For
Immediate
Release
Oct. 12, 2005
“Halfway Decent”
narrative competition feature
World Premiere at 2005 Austin Film Festival
10:30
p.m. Saturday, October 22
Stephen F. Austin Inter-Continental Hotel, 701 Congress
Ave.,
Austin
Additional AFF screening:
7 p.m. Tuesday, October 25, Regal Arbor Cinema at Great
Hills
WORLD
PREMIERE
OF
‘HALFWAY DECENT’ WITH ERNIE HUDSON
SET
FOR AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL
Actor
Hudson, Writer-Director Alan Berger to Attend
(Austin,
TX) — Writer-director Alan Berger and producer Vincent
Robert will present the world premiere of their
narrative competition feature, “Halfway Decent” starring
Ernie Hudson, on Saturday, October 22, as part of this
year’s Austin Film Festival.
Hudson
and the filmmakers will attend the 10:30 p.m. screening
at the theater inside the Stephen F. Austin
Inter-Continental Hotel and will be available for Q&A
afterwards.
“Halfway
Decent” is a gritty but poetic tale of a man besieged by
ironic circumstance, a character-driven dark comedy that
is shot to feature the warm, inviting glow and the
beautiful landscapes of the West Coast and downtown L.A.
Hudson
stars as stressed-out police detective Tom Black, a man
who is tempted to take the easy way out but who makes
choices trying “to do the right thing”: for his wife,
for their perpetually rehabbing poet son, for his
brutish mother and mother-in-law, for his old friend
Cervondo, who’s as down on his luck as Black is, even
for his corrupt partner Mike.
The
film’s comic first scene and color-washed opening
credits — Black chasing down a suspect by car and on
foot, ultimately into the Pacific Ocean, backed by a
brash, sax-y jazz track (later reggae, pop and bluesy
cuts) — set the mood. Audiences will relate to what
Black eventually learns: that you don’t know what you
have until it’s all you’ve got.
Hudson,
best known for his roles in “Ghostbusters” and the HBO
series “Oz,” said he chose to do the film because it
offered him a different sort of role, that of a
character whose dignity is challenged by life, a man who
doesn’t seem to care about anything but who actually
cares very much.
Writer-director Alan Berger — a bold new voice and a
filmmaker who never forgets the audience — and producer
Vincent Robert have crafted an inviting color- and
music-saturated world of redemption that is populated
with characters both shady and soulful. Cinematographer
Jaron Presant, a rising star of the L.A. indie scene, is
responsible for the expansive look of the film. Veteran
A-list editor Larry Bock (“Bring
It On”) worked closely with director Berger to set the
film’s dynamic pace and character-revealing moments.
Berger,
whose previous credits include the cable feature “A Walk
in the Park,” a romantic comedy also produced by Robert,
will participate as a “DV Filmmaker” panelist at 3:15
p.m. Friday, October 21, during the Film Festival’s
Screenwriters Conference. This is the third feature
production for Robert, who previously wrote the George
Clooney-starrer and Tarantino favorite “Red Surf.”
For more
information on the people of “Halfway Decent” and to see
the film’s trailer, visit www.mcguckinpr.com.
Contact:
Jill
McGuckin, McGuckin Entertainment PR, 512.217.9404 cell;
jill@mcguckinpr.com
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