August Evening (SXSW alumni 2007) heads for an August theatrical release and director Chris Eska (pictured left) heads back to Austin to roost, where he makes his home. SXSW’s Lya Guerra catches up with the director as he winds down his festival circuit run and prepares for the film’s opening.

Lya Guerra: Was August Evening shot in Austin?

Chris Eska: No, it was shot around Gonzales and San Antonio. But most of the crew and some of the cast were from Austin. Many were University of Texas students. I also lived in Austin while editing. Maybe that had something to do with the first cut being 3 hours long?

LG: Where did you find your actors?

CE: We had several casting sessions and callbacks in Austin, as well as 2 weeks of casting in Los Angeles. However, the two leads were first time actors. Pedro Castaneda is a non-actor whom I ran into on the street in San Antonio. He was installing computer networks and was wearing these great boots and I just walked up to him and asked him if he’d ever thought about being in a film. He took the treatment home and discussed it with his family and decided it was something he felt was important enough to take a long time off work and come down to our filmmaking commune in Gonzales for a few months. Then this year he was nominated for best actor at the independent spirit awards alongside Oscar winners like Philip Seymour Hoffman and Don Cheadle! It’s been a crazy ride for all of us.

LG: How’s Pedro doing after his brush with “independent” fame?

CE: Pedro has been having a ball. He really enjoyed walking the red carpet and seeing all the stars at the spirit awards and he’s been somewhat of a local celebrity in San Antonio with several TV news stories and articles. They even named a street for him in Laredo!

LG: Do you think Pedro is a one in a million discovery ala Lana Turner style, or do you believe you’ll follow your intuition again to cast a lead in another film?

CE: As for working with non-actors versus professionals, I think I’ll always do both. It just depends on the project, and I might even mix the two in the same project. But I’d never cast a big name in a role like Pedro’s where it only makes sense to have an unrecognizable face.

LG: Besides winning the Cassavetes Award for best film at the 2008 Spirit Awards, August Evening has had an extremely successful festival run, including critical acclaim and festival awards, do you have mixed feelings leaving the festival circuit for the big bold world of theatrical release?


CE: Of course I’ll be a little sad to leave behind the festival circuit, with all the friends I make and the audiences that are guaranteed to be open to art films and the occasional free trips to places like Portugal (where I’m writing this from!). But the theatrical release is everyone’s dream and what I’ve always looked forward to. It will be a small traditional arthouse release in major cities, starting in Manhattan. I really hope cinephiles come out to support the film because the truly indie theatrical world is in danger of disappearing.

LG: Was there ever any discussion to release August Evening during any month other than august? Seriously.

CE: Yes! As is often the case with distribution, it takes longer than planned. We first thought it would be February, then April, and now hopefully August!

LG: You have recently moved back to Austin from L.A. is this a temporary respite from the hustle bustle of the film industry, or do you see yourself able to live in Austin and make the films you want?

CE: I was out there off and on for several years for film school and then dealing with distribution. “I’m not a fan of LA” is the nicest way I usually put it. I’ll always live in Texas. It’s always been my home. Sometimes I have to go to LA or even other countries to make the films that are important to me, but then I return to Austin. I’m here indefinitely, and am glad to be back.

LG: Do you have plans for your next project? If so, what stage are you at thus far?


CE: I specifically came home to concentrate and write (so I hopefully won’t be out and about town too often over the next few months!). I’ve been kicking around ideas that are emotional suspense films. One is about cave diving, and the other is a surrogate father-son story.
Everyone in LA has told me that I need to make my next film in English with a known cast or else I’ll basically be starting over at square one. I’m not sure yet, but luckily the films I want to make are flexible in terms of locations and languages–the emotion is what’s important to me so we’ll have to wait and see if it turns out to be shot in Texas or in India or who knows where.


www.augustevening.com , www.chriseska.com