Interview:
Jared Bonner,
star/writer,
Josh Flanagan,
director,
"Pickleheads"
In director Josh Flanagan’s Austin-shot sports comedy Pickleheads, a disgraced ping pong star suffers a mid-court crisis when he swaps his racquet for a pickleball paddle. Played by Austin-based screenwriter Jared Bonner, Barney “The Butcher” Bardot went into hiding in 2017 following a humiliating incident at the Planetary Ping Pong Finals. Barney is lured out of seclusion by his brother Arash, a financially strapped filmmaker who believes a documentary about Barney transitioning from ping pong to pickleball would make him some fast cash. Barney quickly learns that if pickleball was easy, it would be called tennis. So a desperate Barney turns to fiery pickleball die-hard Mia Presley (Kristine Froseth) to coach him up before his first major tournament. But Barney soon comes in the crosshairs of both the loud and obnoxious pickleball pro Hawk Kai and a local group of tennis players irate that they have to share their courts with pickleballers. Pickleheads also stars The First Lady’s Kristine Froseth as Mia, 1883’s Eric Nelsen as Hawk, The Old Man’s Pej Vahdat as Arash, and Seinfeld’s John O’Hurley as TV ping pong analyst Jeffrey Tuggle. The cast also includes Harvey Guillén, Lindsay Morgan, Ryan Cooper, and Adrianne Palicki. Pickleheads will screen at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 29 at the Galaxy Theatres Austin during the Austin Film Festival. Austin-based actor and screenwriter Jared Bonner previously co-wrote Dance Dads and Wild Game as well as the upcoming western Cottonmouth. Former Austinite Josh Flanagan makes his feature film directorial debut with Pickleheads. At Rooster Teeth, Flanagan co-wrote the sci-fi comedy Lazer Team and created the TV series Day One and the miniseries The Eleven Little Roosters.
Aired: Oct. 29, 2025. Web site: https://austinfilmfestival.com/2025-film-schedule/ |
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