The biker horror-thriller hits nationwide platforms the same night, adding another credit to a year that’s already included a buzzy short film alongside Adrien Grenier.
“The Iron Door” has its world premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre on September 17, releasing simultaneously across Amazon, Fandango, Google Play, YouTube, cable VOD and home video. The film adds a directing credit to Garrett Patten’s résumé, one more piece of a 2026 that’s kept him busy on both sides of the camera.
A short film that turned heads
3TBK Productions
Before “The Iron Door” release, Patten co-directed and starred in “Self Custody,” a 31-minute thriller centered on a financially struggling father who discovers he’s sitting on a forgotten Bitcoin fortune, if he can remember how to access it. Patten took acting classes specifically to play the lead role of Scott, and he shared the screen with “Entourage” alum Adrien Grenier, two-time UFC champion Henry Cejudo, and Odette Annable.
Shot in Austin, “Self Custody” premiered at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Mueller during SXSW and is now streaming on Prime Video, Tubi and Plex. Patten has said the idea grew out of a friend’s real experience. “A friend that had lost his job learned that in the past, he was gifted crypto, and he actually went on this journey to try to recover it,” Patten explained. The short’s reception was strong enough that TBK Productions is now developing it into a television series exploring the broader Bitcoin community.
From acting alongside Grenier to another film in the director’s chair
3TBK Productions
With “The Iron Door,” a low-budget indie Patten actually made a few years back, he steps behind the camera as director. The film pulls from a real desert legend in California’s Yucca Valley, tied to gold miner Johnny Lang and stories that have circulated in the region for a century.
“You’ve got to have such a passion for each of those projects that you just can’t quit,” Patten has said of what it takes to make it as an independent filmmaker, a philosophy that tracks with a résumé that’s grown to include a supporting role in a Bitcoin thriller and directing a feature built around desert folklore.
Building a slate at TBK Productions
3TBK Productions
Patten founded TBK Productions, and the company has been busy well beyond “The Iron Door.” Its slate includes “In the Hand of Dante,” and “Family Movie,” along with the in-development “Self Custody” series. Patten has also teased two upcoming projects: a narrative centered on The Grateful Dead as seen through the eyes of children, and a biopic centered on Mike Tyson.
Landing at the TCL Chinese Theatre and every major streaming and VOD platform simultaneously, “The Iron Door” gives audiences a wider release than the festival circuit where the film built its early buzz. It’s the latest addition to a busy year for Patten, who’s kept building his slate at TBK Productions while continuing to work in front of the camera.
