Producer Tyler Davidson’s latest film may unfold on the sun-flecked beaches of Texas’ Gulf Coast, but the project has plenty of Cleveland cred.
Based on a novel by True Detective mastermind Nic Pizzolatto, Galveston follows a dying hit man’s redemptive road trip with a teenage call girl as they flee New Orleans for the titular city. But the seedy ’80s crime drama was produced by Davidson’s Aurora-based Low Spark Films, the production company behind Cleveland-shot gems The Land and The Kings Of Summer. What’s more, Bay Village’s Lili Reinhart, the breakout star of the CW’s Riverdale, stars along with Ben Foster, Elle Fanning and Beau Bridges.
“Being based in Cleveland gives me a competitive advantage in the film industry,” says Davidson, a Chagrin Falls native. “In Cleveland, I can come downstairs in sweatpants and get my work done, as opposed to taking nonessential meetings in Los Angeles where you have to sit in traffic and cast your appearance in a stifling, status-obsessed way.”
So much of Galveston takes place on the road that it’s fitting Davidson traveled similarly far to get the story from page to screen. Agents first sent him the script in 2014 because the dark plot seemed consistent with previous thrillers he produced, especially 2011’s Take Shelter, which was filmed in Grafton, Elyria and LaGrange.
From first read, Davidson says, he was hooked on the script’s high-quality storytelling, emotional journeys and character-driven narratives.
“In a piece like Galveston, there was a similar alchemy going on [to Take Shelter],” says Davidson. “It was very much a relationship story with a lot of intimacy, but it still had the backdrop of a crime thriller.”
But the film stalled after the project couldn’t get a cast together with Galveston’s original director. So, Low Spark Films bought the rights to the script and Pizzolatto’s book and completely revamped the project, replacing the director with Melanie Laurent.
A French actress best known for her role in Inglourious Basterds, Laurent makes her English-language directorial debut with Galveston. She decided to shift the focus from Foster’s conflicted hit man, who flees an assassination attempt by his former boss (Bridges), to a shared story between Foster and Fanning’s Raquel, a call girl with a mysterious sister, played by Reinhart.
“I fully credit Melanie and her vision,” says Davidson. “She made it much more of a story about these two characters coexisting with equal weight.”
Finally, to get the script in line with Laurent’s ideas, Davidson decided life should imitate art. “Melanie and I drove from New Orleans to Galveston to recreate the trip the characters take in the film,” says Davidson. “Along the way, we went line by line through the script and so many ideas came to life along the road.”
The film premiered at South By Southwest in March with a nationwide release Oct. 19. Although Galveston takes place deep in the South, Davidson is confident that the film can touch Cleveland audiences.
“I just want people to be moved emotionally,” says Davidson. “I really feel we have achieved that through this film.”
Role Call
Since trading Bay Village for Hollywood, Lili Reinhart took off like a rocket. After landing the plum role of Betty Cooper on Riverdale, the 22-year-old has covered Cosmopolitan and Seventeen and won multiple Teen Choice Awards. In Galveston, she trades Archie Comics for darker thrills. Frequent collaborator Tyler Davidson reflects on her biggest roles to date.
the Kings of Summer
Reinhart didn’t have many acting credits when she was cast in Davidson’s 2013 Chagrin Falls-filmed coming-of-age story. She plays Vicki, a friend of the trio of boys who escape to an adult-free house in the woods. “I met her and her mother for breakfast at Lucky’s in Tremont,” he says. “I knew right away that she was something special. She was just great in that film.”
Riverdale
Reinhart’s deceptively sweet portrayal of Archie Comics’ Betty Cooper on the CW teen soap made Reinhart an instant fan-favorite. “She’s one of the actors who really carries that show,” says Davidson.
Galveston
Reinhart doesn’t nab much screen time as Tiffany, the sister of Elle Fanning’s conflicted call girl Raquel. But Davidson promises that her scenes are difficult to forget. “She crushed it.”
