HE BLED NEON
Section: Narrative Spotlight
Director/Writer: Drew Kirsch
Logline: After learning his brother’s death may be murder, Ethan returns to Las Vegas to uncover the truth, and confront the violent past he buried. Once a street kid, he’s now living the good life in L.A., engaged to his dream girl and working for her father’s real estate firm. But when he gets a text saying his brother overdosed, the promise he made to never return home shatters, pulling him back into the world he thought he’d escaped.
Panelists: Drew Kirsch, Nate Bolotin, Paul Wesley, Rita Ora, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Josh Holloway, Marshawn Lynch
Premiered: March 16, 2026
Key Quote: “I’m originally from Reno, Nevada, and [Vegas] kind of has a certain side to it that’s really gritty. There’s a ton of texture…This was an opportunity to explore off the strip, where there’s just this gritty underbelly that I don’t see a lot of films cover,” director Drew Kirsch told Deadline
Deadline Studio at SXSW presented by Redbreast Irish Whiskey.
