First-Time Texas Director Has Festival Hit

When most people get ghosted, they have a cry and move on. Zach Goodwin launched what is quickly becoming an auspicious debut as a film director. 

Stitched has its world premiere in Houston at the 58^th WorldFest Houston International Film Festival on April 28. The film follows a counterfeiter referred to as Dead Ted who is fatally shot after a too-brief reunion with his granddaughter. Waking up in the afterlife, he is forced to relive his entire existence through conversations about him from friends and loved ones starting with the day he is born right up to his demise. Through these behind-the-back interactions, he slowly learns the impact that he’s had on the world and the person he is in other people’s eyes.

Goodwin, 23, was in Los Angeles attending the New York Film Academy when the COVID pandemic hit. He fell in with a group of four friends who did everything in a bubble together, from Goodwin having his first beer to road trips and much more. Then, one member of the group asked him his honest opinion on the other four. A month later, he was accused of gossiping and betraying the rest, blocked, exiled, and alone.

“I reflected on it for weeks, and the conclusion I came to was that gossip says more about the person saying it than the subject itself,” Goodwin said in a phone interview. “They had hyperbolized me into a conniving person. I knew they created a character that wasn’t me, but I thought, ‘What an interesting way to explore a character, all these different versions through dialogue.’”

Goodwin was only 21 when he started working on Stitched, but what he lacked in experience he made up for in boundless energy and surprising savvy. The San Antonio native returned to Texas to shoot, preferring the down-home hospitality of locals to the cutthroat and expensive ways of Hollywood.

“In L.A., you ask to use a house, and it’s $3,000 and needs permits,” he said. “In Texas, you go to churches or restaurants and you wouldn’t even get through the request before they say yes. It’s so supportive of the arts and fellow Texans and making creativity come to life. Rainbow Gardens in Leon Valley? They closed down their entire store and BBQed for us.”

Along for the ride was Phillip-Charlie Daniell, playing Ted. The veteran actor is based in Los Angeles, but grew up in Amarillo and the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Appropriately, he had just starred in an episode of Discovery’s Hustlers, Gamblers, and Crooks. With over 70 acting credits under his belt, Daniell had seen a lot of first-time directors in action, but few like Goodwin.

“The passion of Zach selling it every single day did make it feel kind of special,” he said in a phone interview.” We were in New Braunfels, San Antonio, like 20, 30 locations in 60 days. It was amazing to see him pull that energy out every day. You could just sense it was going to be something special.”

Goodwin’s hustle quickly became legendary. For his crowdfunding campaign, he auctioned off getting a tattoo for the film, which helped push it to $72,000. Back in Texas, he drew on every family member, friend, and acquaintance he could to secure locations, funding, and resources. 

The result shows in the film. While inarguably a low-budget first feature, Goodwin has a knack for compelling moments and great composition. The film is talk-heavy for obvious reasons, but with deft use of sound and angles he makes a small-time crook’s life seem epic. A stellar performance by Daniell helps. He wanders the scenes like a ghost, rarely directly interacting, but the revelations of his life by proxy are written large in every motion or facial expression.

As the WorldFest premiere approached, Goodwin got a call from the box office manager at the Memorial City Cinemark where he was slated to have the premiere. The screening had sold out and was being moved to a bigger cinema. Not a bad start, selling out at a festival that hosted the likes of Steven Spielberg and Ang Lee when they were just starting their storied careers.

“It was wild,” said Goodwin about hearing the news. “It wasn’t until I hung up that I realized I had neglected to buy my own tickets for the show, so I know that it’s not just people I know there. My cinematographer even overhead people talking about it back in L.A.”

Stitched is finding its audience. Goodwin reconnected with his own formerly incarcerated father while the film was in production, and Daniell drew on a lonely childhood being the youngest of eight siblings. For a movie with an enormous cast, it exudes a contemplative loneliness that invites reflection.

“The script was so well planned out and there were so many things I didn’t understand until we did it,” says Daniell. “I know this sounds cliché, but my high school drama teacher once told me that a good film can make you laugh, cry, or think, but a great film will make you do all three. I see something new every time I watch this film, and I think audiences will, too.”