In 1979, Trent Harris, a television producer in Salt Lake City began a project that would eventually become The Beaver Trilogy, a documentary which ultimately didn’t premiere until 2001 at the Sundance Film Festival. Featuring a performer who was then depicted by Sean Penn and Crispin Glover in later enactments, it’s a strange, reality-blurring tale, and the perfect story to capture in its very own documentary.
Director Brad Besser has done just that with Beaver Trilogy Part IV, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival last year — nearly 15 years after the original film debuted there — and is now arriving on VOD this week. Narrated by Bill Hader as it explores the making of the cult classic, we’re pleased to debut an exclusive clip which shows of Glover’s participation in the original film. Check it out below, along with the trailer.
Trent Harris is the director of offbeat comedies such as “Rubin & Ed” and “Plan 10 from Outer Space”, but he is best known for his highly acclaimed underground film “Beaver Trilogy”. In a parking lot in 1979, then-amateur filmmaker Trent Harris would meet an energetic young performer from Beaver, Utah; the chance meeting would change their lives forever. Over the subsequent decades the encounter would be retold in a series of fictional remakes that would culminate in the 2001 Sundance Film Festival entry “Beaver Trilogy” – but the film itself is only part of the story. “Beaver Trilogy Part IV” explores Trent Harris’ eclectic career; and discovers the untold story of the original Beaver Kid. The overlapping narrative examines the ripple effect of both men’s Hollywood dreams and the blurred lines between reality and remake.
Beaver Trilogy Part IV is now available on iTunes and VOD.