Posted in: Exclusive, Interview, Movies | Tagged: Barron's Cove

Barron's Cove Director on Mystery-Thriller, Family, Headlund & More

Writer-director Evan Ari Kelman spoke to Bleeding Cool about his theatrical debut in Well Go USA's Barron's Cove, casting, shorts & more.

Writer and director Evan Ari Kelman has been working his way up the creative ladder for the better part of a dozen years since his debut short, Delicate, in 2012. A handful of projects later, most he's had a hand in writing and directing in, he had his biggest test yet, his debut feature in Well Go USA's Barron's Cove, which follows a father with a violent past (Garrett Hedlund) as he grieves the sudden loss of his only child. Convinced of a cover-up and intent on obtaining answers about his son's death, he kidnaps the troubled boy he holds responsible – the son of a prominent local politician – which ignites a media firestorm and frenzied manhunt. But as he grows ever closer to uncovering the truth, he is left to wonder whether his pursuers are really seeking to protect the boy or merely the secrets he keeps. Kelman spoke to Bleeding Cool about the inspiration behind Barron's Cove, the lessons he's learned from working on his shorts, and lucking out with his ensemble.

Barron's Cove: Evan Ari Kelman on Mystery-Thriller's Family Themes, Evolving as Director, and Ensemble Cast

Bleeding Cool: What's the inspiration behind 'Barron's Cove?'

The inspiration behind 'Barron's Cove' comes from a few different directions. At the heart of it, the inspiration is the relationships I've seen in my life between fathers and sons, and the ways those relationships can be manifested in positive and negative ways. I think generational trauma plays a role in that as well, the patterns that people pick up from their parents, and the ways that you can lean into them or attempt to lean out of them. Part of that is the stories we tell ourselves, whether it's self-limiting stories or ones that are self-empowering; those are important things to think about. Ultimately, the vessel for those themes to be in a true story, I had heard about this crime that happened in the UK, where these two young boys murdered another boy, a classmate. I started to think about, "What would have happened if it went a little differently, and if there was a father who had nothing left to lose?" I was coming from this type of family with this type of father. Suddenly, the story started to take shape, and all these themes and questions that I've been thinking about for so long were sort of able to be painted onto this canvas.

What made the project ideal as your feature debut? What were the most invaluable lessons your prior experience working on your shorts self-taught you that guided you through making this?

That's a great question. I think it's an important question. 'Barron's Cove' was not the first feature film that I wrote, although it was the second film, so not too far behind it. The first film I wrote was a period biopic I was hoping to make, and what you learn is that for your first feature, you tend not to want to do anything too difficult to produce, right? With the first film, it was a period. It takes place in the past, which is expensive with the costumes, locations, and the set design. It was a biopic, which can be difficult to finance if there isn't already talent involved. The best thing I did was write a genre mystery-thriller film that's already more financeable than certain types of other projects, and write an entertaining movie. That's an important piece of it. In terms of experience from my short films, I learned how to do things on a budget. My short films were not made for much money at all. If you watch them, you'll see explosions, stunts, and a lot of fire. I learned how to do that inexpensively and creatively. Characters in these life-or-death stakes, already on a smaller canvas in the short film space, so moving into the feature, you can see a lot of that experience sort of expanded upon.

You have such a talented ensemble here. How did the casting come about, and was there anyone that you had penciled in from the get-go?

Absolutely! I started with the main role of this film, which is Caleb, and Garrett Hedlund was one of the first ideas I had, because he's such an intense, powerful, talented, and committed actor. It was only my dream that he would ever be interested in. Thankfully, my producer had a mutual contact, we were able to get in touch with him, send him the script, and he resonated with and loved it. He understood the [story's] message and potential. He also understood me well, he went through my writing, and wanted to meet. Pretty quickly, [Garrett] came aboard the project, which was one of the happiest days of my life. It was a dream come true. From there, we went about casting the rest of the roles, again, it's partly through who's on your network and who's available. It's a whole calculation to figure out what cast is going to fit in it, you know, in the right place, and I was incredibly lucky, because all my first choices were available to be in this film.

Barron's Cove, which also stars Hamish Linklater, Brittany Snow, Stephen Lang, Christian Covery, Tramell Tillman, and Raul Castillo, is available in theaters and on-demand.

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