Over the weekend, a brand new poker movie debuted, “Shark Out of Water.” The film, which stars Matty Finochio and Artine Brown, also features poker pros Brad Booth and Ultimate Bet front man Phil Hellmuth.
“Shark Out of Water” is a Made in the Shade and Strangeways production showing the ups and downs of professional poker life. Producer Andrew Halliwell told Poker News Daily how the flick came to fruition: “The director and I worked on a small project before this, a television pilot. He approached me with a script he had written. He’s an avid player and he wrote a script for a short film and asked if I would produce it. I gave it a read and we went to work on it. That was two years ago.”
“Shark Out of Water” was nominated for Leo Awards for Best Short Drama, Best Direction, Best Performance, and Best Musical Score. It weighs in at 18 minutes and its DVD is available for purchase via Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and PayPal for $9.95. It will ultimately be released through iTunes to ensure wider distribution, but is currently only available through the “Shark Out of Water” website.
In the movie’s trailer, Hellmuth, clad in Ultimate Bet attire, is seated next to Brown. Upon seeing his opponent’s shark card protector that looks like a keepsake Humberto Brenes would use, Hellmuth inquires, “That’s a nice shark you have there. Is that what you are, a shark?” According to Halliwell, Booth sucks out in a hand against one of the protagonists and Hellmuth gives the viewing audience a top-tier “Poker Brat” moment.
Hellmuth requested a fee to appear in “Shark Out of Water” and his part of the movie was recorded in a casino in Vancouver. Halliwell recalled, “Phil Hellmuth was in town to do an event with Annie Duke. We sent a taxi to bring him to a local casino. After we finished shooting his scenes, we got one of our directors (Juan Riedinger) to play him heads-up for a fee. You have to watch the DVD’s bonus features to find out what happened.” Hellmuth is the all-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner with 11, one more than Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan. His last piece of hardware came in 2007 in a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event.
On Finochio’s and Brown’s performances in the film, Halliwell noted, “They brought the realism of poker to life. It’s a double-edge sword and that’s what we were trying to convey with the film. A lot of people enjoy the game and have no problems, while others get too deep.” The 50-second trailer available on the movie’s official website includes such memorable quotes as “I guess sometimes luck comes into play” and “I’m having a bad run. It happens.”
“Shark Out of Water” was an Official Selection at the Miami Short Film Festival, the Edmonton International Film Festival, the Tacoma Film Festival, the Mississauga Independent Film Festival, and the Nevada City Film Festival. Despite its 18-minute runtime, the movie’s bonus features add a considerable amount of content. Its website explains, “The DVD is jam-packed with bonus features which include behind-the-scenes footage of ‘Yukon’ Brad Booth and Phil Hellmuth.”
“Shark Out of Water” isn’t Hellmuth’s first gander onto the silver screen. The pro also appeared in “All In,” Woody Harrelson’s “The Grand,” and the Eric Bana classic “Lucky You.” He could be spotted on the NBC reality franchise “Celebrity Apprentice” earlier this year supporting Duke and has also appeared on a variety of poker television programming including NBC’s “Poker After Dark” and GSN’s “High Stakes Poker.”
