Entertainment; Nichols’, CESD and Strand Entertainment; Applegate’s, Collier Talent Agency and Prime Talent Media; Chavez’s, CESD and Industry Entertainment; Douglas’, The Mary Collins Agency and Van Johnson Company.
The post Richard Linklater Unveiled As EP On Temple Baker’s ‘Deep Eddy’ With Paul Walter Hauser, Sasha Lane & Hassie Harrison As Filming Wraps In Austin appeared first on Deadline.
