Eyeball Eddie
Eyeball Eddie is a 2001 American short dark comedy, produced at the USC School of Cinema-Television in partial fulfillment of the requirements for an MFA degree,1 and directed by Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum from a screenplay by Nick Pustay. Alex Kasper (credited as Alexis Kasperavicius) co-produced.2
Plot
Eddie Malick is a 14-year-old high school wrestler who struggles in matches and feels self-conscious about his prosthetic eye. When the eye accidentally dislodges during a bout, it startles his opponent and hands Eddie an unexpected win. He starts removing it deliberately to distract opponents, and his sudden success draws attention at school and boosts attendance at wrestling meets. His teammate Skelley, initially dismissive, starts hanging around him and takes the prosthetic eye to a party, where it’s damaged. After discovering this and fighting Skelley, Eddie’s eye shatters entirely. The film ends with Eddie competing without it, wearing a patch instead.
Cast
Production
Producers on the film included Kasper and Rosenbaum, with Martin Cohen (DreamWorks’ head of post-production) and Erica Frauman as executive producers; director Gary Fleder mentored the project. The screenplay was registered with the WGA on January 1, 1999, and the production packet assembled to solicit donor and industry support listed backers including Jack Nicholson, Brett Ratner, Cary Woods, and Scott Rosenberg.2 Matthew Jensen served as cinematographer; Brett Hedlund and Tripp Reed edited the film, with music by Steve Weisberg.1
Release and Festival Screenings
The film premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, in January 2001,43 then screened at USC’s own First Look Festival that April.56 It went on to play the Maryland, Los Angeles, Nashville, Oldenburg International, Sidewalk Moving Picture,7 and Stony Brook8 film festivals, along with Moomba’s Short Film Forum in West Hollywood.
Reception
Reviewing the film for Film Threat out of Slamdance, Morgan Miller praised M. Emmet Walsh’s performance as Eddie’s coach, quoting his line to Eddie: “You may have an eye made of glass, but let me tell you something, you’ve got balls made of brass.” Miller’s overall verdict was more mixed, calling the film “a clichéd, predictable dark comedy.”9
The film picked up several festival honors: the Audience Choice Award for Short Film at the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival,1011 a tie for the Audience Award at the Stony Brook Film Festival,12 an Honorable Mention for Best Short Film at the Nashville Film Festival,13 and a win at Telluride Indiefest.14
Related Articles
References
- a b c Eyeball Eddie. OCLC WorldCat. 2001.
- a b Eyeball Eddie Production Information Packet. Pupil Productions. 1999.
- a b Eyeball Eddie -- Slamdance Film Festival Promotional Postcard. Pupil Productions. 2001.
- ^ “Slamdance Film Festival Kicks Off Jan. 20 With 'Brooklyn Babylon,' Other Special Screenings”. The Salt Lake Tribune. December 24, 2000.
- ^ USC First Look Invitation 2001. USC School of Cinema-Television. 2001.
- ^ USC First Look Festival Program, April 2001. USC School of Cinema-Television. April 2001.
- ^ “Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival Schedule”. The Birmingham News. September 28, 2001.
- ^ “Cover Story”. Newsday. July 13, 2001.
- ^ Miller, Morgan (February 26, 2001). “Eyeball Eddie”. Film Threat.
- ^ “Sidewalk: Director: More attendance this year”. The Birmingham News. October 1, 2001.
- ^ “Festival”. Birmingham Post-Herald. October 1, 2001.
- ^ Parks, Steve (July 31, 2001). “LI Film Winners”. Newsday.
- ^ “NIFF Winners”. Knoxville News-Sentinel. June 16, 2002.
- ^ “Telluride Indiefest – 2001”. IMDb. 2001.