John Mitty Monday, June 24, 2013 |
June 24, 2013, - New Jersey based Exit 135 Productions will be bringing their short film, Crackers, to Bellmore as part of the Long Island International Film Expo on Sunday, July 21 at 6:45 p.m. The film, directed by Gregory Principato, has been receiving acclaim from Industry insiders, festival judges, and audiences alike. Crackers has received seven awards to date for Best Short and People’s Choice at the 2012 Fort Myers Beach Film Festival and Best Short Comedy at AFI’s World Cinema Festival in the Hamptons, Special Jury Award at the 2012 San Diego Film Festival, Best Short and Audience Choice at the Teaneck International Film Festival and Best Narrative Short at the Garden State Film Festival.
Crackers is a fictional live-action short film, which stars Vincent D’Onofrio and Brenda Vaccaro. The movie, written by Timothy Reinhardt, and Gregory Principato is a dark comedy about an Italian chef named Gus whose life is turned upside down after a mishap during a Sunday dinner with the in-laws. Gus is happy living in his small paradise surrounded by his young, beautiful wife, vibrant garden, chef’s kitchen and beloved opera music. This all changes when his overbearing, loud, obnoxious mother in law, Bidelia, invades his home. Gus slowly loses his paradise and his sanity as Bidelia methodically destroys everything that is sacred to him.
Vincent D’Onofrio (Law & Order Criminal Intent) plays the protagonist, Gus, alongside Beth Ann Bonner (One Life to Live) as his wife, Cat. Brenda Vaccaro (You Don’t Know Jack) is Bidelia, his maniacal mother in law. The film’s cast ensemble includes Dan Hedaya (Cheers) as Jack, Anthony Laciura (Boardwalk Empire) as Frank the Barber, Sal Richards (Out for Justice) as Blind Willy, and introducing Vincent Mora, Jr. as Luke.
The initial idea for the film began about 10 years ago, after a trip Mr. Principato took to New Orleans. While touring some haunted spots throughout the French Quarter, one particular story stuck with him. Principato then took the premise and, after years of mulling it over and changing the plot a few times, had a basis for the screenplay, which he then polished with Reinhardt, who added his own twists, to complete this original, twisted, outrageous story. “The story has been twirling around in my head for years, but once I met Tim and we decided to work together, the story began to flow and in just a few weeks we had a screenplay. Some of the characters come from our personal experiences and upbringing, so the dialogue felt real, but I was particularly amazed about how smoothly the partnership between Tim and I evolved as we met weekly at Barnes and Noble to work on the story,” explains Principato. Although Gregory has directed projects before and Tim has other fictional works written, this was the team’s first attempt in writing a fictional screenplay.
“There were times I was pacing, waving my hands and yelling out profanities as part of the dialogue, while Tim was sitting on the floor with his laptop plugged in to the wall in the back of the store by the restrooms. One time, there was this elderly woman on her way to the bathroom when she had caught us in mid-dialogue, when I yelled out, 'Now Gus, feed the crazy old broad some kind of potent drug." I felt like a deer caught in the headlights when I turned around to see this sweet old woman staring at me. The look on her face was just priceless.” Principato explains.
Crackers is the second film directed by Gregory Principato. His first movie, Mr. Laughs - A Look Behind the Curtain, won Best Documentary at the 2008 Long Island Film Festival, Staten Island Film Festival, The Connecticut Film Festival and at the 2009 Long Island International Film Festival. For more information about the festival go to: http://liifilmexpo.org/sections/films13/0025_Crackers.html
jmitty@longislandyellowpages.com Appears In: Press Releases
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