Will Sasso and Kevin McDonald to star in action comedy ‘Deaner ’89’ (exclusive)

Will Sasso, Kevin McDonald (The boys in the hall) and Paul Spence will star Dean ’89an action comedy from director Sam McGlynn that has begun production in Winnipeg.

Sasso is best known for his late night sketch comedy series MADtv. She has also acted in TV $#*! My father says AND Less than perfect and as for the film, Sasso has appeared in The three stooges like Riccio. Star Slade, Maddy Foley and Mary Walsh are among the cast of the film which sees Spence, who also wrote the film, reprise his original character, Dean “Deaner” Murdoch, from two films and a TV series as part of the Fubar mockumentary property.

Michael Dowse’s 2002 film headbanger Fubarabout two beer-loving heavy metal musicians, Dean and Terry, played by Spence and Dave Lawrence, debuted at Sundance and was followed by the Fubar TV series and sequel to the 2010 film, Fubar 2.

Indigenous film and television producer Eagle Vision, a co-producer of Convertible topand PSA Productions are producing Dean ’89 who has Murdoch party machine in a flashback to high school in 1989 when, as a hockey star in a blue-collar steel town in Manitoba, his life is turned upside down when he learns of his Métis heritage recently deceased biological father, or mixed Indigenous and European ancestry.

Murdoch begins listening to his father’s heavy metal albums, dressing up in his clothes, rebelling against hockey stardom, and racing with a penniless biker gang. Dean ’89 is partly inspired by Spence’s family background, which allowed the director to explore the comedy behind a fictional character from the Fubar franchise.

“My father’s Métis Heritage was hidden from him until after his parents died, and once that became the cornerstone of the plot, everything else fell into place,” said Spence, who is also producing the film. Director McGlynn is creative director of visual effects house Method Studios.

Dean ’89 is produced by Kyle Irving and executive produced by Anishinaabe director Lisa Meeches and Rebecca Gibson, who are all part of Eagle Vision. The indie receives funding from Telefilm Canada, Eagle Vision, Mongrel Media, Indigenous Screen Office and Manitoba Film and Music.