Deadline (2012 film)
Encyclopedia
Deadline is a 2012 American
mystery
drama film
directed by Curt Hahn
with a screenplay
by former Charlotte Observer managing editor Mark Ethridge
, based upon his novel Grievances which was inspired by actual events. The film stars Steve Talley
and Academy Award nominee Eric Roberts
. Deadline was shot in the Nashville, Tennessee
area, including at the Rippavilla Plantation
in Spring Hill
and at the Gannett-owned newspaper The Tennessean
.
youth in rural Alabama
that has gone uninvestigated, unsolved and unpunished for almost twenty years. That changes when Nashville Times reporter Matt Harper (Steve Talley
) meets an idealistic young blueblood bent on discovering the truth. Harper undertakes the investigation despite the opposition of his publisher, violent threats from mysterious forces, a break-up with his fiancée and his father's cancer diagnosis.
) is dispatched from Nashville to cover the murder of the police chief of Amos, Alabama. There he meets Trey Hall (Lauren Jenkins), a 21-year-old blue blood
who lives on her family's hunting plantation. She wants Matt to investigate the nearly 20-year-old unsolved killing of black teenager, Wallace Sampson (Romonte Hamer). Matt decides the unsolved death will jump start his career, and begins investigating. Being distracted, he forgets an appointment related to his upcoming wedding, which casuses his fiancée Delana Calhoun (Anna Felix) to call off their engagement.
Matt asks his editor Walker Burns (Jeremy Childs
) to let him look into the older murder. While Burns notes that Matt is already on hin ice with the publisher (David Ditmore) for a lack of productivity, Burns allows Matt some time to investigate, on the condition that politically-incorrect reporter Ronnie Bullock (Eric Roberts
) accompany him.
Matt and Bullock discover old police files which point to a Klansman who operated 'The Store' near where the shooting occurred. The day before Wallace's murder, someone had attempted to firebomb 'The Store' during a civil rights protest. Just as the two reporters are making headway, Matt's ex-fiancée Delana tells Matt his father Lucas (J.D. Souther), has cancer. Matt and Delana visit Matt’s father, but later fight because Matt hasn’t told his father about the broken engagement and because Matt is critical of his ill father.
Matt and Bullock continue investigating without the publisher’s knowledge. One of their sources, Wallace’s mother Mary Pell Sampson (Jackie Welch), is reluctant to talk to them, and Matt begs Delana to help him by speaking to the woman. Delana reluctantly agrees, not for Matt, but because she dislikes someone getting away with murder. Mary Pell tells Delana that The Store was firebombed because it was a front for prostitution.
The publisher discovers that Matt and Bullock are continuing to work on the story against his orders. After a public confrontation in which Matt challenges the publisher, Matt seeks his father’s help and begins to understand why he has never before received it.
Using his father's advice, Matt and Bullock subvert the publisher and renew the investigation. They ask Delana to help with the interview of Wallace’s girlfriend Vanessa (Maisha Dyson) and Delana again becomes part of the team. Vanessa reveals a crucial clue about someone running from the scene, and Matt and Bullock discover that Judge Buchanan (Tommy Cresswell) owned the store that was firebombed. There’s a nasty confrontation when they ask him about it. Then a car tries to run Delana off the road when she leaves Amos, but she escapes. Matt realizes how much Delana means to him and rushes to comfort her. He delivers a full and complete apology for his self-centered behavior.
Matt and Bullock track down the man running from the scene, Billy ‘Possum’ Baker (Clay Brocker). They learn he’s been an anti-Klan informer and is still undercover but is dying and thus no longer worried about the consequences of coming forward to tell what happened. Just as they publish the story, Matt’s father dies. But Matt arrives in time to make his peace and to hear the words of approval he’s always craved. When Matt has to choose between doing the right thing and doing the professional thing, he makes the right choice and Delana falls back in love with him.
Matt and Bullock’s story leads to indictments. Evidence proves the same gun that killed Wallace Sampson also killed the police chief. The reporters foil an attempt on Possum's life the night before a hearing where everything is made clear and Mary Pell reveals a final shocking truth about the killer that leaves everyone gasping.
The reporters receive a prize for investigative reporting. The town of Amos is transformed. Matt Harper has become a reporter with a conscience, and someone who finally deserves Delana.
on Wednesday, February 15th. On February 21st, The Charlotte Observer will host the next in a series of premieres. The cast and filmmakers will then tour dozens of cities where local newspapers will host a premiere in each city to benefit a local non-profit. The Friday after each premiere, Deadline will open in the markets that have had premieres that week. The tour will conclude in April 2012 when Deadline will open nationwide.
Deadline had a private screening at the APME Conference in Denver, Colorado
in September, 2011.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
mystery
Mystery
Mystery, mysteries, or mysterious may refer to:-Religion:* Sacred mysteries, supernatural phenomena associated with a divinity or religious ideology* Mystery play, a form of medieval European dramatic theatre dealing with religious themes...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Curt Hahn
Curt Hahn
Curt Hahn is a filmmaker and entrepreneur best known for his feature films No Regrets and Deadline . Hahn is a pioneer of intelligent independent filmmaking who works outside the Hollywood studio system....
with a screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
by former Charlotte Observer managing editor Mark Ethridge
Mark Ethridge
Mark Ethridge III is a novelist, screenwriter, and the president of Carolina Parenting, Inc. which publishes Charlotte Parent magazine and the parenting magazines in Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point and Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill...
, based upon his novel Grievances which was inspired by actual events. The film stars Steve Talley
Steve Talley
Steve Talley is an American actor who played Dwight Stifler in later films of the American Pie film series.-Career:...
and Academy Award nominee Eric Roberts
Eric Roberts
Eric Anthony Roberts is an American actor. His career began with King of the Gypsies , earning a Golden Globe nomination for best actor debut. He starred as the protagonist in the 1980 dramatisation of Willa Cather's 1905 short story, Paul's Case...
. Deadline was shot in the Nashville, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
area, including at the Rippavilla Plantation
Rippavilla Plantation
Rippavilla Plantation is an historical site and museum located in Spring Hill, Tennessee. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.-External links:* - official site* http://rippavilla.org/...
in Spring Hill
Spring Hill
-Australia:*Spring Hill, New South Wales , a small town near the city of Orange*Spring Hill, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane*Spring Hill, New South Wales , a suburb of Wollongong, New South Wales-United States:* Spring Hill, California...
and at the Gannett-owned newspaper The Tennessean
The Tennessean
The Tennessean is the principal daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky....
.
Synopsis
Deadline is the story of the murder of an African AmericanAfrican American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
youth in rural Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
that has gone uninvestigated, unsolved and unpunished for almost twenty years. That changes when Nashville Times reporter Matt Harper (Steve Talley
Steve Talley
Steve Talley is an American actor who played Dwight Stifler in later films of the American Pie film series.-Career:...
) meets an idealistic young blueblood bent on discovering the truth. Harper undertakes the investigation despite the opposition of his publisher, violent threats from mysterious forces, a break-up with his fiancée and his father's cancer diagnosis.
Plot
Young newsparer reporter Matt Harper (Steve TalleySteve Talley
Steve Talley is an American actor who played Dwight Stifler in later films of the American Pie film series.-Career:...
) is dispatched from Nashville to cover the murder of the police chief of Amos, Alabama. There he meets Trey Hall (Lauren Jenkins), a 21-year-old blue blood
Blue blood
Blue blood may refer to:* Nobility or social prominence- Music :* "Blue Blood", a song by Foals from the album Total Life Forever* Blue Blood, an EP by Atrocity* Blue Blood , 2001...
who lives on her family's hunting plantation. She wants Matt to investigate the nearly 20-year-old unsolved killing of black teenager, Wallace Sampson (Romonte Hamer). Matt decides the unsolved death will jump start his career, and begins investigating. Being distracted, he forgets an appointment related to his upcoming wedding, which casuses his fiancée Delana Calhoun (Anna Felix) to call off their engagement.
Matt asks his editor Walker Burns (Jeremy Childs
Jeremy Childs
Jeremy Childs is an American actor and writer from Nashville, Tennessee.Childs wrote and has performed in the Vampire Monologues, which played in Nashville at Halloween to a packed house in 2002 and 2004...
) to let him look into the older murder. While Burns notes that Matt is already on hin ice with the publisher (David Ditmore) for a lack of productivity, Burns allows Matt some time to investigate, on the condition that politically-incorrect reporter Ronnie Bullock (Eric Roberts
Eric Roberts
Eric Anthony Roberts is an American actor. His career began with King of the Gypsies , earning a Golden Globe nomination for best actor debut. He starred as the protagonist in the 1980 dramatisation of Willa Cather's 1905 short story, Paul's Case...
) accompany him.
Matt and Bullock discover old police files which point to a Klansman who operated 'The Store' near where the shooting occurred. The day before Wallace's murder, someone had attempted to firebomb 'The Store' during a civil rights protest. Just as the two reporters are making headway, Matt's ex-fiancée Delana tells Matt his father Lucas (J.D. Souther), has cancer. Matt and Delana visit Matt’s father, but later fight because Matt hasn’t told his father about the broken engagement and because Matt is critical of his ill father.
Matt and Bullock continue investigating without the publisher’s knowledge. One of their sources, Wallace’s mother Mary Pell Sampson (Jackie Welch), is reluctant to talk to them, and Matt begs Delana to help him by speaking to the woman. Delana reluctantly agrees, not for Matt, but because she dislikes someone getting away with murder. Mary Pell tells Delana that The Store was firebombed because it was a front for prostitution.
The publisher discovers that Matt and Bullock are continuing to work on the story against his orders. After a public confrontation in which Matt challenges the publisher, Matt seeks his father’s help and begins to understand why he has never before received it.
Using his father's advice, Matt and Bullock subvert the publisher and renew the investigation. They ask Delana to help with the interview of Wallace’s girlfriend Vanessa (Maisha Dyson) and Delana again becomes part of the team. Vanessa reveals a crucial clue about someone running from the scene, and Matt and Bullock discover that Judge Buchanan (Tommy Cresswell) owned the store that was firebombed. There’s a nasty confrontation when they ask him about it. Then a car tries to run Delana off the road when she leaves Amos, but she escapes. Matt realizes how much Delana means to him and rushes to comfort her. He delivers a full and complete apology for his self-centered behavior.
Matt and Bullock track down the man running from the scene, Billy ‘Possum’ Baker (Clay Brocker). They learn he’s been an anti-Klan informer and is still undercover but is dying and thus no longer worried about the consequences of coming forward to tell what happened. Just as they publish the story, Matt’s father dies. But Matt arrives in time to make his peace and to hear the words of approval he’s always craved. When Matt has to choose between doing the right thing and doing the professional thing, he makes the right choice and Delana falls back in love with him.
Matt and Bullock’s story leads to indictments. Evidence proves the same gun that killed Wallace Sampson also killed the police chief. The reporters foil an attempt on Possum's life the night before a hearing where everything is made clear and Mary Pell reveals a final shocking truth about the killer that leaves everyone gasping.
The reporters receive a prize for investigative reporting. The town of Amos is transformed. Matt Harper has become a reporter with a conscience, and someone who finally deserves Delana.
Cast
- Eric RobertsEric RobertsEric Anthony Roberts is an American actor. His career began with King of the Gypsies , earning a Golden Globe nomination for best actor debut. He starred as the protagonist in the 1980 dramatisation of Willa Cather's 1905 short story, Paul's Case...
as Ronnie Bullock - Steve TalleySteve TalleySteve Talley is an American actor who played Dwight Stifler in later films of the American Pie film series.-Career:...
as Matt Harper - Anna Felix as Delana Calhoun
- Lauren Jenkins as Trey Hall
- Jackie Welch as Mary Pell Sampson
- J.D. Souther as Lucas Harper
- David DwyerDavid DwyerDavid Dwyer was an Irish soccer player who played in the League of Ireland during the late 80s and early 1990s.Dwyer played for Kilkenny City and Bohemians amongst others during his career in the League of Ireland...
as Everett Hall - Jeremy ChildsJeremy ChildsJeremy Childs is an American actor and writer from Nashville, Tennessee.Childs wrote and has performed in the Vampire Monologues, which played in Nashville at Halloween to a packed house in 2002 and 2004...
as Walker Burns - Darryl Van Leer as Reverend Young
- Maisha Dyson as Vanessa Brown
- Tommy Cresswell as Judge Rutledge Buchanan
- Clay Brocker as Billy 'Possum' Baker
- Joe T. Blankenship as Olen Perringer, Jr.
- David Ditmore as Warren Baxter
- Jenny Littleton as Patty Paysinger
- Romonte Hamer as Wallace Sampson
- Tucker PerryTucker PerryTucker Nichol Perry is a beauty queen from Franklin, Tennessee who held the Miss Tennessee USA title and competed in the Miss USA pageant in 2010.-Pageants:...
as Young Vanessa Brown - Larry WoodsLarry WoodsLarry Dobie Woods is a former professional American football player who played in six NFL seasons from 1971-1976 for the four different teams. He currently lives in Houston with his wife, Rose and has two children, a son named LeVar and a daughter named Yoshina.-External links:*...
as Max McCallum - D'Army BaileyD'Army BaileyD'Army Bailey is an attorney, retired circuit court judge, civil rights activist, author and film actor, born in Memphis, Tennessee. He also served as a city councilman in Berkeley, California, from 1971-73....
as Judge Williams - Denice Hicks as Dr. Deborah Wright
- Amelia Hahn as Emma Jean Thornton
- Kennedi Hall as Ella Churchwell
- Genma Holmes as Possum's Wife
- Jessejames Locorriere as Earl Thornton
- Ian Quinn as Defense Attorney
- Yuri CunzaYuri CunzaYuri Cunza is a Hispanic-American writer, filmmaker, journalist, visual artist, community advocate and business leader. Cunza serves as President and CEO of the Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and is co-founder and editor in chief of the Spanish language newspaper La Noticia and owner...
as Bailiff - Hunter Atkins (a Nashville banker and an investor in the film) as Ray
Release
Deadline will have its world premiere in Nashville hosted by The TennesseanThe Tennessean
The Tennessean is the principal daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky....
on Wednesday, February 15th. On February 21st, The Charlotte Observer will host the next in a series of premieres. The cast and filmmakers will then tour dozens of cities where local newspapers will host a premiere in each city to benefit a local non-profit. The Friday after each premiere, Deadline will open in the markets that have had premieres that week. The tour will conclude in April 2012 when Deadline will open nationwide.
Deadline had a private screening at the APME Conference in Denver, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
in September, 2011.