A dark comedy short film written and directed by Gabriel Vega Weissman
Synopsis
Three broke roommates. One black-market pistol. A very bad idea.
When Louis buys a gun off the street, his roommates Nick and Tyler are appalled, then jealous, then in the market themselves. But the dealer they invite over to close the deal, Mo, turns out to be exactly the kind of person you should not invite into your apartment.
Half-Cocked is a 12-minute chamber piece about temptation, escalation, and one bad decision's ripple effect...shot entirely within the four walls of a New York apartment.
About the director
Gabriel Vega Weissman
Gabriel Vega Weissman is an award-winning theatre director and playwright based in New York City. His Off-Broadway and regional directing work includes 2:22 A Ghost Story (Lucille Lortel Theatre, following runs in the West End, Melbourne, and a UK tour) and Guards at the Taj (Central Square Theatre; Boston Globe Top 10 Theatre of 2018). He has directed and developed new work with the Public Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, Atlantic Theater Company, American Repertory Theater, and Williamstown Theatre Festival, and has served as associate director on seven Broadway productions, including Hangmen and Long Day's Journey Into Night.
Half-Cocked is his first film.
Read more at gabrielvegaweissman.com.
Cast
Owen Campbell
Louis
Film work includes: A24’s X, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Super Dark Times, As You Are. Owen has recurred on FX’s "The Americans" and HBO's "Boardwalk Empire", among other television series.
RJ Vaillancourt
Nick
Screen work includes: CBS' "The Equalizer," CBS' "Bull," and Prime Video's "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel." RJ was also featured in the Broadway production of Saint Joan.
Carol Mazhuvancheril
Tyler
Screen work includes: Netflix's "Russian Doll," " TBS' "The Last OG", and a recurring roles on HBO's "The Time Traveler's Wife," and Netflix's "The Diplomat."
Ryan Spahn
Mo
Recent TV: Nebula's "Sub/liminal," Netflix's "Zero Day," FX's "Elsbeth," and "American Horror Story: Delicate," HBO's "Succession," and NBC's "Chicago P.D.."
Ryan co-wrote He’s Way More Famous Than You and is the playwright of Inspired By True Events. Juilliard graduate.
Team
Story by
Brian Reno & Gabriel Vega Weissman
Editor
Lillian Pachter
Costume Designer
Kelsey Ettman
Producer
Logan Reed
Music by
Avenida B
Associate Producer
Zach Blane
Director of Photography
Jack Davis
Production Designer
Almudena Caminero
Press
Festival Recognition
Director's Statement
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Half-Cocked began with a memory: standing in the kitchen of my childhood home, wearing a dusty leather jacket, an eye pencil stubble dotted on my face, carrying a coiled whip and, most critically, a pistol on my hip. I was a dead ringer for Indiana Jones on Halloween 1997. Guns fascinated me the way they fascinate a lot of kids, as toys, as costume pieces, as something abstract. That changed the day I actually held a real one and felt what it was built to do. The gap between those two things, the plaything and the weapon, is where this film lives.
I wanted to write a story that puts people who think of themselves as safely removed from gun culture directly in a room with one, and watch what happens to their convictions under pressure. Three broke roommates, a gun dealer, and an apartment that gets smaller and more dangerous with every decision they make.
Contact
For press, festival, or general inquiries:
Logan Reed
press@230jay.com
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