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What We Do in the Shadows actor Harvey Guillén and The Orville’s Adrianne Palicki are set to lead the cast of the pickleball mockumentary film Pickleheads.

According to Deadline, Josh Flanagan and Pej Vahdat will co-direct the original comedy mockumentary Pickleheads, starring Harvey Guillén and Adrianne Palicki. Vahdat, who also acts in the film, will make his feature-length directorial debut with Pickleheads after appearing in featured roles on hit shows such as Jeff Bridges' The Old Man, Empire, and Bones. Other cast members include Kristine Froseth, Eric Nelsen, Ryan Cooper, Lindsey Morgan, Sam Humphrey, and Jared Bonner.

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Pickleheads is written by Bonner, who most recently penned Cottonmouth, starring The Magnificent Seven’s Martin Sensmeier and Hellboy’s Ron Perlman.

Exclusive: Harvey Guillén (What We Do in the Shadows), Adrianne Palicki (John Wick) and John O’Hurley (Seinfeld) are leading the cast of the indie pickleball mockumentary, Pickleheads.

The film’s cast also includes Pej Vahdat (The Old Man), Kristine Froseth (Sharp Stick), Eric Nelsen (1883), Ryan Cooper (Rough Night), Lindsey Morgan (The 100), Sam Humphrey (The Greatest Showman) and the film’s screenwriter Jared Bonner.

The homemade mockumentary “directed” by Arash Bardot (Vahdat) follows the weirdly lovable Barney Bardot (Bonner), who returns to civilization after a shameful, televised loss in Ping Pong eight years before Angus Caan (Cooper), which led him to recluse in the woods. Arash hopes for a “return to glory” story to save their family home from the estate agent at the door, Gayle Plankton (Guillén). But, with too much trauma surrounding his Ping Pong history, Barney cannot return to the small table.

Fortuitously, they meet the sweet and...

While the writers are back at developing projects, film and TV productions have not yet returned in full swing with the actors’ union, SAG-AFTRA, still on strike. There are a few projects that have been given the go-ahead to start principle photography during this time with a waiver from SAG-AFTRA. This includes a Kevin Smith film titled The 4:30 Movie, as well as some projects from M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter, Ishana, Sam Raimi and Mel Gibson. According to Deadline, a western starring Ron Pearlman and Esai Morales titled, Cottonmouth, has also started production in Oklahoma with a waiver.

The film stars an ensemble featuring actors Martin Sensmeier, from Westworld, Ron Perlman known for Hellboy, Esai Morales, who can recently be seen in Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, Eric Nelsen, seen in Paramount+’s 1883, Jonathan Sadowski from Chernobyl Diaries, Alyssa Wapanatâhk, who can be seen in Peter Pan & Wendy, James Landry Hébert,...

Exclusive: Western thriller Cottonmouth entered production last week in Oklahoma after receiving a SAG interim agreement.

Cast includes Martin Sensmeier (Westworld), Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Esai Morales (Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning), Eric Nelsen (1883), Jonathan Sadowski (Chernobyl Diaries), Alyssa Wapanatâhk (Peter Pan & Wendy), James Landry Hébert (1883), and Kimberly Guerrero (The Glorias).

Brock Harris (Wild Game) is directing from a script he wrote alongside Jared Bonner.

Set in 1895, the film follows friends Ed and Frank (Sensmeier and Sadowski) who become brutal enemies in Oklahoma frontier territory when a rivalry develops over a woman (Wapanatâhk) who is set to inherit a prominent saloon. After a bounty hunter (Nelsen) makes Ed disappear to a tortuous prison run by a sinister warden (Perlman), he must learn the ways of an outlaw from a prison-mate (Morales) to escape and exact his revenge.

Pic is being produced by Randy Wayne and Talia Bella under their production company Rebellium Films,...

The Austin Film Festival (Aff) has announced the 2022 Film Competition Jury and Audience Award winners alongside the Screenplay Competition winners. In the festival, writers are recognized for their contribution to film, television, theatre and new media. The competitions received over 5,000 film submissions and over 10,000 script submissions.

Film Jury Awards

Narrative Feature: Welcome, Violeta!, written by Fernando Fraiha & Inés Bortagaray, directed by Fernando Fraiha

Documentary Feature: With this Light, directed by Nicole Bernardi-Reis & Laura Bermúdez

Comedy Vanguard Feature: The Library Boys, written/directed by Zane Borg

Dark Matters Feature: The Domestic, written/directed by Brad Katzen

Narrative Short: One for Sorrow, Two for Joy, written/directed by Ana Yang

Student Short: Sammy, Without Strings, written by Will Henderson, III & Ralph Parker, III, directed by Ralph Parker, III

Documentary Short: Gina, directed by Kathryn Prescott

Animated Short: Rosemary A.D. (After Dad), directed by Ethan Barrett

Produced Digital Series: Serjan Bratan, written by Alisher Utev & Sergei Litovchenko,...