Announcing the October 6, 2023 Wide Release of Andrew Morgan’s Newest Documentary Film:
TEXAS, USA
Following Beto O’Rourke’s Gubernatorial Campaign and Several Other Progressive Candidates and Organizers fighting the Powerful Right Wing Influence in Texas
Cast and Crew-Attended Industry Premiere Screening Events:
9/19 - NYC
9/20 - Washington DC
9/22 - Austin, TX
10/06 - Houston, TX
10/07 - Marfa, TX
Mon, Aug 7, 2023 – Andrew Morgan’s latest feature documentary film, Texas, USA, has been announced with an October 6, 2023 wide digital release with cast-attended premiere events in NYC, Washington DC, Austin, Marfa and Houston, Texas between late September and the release date.
Told through the stories of a group of organizers, activists, and candidates, Texas, USA is a film about the fight for real and lasting change in Texas and beyond, featuring candidates and organizers who never give up on our democracy. This is an underdog story about those who are challenging decades of right-wing power across the state and around the country. The film showcases what it takes to fight for a stronger democracy, and in the words of Barbara Jordan, to close the gap between the reality and the promise of America. The film showcases a group of people who challenge traditional views of Texas and its politics; together, they are young, diverse, and progressive.
The film features characters from across Texas, including then-candidates Greg Casar, Beto O’Rourke, and Lina Hidalgo. It also includes Dallas-based organizer Brianna Brown of the Texas Organizing Project, and Austin-based advocates Tory Gavito of Way To Win and Adri Pérez, one of the most recognizable trans advocates in the state.
We meet the characters in January 2022 in the leadup to primary elections that will define the general election in November. Over the course of the midterm year, they will shape a political ecosystem whose goal is to build power for people in communities who historically have been left out of the political process. The film is less interested in the horse race of a particular political contest; instead, it focuses on the humanity and persistence of people who are working for their communities within a democratic process that is on shaky ground.
Throughout the year, they face enormous obstacles in increasingly extreme and anti-democratic policies, including the harshest voter suppression laws in the country.
The three main characters are candidates at different levels. Beto O’Rourke, 50, is running for governor against Greg Abbott, one of the country’s most outspoken conservatives, after losing a high profile race for Senate against Ted Cruz in 2018. Greg Casar, 33, is competing in a newly-formed Congressional district after serving for 6 years as the most progressive member of Austin’s City Council. Lina Hidalgo, 31, is running for re-election as chief executive of Harris County, a county of 4.8 million people that includes the city of Houston. Taken together, these characters paint a picture of a new kind of Texas politician: young, progressive, and deeply connected to Texas’ Latino culture and history.
We also follow a set of characters who help narrate the issues animating political life in Texas in 2022: Brianna Brown, executive director of the Texas Organizing Project, who is leading one of the largest mobilization of Black voters in the state’s history; Tory Gavito, executive director of Way To Win, who is raising tens of millions of dollars from around the country to support candidates and organizations in Texas and the Southwest; Adri Perez, a trans advocate and strategist, who is mobilizing trans families to fight back against cruel new regulations enacted by the state; Anthony Graves, who spent 18 years in prison for a murder he did not commit and is confronting Texas’ policy of over-incarceration; and Hannah Horick, an abortion advocate, who is organizing Democrats in her small, conservative city in response to Texas’ abortion ban and the rollback of Roe v. Wade.
Texas, USA will be available on all digital platforms October 6, 2023, with premiere events held as follows. All attending personalities and potential media opps will be announced closer to premiere events.
Cast and Crew-Attended Premiere Events:
Sep 19, 6pm - Crosby Street Hotel - NYC
Sep 20, 6pm - Landmark Atlantic Plumbing Cinema - Washington, DC
Sep 22, 6pm - Austin Film Society Cinema - Austin, TX
Oct 6, 6pm- Deluxe Theater - Houston, TX
Oct 7, 6pm - Truckland - Marfa, TX
PRESS KIT including photos of all candidates and personalities, posters and stills
Film Credits- Full Bios available here
Written & Directed by ANDREW MORGAN
Produced By ZACH MORGAN
Producer SARAH LABOWITZ
Executive Producers
GINNY GOLDMAN
LIVIA FIRTH
MARK & JENNY JOHNSON
GREAT NECK RICHMAN
MICHELLE RANDOLPH FAIRES
Associate Producers
MEGHA KADAKIA
JOHN TREFRY
SAMATA PATTINSON
Director of Photography
HELEN CASSELL
Original Music
DUNCAN BLICKENSTAFF
Editor
TYLER PHARO
Various Stills from Texas, USA
Beto O'Rourke
Lina Hidalgo, Harris County Judge - Houston, Texas
Greg Casar, United States Representative - Austin / San Antonio / DC
Brianna Brown, Co-Executive Director Texas Organizing Project - Dallas, Texas
Adri Pérez, Trans Rights Advocate - Austin, Texas
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