‘Bad Idea’ director gets a little help in Texas
Jason Headley lives in California but has a special place in his heart for Texas.
As a director of commercials and shorts, work has brought him to Houston and DallasFort Worth, while his brother used to live in Lufkin. So when it came time to make his first feature, the indie comedy “A Bad Idea Gone Wrong,” it’s not a complete shock that the San Franciscan decided to shoot it in Fort Worth. (The film opens this week at Alamo Drafthouse in Katy and Studio Movie Grill in Pearland.)
Though, that was more of a happy accident than part of the original plan.
“I had met (Fort Worth producer) Red Sanders and Red Productions in 2014 when I did a little project with them on the commercial side,” Headley said by phone from San Francisco. “(Later) I had this script that
I wanted to make, but I didn’t know what indie film budgets were like so I reached out to Red. … They said, ‘What are you trying to make?’ I sent them the script and a workbook and, a few weeks later, they said, ‘We might be interested in making this film.’ ”
So that’s how, on the Monday after Thanksgiving in 2015, Headley and his cast — including Matt Jones (Badger in “Breaking Bad”) and Will Rogers
(“Bridge of Spies”) — found themselves on the streets of Fort Worth shooting the story of two bumbling thieves who can’t escape the house that they broke into.
“I was quite charmed with Fort Worth, to be honest,” Headley told the
Star-Telegram last year before his film screened at South by Southwest. “It’s a nice little town. A lot of good food and culture and museums.”
Now, Headley is heading back to Texas for his movie’s national rollout. Headley and Jones will appear Friday night at both the Studio Movie Grill (before the film) and Alamo Drafthouse (after the film). And they’re coming here with some acclaim. “A Bad Idea Gone Wrong” won a special jury award at South by Southwest and was honored as best feature at Oklahoma City’s dead Center film festival.
“That was really exciting and surprising,” he said and then laughed. “It’s nice to feel pretty.”
With this week’s theatrical run in 13 markets, as well as the ondemand release, Headley’s two-year ride with this film is officially over. He’s now working on a Pixar project as well as his next feature, which he says will be more dramatic than “A Bad Idea.”
“This is the end of the road,” he said. “I have friends who’ve been saying, ‘When can I see your movie?’ Now, I have an answer.”