The 2014 Austin Film Festival kicked off Thursday night in downtown Austin, TX. Directors, writers, actors and cinematographers attended the premiere for their new films.
Every year the crowd enjoys movie screenings at the Paramount Theatre, conferences held at the Austin Convention Center, and different panelists speaking over at the Driskill Hotel. This year was the screening of the new film Phantom Halo, starring The Originals' Sebastian Roché and Pretty Little Liars' Luke Kleintank.
Phantom Halo tells the story of two brothers, Samuel and Beckett Emerson, who strive to overcome their drunken father's nasty gambling problem. While Samuel, who is played by Game of Throne's star Thomas Brodie, distracts crowds of bystanders with his Shakespearean monologues, his brother Beckett, who is played by Luke Kleintank, makes his way through the crowd pick-pocketing. Shakespeare and petty thievery are eventually abandoned by Samuel's belief in his favorite comic book, "Phantom Halo," and their friend's ability to counterfeit $100 bills. Suddenly, Samuel and Beckett become trapped in a world in which they have to break free from before it is too late.
Sebastian Roché's attraction to the script was an immediate one.
"As soon as I read the script, I thought I wanted to be in the movie. It was beautifully written. It's not only the story of these three characters. There's this parallel story, this sort of gangster story, but it's really about the relationship between these two brothers and the father. I just love the depth of the characters, the character's were so well drawn, every single one of them. So, I jumped right into it," said Roche.
From working with Thomas Brodie to working with Jordan Dunn, Kleintank highlights one of his favorite scenes about the film.
"Me and Jordan's character there's a scene where we counterfeit a bunch of money and we go and buy a Bentley we dress up in our suits and we're from the hood. You know what I mean. And it shot in 60 frames per seconds, and it's this slow motion kind of montage. It's really cool." said Kleintank.