Typically, if you show me 5 poker movies, I can show you at least 4 bad poker movies. However, sometimes a film comes along that gets poker and gets film making at the same time.
Shark Out of Water is a new short film by Juan Riedinger, produced by Andrew Halliwell. It’s garnering some significant buzz and has been hitting the film festival circuits as of late.
It’s well-acted by Matty Finochio and Artine Brown (with a subtle, yet good, Phil Hellmuth cameo). It’s a poker movie made by guys that know and play poker. They were literally sleeping in a casino during some of the shooting. That’s dedication.
The film depicts what can happen when players put poker ahead of everything else, and then hit a bad run. It’s compelling and troubling at once.
Shot in Vancouver, Canada, the film reads like a proof of concept more than a complete movie. By that I mean, it’s a short and thus has its limitations. I would like to see a poker-based feature from these guys. After watching SOOW, I feel like it would be an instant hit amongst poker players and drama-lovers alike.
Our Affiliate Director, Atil, had a chance to sit down with Halliwell recently and I’ve included that invterview below. I really suggest checking out the piece and the film. Both are great.
When is the official launch date?
The film has already screened at a number of festivals across North America, but we officially launched our DVD with Special Features on November 15, 2009. The ‘launch’ became ‘official’ when we heard Phil Hellmuth himself “tweeted” about the film on his personal page, stating: “I have a scene in Shark out of Water, a short film that was a nominee for Best Short Drama at the Leo Awards.” This definitely started a buzz about the film and attracted A LOT of people to our website: www.sharkoutofwater.com.
What inspired you to create this film?
The writer and director, Juan Riedinger, is avid poker-player himself. I remember he told me he was on a bit of a bad run, and he wanted to capture that experience in a solid and realistic story about poker. His love for the game comes through in the story too, as I think the end result depicts the double-edged sword that is Poker. The highs and the lows. The constant fluctuation between triumph and tilt.
How long did it take you to create this?
It’s been almost a two year endeavour from the early stages of pre-production to now. The director, who is also a close friend of mine, mentioned he wrote a short screenplay about poker. I offered to produce the project, and that’s what brought us to where we are now.
Was it difficult getting Phil Hellmuth and Brad Booth, since you are a small production company?
The stars kind of aligned for us. We manged to get Phil’s phone number from a mutual contact. We literally just called him up one day and offered him a role in our film. He liked the script, and it so happened that he was coming to Vancouver (where we shot the film) with Annie Duke for a poker tour, so we managed to make the scheduling work. Brad heard about the project through a contact we had at the casino we shot at. At the time, he was splitting his time between Vancouver and Vegas, and he happened to be in town during our shoot.
Since Brad lives in Vancouver now, we’ve actually become friends since making the film. Hopefully, we’ll be working with him on future projects. Although our production company is still in its grassroots stage, I think having the opportunity to appear in a great short film about poker would be appealing to any poker player. What our company lacks in scope, we make up for with passion, grit, and professionalism. I think Phil and Brad saw this. Also, the rest of the cast and crew we assembled were top notch, and most work regularly in the film/tv industry in Vancouver, which really added the the production value as a whole.
What message were you trying to send the audience?
Our main goal was to make a film that was entertaining, and realistically showed a glimpse into the world of poker. We wanted to tell a story about the “everyman” poker-player as authentically as possible. We wanted to make something that an audience could relate to. The pots in the film range from $100 to $500 (which is a lot of money for some people). How realistic is it to see a million dollar pot? We’ll leave that to the James Bond movies. Aside from the poker, we also wanted to convey the humanity of our characters, and the effects that poker can have on individuals and relationships.
What can we expect from your company in regards to poker in the future?
We’re hoping that the calibre and success of Shark Out of Water will prove to potential investors that we are fully capable of delivering a solid film – from conception to sale – and will trust us with an investment in a larger-scale project. Making a feature film is the ultimate goal. We’re currently working on one project involving the subject of poker right now. Unfortunately we can’t say much more than that, as the idea is still in development.
Were there any particularly memorable experiences from set that you’d like to share?
Getting to work with Phil and Brad was an amazing experience. These guys were consummate professionals, and were a true pleasure to have on set. One particularly memorable experience was seeing the director sit down at a table with Phil and play him heads up. After filming his scenes, Phil graciously accepted Juan’s challenge to play him for the fee his agent requested for his appearance in the film. I don’t want to reveal too much, because the entire experience can be seen in the “behind-the-scenes featurette” on our DVD. I’ll also never forget how Juan and I actually slept in the casino between shooting days, because we needed to have personnel watching all the gear overnight for insurance reasons. This was indie filmmaking at its finest!
How difficult is it to make a short film about poker?
Making a short film about anything is extremely challenging. The added challenge of making a poker movie was capturing the subtleties of the game for the poker-players in the audience, yet keeping it interesting for a wider audience as well. I know that being a poker-player himself, Juan felt that it was very important to have realistic situations. We are so sick of seeing straight flushes beat four of a kind in poker movies. It’s such an unrealistic scenario, and has no place in a poker film that wants to be taken seriously. Also, I think anyone who plays poker can spot a non-player a mile away…the way the cards are held, the way the chips are stacked, the mannerisms. We took great lengths to cast real poker-players and dealers in the film, and I think that reads on the screen.
When is the film available, and how can someone go about purchasing it?
As of this week, the film is finally available for purchase (just in time for Christmas). If you’d like to purchase the DVD (which includes tons of additional bonus features, including the director’s heads up match against Phil Hellmuth, and some deleted/extended scenes) it is available for purchase directly from our website: www.sharkoutofwater.com. Please join our facebook group. And also check the site for other exciting news and information about the film, including the trailer.
Tags: Movies, Poker Pop Culture
