Interview:
Chris Carpenter,
actor,
Jeff Carpenter,
screenwriter,
Marcy Carpenter,
producer,
"Hero Mode"
The family that creates together, stays together. Onscreen, the family film Hero Mode focuses on the efforts by a teenage coding genius to save the videogame development company founded by his parents. Offscreen, Hero Mode represents the first film made by the Austin-based Carpenter family. Eighteen-year-old Chris Carpenter, an actor and a contributor to the YouTube channel GameXplain, stars as Troy Mayfield, who takes on the burden of fixing a glitchy videogame that could potentially ruin Playfield Games if unveiled “as is” at a major gaming convention. Hero Mode is written by Chris Carpenter’s father Jeff and produced by his mother Marcy through their Austin-based Lost Trail Productions. Chris Carpenter’s sister Ellie also served as an intern in the art department to truly make Hero Mode a family affair. Hero Mode costars Mira Sorvino as Troy’s widowed mother Kate and the anxious CEO of Playfield Games. Sean Astin plays the aggrieved lead designer Jimmy, who immediately clashes with Troy after Kate tasks her son with dragging Jimmy’s game “Jackhammer” out of development hell. The cast also includes Monte Markham, 24’s Mary Lynn Rajskub, The Office’s Creed Bratton, Parks and Recreations’ Jim O'Heir, Atypical’s Kimia Behpoornia, Chicken Girls’ Indiana Massara, and sitcom fixture Nelson Franklin. Directed by A.J. Tesler, Hero Mode, which opened June 4 in Austin, is now available for digital and on-demand viewing. Chris Carpenter previously appeared in the locally shot features As Far as the Eye Can Seeand Amanda & Jack Go Glamping. Hero Moderepresents Jeff Carpenter’s debut as a screenwriter. Marcy Carpenter previously served as an executive producer of Amanda & Jack Go Glamping. Jeff and Marcy Carpenter founded Lost Trail Productions in 2018. Posted: June 9, 2021. Aired: June 24, 2021. Web sites: https://www.heromodefilm.com/ https://www.bluefoxentertainment.com/films/hero-mode https://www.losttrailproductions.com |
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