Friday Night Delight

Technical bullsh*t.

Characters.

Ethan Lee: Ethan is a neurotic, clever teenager with ambitions to take on the world without the means or motivation. His quippiness, charm, and sense of humor tend to be overshadowed naturally by his age. While he is “reaching for the stars,” Ethan overestimates precisely what it takes to get to that point. Perhaps it's the classic naivete of being a teenager with a dream, or maybe a pivotal shortcoming of someone in such a bizarre situation.

Judd Nelson: After serving in the marines during the Saddam-era Iraq War, Judd lost his purpose in life. He’s a chronically lonely person who mostly stays at home and has found some purpose through growing marijuana. His two best friends are Ethan and Amir, high schoolers who he sells his high-quality grass to. Judd’s development stopped after leaving what seemed to be the source of his happiness - comradery. Judd doesn’t understand how to live without it, and Ethan and Amir are a lot more like him than either of them think.

Amir Hoffman: Amir grew up rich on a big plot of land outside the “reality” of his own town, Corpus Christi. He’s the kind of guy who was only dressed by his mother and never cared to learn afterward.. He’s a classic pothead, an easygoing, relaxed, and generally worry-free teenager with a lack of ambition - but perhaps needs something to kickstart a fire that was once with him. Depression can be pretty tough, and being ingrained in a nice house with all the wealth of a lifetime sometimes isn’t the answer to all your problems.

Producción Setting.

While the air is incomparably humid, the wind is far too powerful, and the heat is unforgiving, Corpus Christi, Texas plays a character in this film itself. Friday NIght Delight was shot exclusively in and around Corpus Christi and features trademark “Corpus” locations - like popular local businesses, instantly recognizable public landmarks, and interiors and exteriors of Corpus homes. Corpus Christi hasn’t had the opportunity to express itself on screen in a long time, and the eccentricities of the urban city mixed with the historical parts of downtown, the rural flat land out in the country, and the one-of-a-kind coastline, Corpus Christi will be immortalized as the greatest place on the planet. For real! :)

Bios: The Texas "Boys".

Devon (Writer/Director):Devon Welch has spent years developing his skills as a screenwriter as well as working as a freelance writer for several online publications. He’s looking forward to showcasing his storytelling abilities on a larger scale with this project, and even larger later on. He’s also 6’5.

Scott(Cinematographer):Scott Larson is a cinematographer who graduated from Chapman University with a degree in film production and an emphasis in Cinematography. Daniel and Devon called him and said they had an idea, and he was immediately in. He continues to shoot documentary and narrative films and is currently based in Los Angeles.

Daniel “Daniel” Egnal is an aspiring filmmaker and comedian. After getting the call from Devon about this bizarre idea, he instantly ran the indiegogo that made this project seem a little more real. He’s very thankful to have friends who fill in his holes in such a metaphorical fashion. He hopes that the audience can find the beauty of teamwork through the final product and wishes that this film can go as far as possible. He’s also 6’1 and ½.

Gabriel Lee(Co-Star, Writer):-Welch, Egnal, Lee, and Larson have all been making films together since they were 10 years old in Dallas, Texas. What started as making somewhat interesting fight scenes around Daniel’s neighborhood eventually turned into their first feature made with $20,000 and the best equipment they could possibly get. With their resourcefulness, the film seems like it was made with $100,000 due to it's wide array of locations, star actor Nathan Gershon, and the Arri Alexa Mini paired with the well loved Zeiss Super Speed lenses. The film is visually striking - but relies on the story to hook in the audience.

Cast.

Nathan(Co-Star):
Nathan Gershon attended Harvard University and is working on the new Amazon TV show Panic, has a role in the movie, Vicemares, and even has a role in Richard Linklater’s upcoming film Apollo 10 ½  starring Jack Black and Zachary Levi! He’s a master at playing the unhinged type and certainly fulfilled his archetype as Judd.

Additional Cast:
Marcus Lozano as Jacob Hoffman: Marcus Lozano is the owner of the famed Feathered Friends and Co. in Corpus Christi. He has been a stage actor for local theaters forever and is a Corpus native. Marcus plays Amir’s father Jacob Hoffman - a business man who owns a chain of Jewish sushi restaurants called Sushi Shalom. He doesn’t have a very hands-on relationship with his son and in the 11th hour may not be able to help him out with what happens. Marcus is also an Executive Producer on the project. 
Cris Olvera: Cris Olvera is a Corpus Christi native and is the writer, director, and producer of Corpus Christi’s biggest comedy web series Yikes on YouTube. While playing Luis, an intoxicated partygoer in the soon-to-be famous party scene, Cris acted as Line Producer for the project. You can see Yikes on YouTube now!
Judy McMillan: Judy previously worked with Daniel on his (hopefully by the time you read this) absolutely famous original short film Chef. Judy has been a working actor for a long time crossing many mediums, but she certainly has a specialty for narrative work playing strong characters. She plays Deborah, the Art Museum host during the art museum scene.

Additional crew.

Jake Gonzales: Jake Gonzales is the one-stop-shop for a crew member on any position on any set. He is a Corpus Christi native who was the gaffer and just about everything one can do on set for Friday Night Delight. He brings a special kind of kindness to set, and will give you a warm hug at any time.
Scott Thurman: Scott Thurman is the other producer for Friday Night Delight. He has his own list of accolades mainly in the documentary film realm, including winning 2nd place at Tribeca Film Festival for his documentary The Revisionaries! He wont give you a warm hug, and that’s because it will be wet. 
Gavin Solis: Music and film find it’s convergence in the form of Gavin Solis. A talented musician is exactly what you need for good sound, and Gavin, a Corpus Christi native, uses his expansive knowledge on sound recording and mixing to give the characters a voice - quite literally.
Edward?

Producción notes.

The film was originally intended to be a long-form short film conceived on a phone call between Devon and Daniel on a hot May summer night. Devon was living in Chicago, and Daniel was on his routine lonesome walk around the campus of Texas A&M Corpus Christi, the third best film school in the country. It was a time crunch between May and August to get the film done since everyone would be at their respective schools except Devon, who was attending the school of Hardknocks. We knew we had to make it before school started, so August 3rd-12th were the first 10 days of filming. It was just about the hottest god damn place in the world and Corpus’ weather situation is pretty unpredictable already. When we had to shoot exteriors, it would rain, and when we had to shoot interiors, it wouldn’t - so from the beginning, it was a big game of problem solving. After watching the rough cut of the short film, it was obvious. There needed to be more. It was too long to be a short, and too short to be a feature. So, by November of 2021 it was decided that Friday Night Delight was going to be a feature film. We had secured the funding and in the end it amounted to $20,000. There was one problem - school. So, we just skipped it. We got the gang back together in April of 2022 and shot for a consecutive 10 days. With some additional help from new members of the crew and local businesses, we were able to pump something pretty interesting out. While the second round of filming happened, however, 2 cars broke down on us. The production van, and a cast members’ car. The van was unsalvageable for the remaining duration of filming, so we had to scramble to find a new van that was ALSO being used in the film as an important car. Don’t look too hard;)There was a lot of headache and heartache. A lot of clashing and a lot of slashing. But there was also a lot of love, laughs, and joy. At the end of the day, editing this film is what’s helping us realize that all of the pain and frustration, all the time and money, and everything in between, was all worth it. Or maybe not, that depends on you. It could be shit and we are just stupid.

Go Watch it.

Friday Night Delight is a structurally unconventional indie film with interesting characters, an interesting story, and it’s told in an interesting place. We hope you enjoy it, and if you’re reading this on Friday, we hope you have a delightful Friday Night.