Lone Star Film Festival
As the Lone Star Film Festival gets underway in Fort Worth, one short film is already making waves with its exploration of family, ambition, and the shadows of the past. Following its world premiere at the Austin Film Festival, “The Writer” screens on Tuesday, Nov. 4, at 4:45 p.m. inside The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth as part of the festival’s shorts block, with a post-screening Q&A to follow.
Written and directed by Austin Glasser and Luke Maddenwald, the short stars Jefferson White of “Yellowstone”, Neal McDonough, also from “Yellowstone and “Tulsa King”, and Sara Paxton, “Aquamarine,” “Good Girls,” “Blonde,” “Weapons”, alongside Sherri Saum, “The Fosters,” “Good Trouble” and Kariana Karhu.
The film tells the story of Henry (White), a self-isolated screenwriter haunted by the ghost of his father (McDonough) in a lonely fishing cabin. Pressured by his manipulative agent, Lynn (Saum), and recent Hollywood success, Henry pours himself into scripts for an action franchise he cares little about. As his isolation strains his marriage to Zoe (Paxton) and his bond with daughter Amber (Karhu), the story crescendos to a raw confession of faults, fears, and regrets — a reckoning with what truly matters.
Lone Star Film Festival
“’The Writer’ is a beautiful script, and the team put together a remarkable cast,” White says. “Austin is an incredibly committed, generous artist, and it was an honor to collaborate with him.”
The short also carries a distinctly Texas pedigree behind the camera. Fort Worth native Ben McBurnett served as Director of Photography, building a career from grip trucks to major projects in the Taylor Sheridan universe, “Yellowstone,” “Lioness,” “Landman”, with work featured on Paramount+, Disney+, Netflix, Hulu, and more. Executive Producer Red Sanders, through Red Productions, lent further local expertise, continuing his work expanding the Fort Worth film scene with collaborations that span from Kendrick Lamar to the streaming series “Fruitcake Fraud.”
For Glasser, the Texas connection runs deeper than the crew. A fourth-generation filmmaker and Dodge College of Film and Media graduate, he self-financed “The Writer” to bring one of his personal stories to life.
“We had the opportunity to film in Texas, and it just feels right that we get the chance to show in Texas as well,” Glasser said in a release. “My biggest wish for those who see the film is to not be afraid of following their dreams, but that they can always find another path to get there and that our happiness, along with the happiness of others, can be our greatest guide.”
