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Confusion on Tenth Avenue

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 23:42:00 UTC

Here's a clip shot late one night on 10th Avenue in New York's "Hell's Kitchen" district--so named for its past history as a slum environment but now home to numerous high rises, lofts, theaters, restaurants that won't seat you, etc. In it, Andy Garcia and Emily Mortimer begin a scene and promptly stop as the camera fails to be in the right place. Emily is a tad upset and voices her disapproval by saying, quite rightly, that she was told to step wide of her mark--and now she's being blamed for not hitting her mark. As I recall, this was the night that we had a strange, out of control Police Officer (the film commission assigns an officer to every shoot) yelling at us about what time we had to stop. His deeply unpleasant manner (this wasn't our first encounter with him) rattled everyone. I believe a letter was eventually written, by our producers, to the NYPD suggesting that in terms of public relations between film crews shooting in New York and the Police, this particular officer might be better deployed on some other duty--like wandering the projects in the Bronx looking for crack dealers. By the way, to those who wrote asking me what "picture lock" means: it means reaching a final, FINAL, edited version of the film that will not change any further. Locking picture enables the composer to have accurate timings of scenes, the sound editors to begin building the tracks etc. We'll lock picture next week, making our editing period a nice, tidy eight week process.

Burning Film

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:38:47 UTC

Yes, it's come to this. Clips of the crew wandering around the set. As I begin to run low with these precious clips, I have to find new ways to make even the least fascinating material relatively interesting. And so I come to the subject of burning film--those strange moments when the camera is left rolling for unknown reasons when a take is not even close to being contemplated. These tidbits are actually not entirely worthless as they show in action what I was describing the other day--that leisurely disorganized vibe that permeates every movie set (in between explosions of temper, of course) which make every day civilians wonder how the hell a movie ever gets finished. The first clip is outside an office building on Lexington Avenue and 57th St. and features cameo appearences by, among others, my producer, our hair stylist, several pa's, a member of the art department and, at the very end, two members of the camera crew--who presumably were responsible for having turned the camera on at this point and presumably forgot it was rolling. Next is a nice shot featuring Julianna Marguiles waiting patiently on the stairs as more non-work goes on. This clip also features my cinematographer Vanja Cernjul. He's the one standing there acting like a cinematographer. Strangely, as a director, I'm frequently told that I'm "shooting too much film". Since I always warn the producers at the outset that I believe film stock is there to be shot--and that they'll be happy later to have more material rather than less--it puzzles me that they continue to under-budget my film spends. Truthfully, I wont be happy and truly satisfied as a director until I pass the "one-million mark"--on any number of movies this happens during the shooting and is always an excuse for a Champagne celebration for the whole crew. On City Island I exposed a mere two-hundred thousand feet of film--not so bad really but enough to prompt a few stern lectures. My usual response is: we're here once, on this set, with these actors, having gone through all the trouble that it takes to get here. Why not shoot a little extra film?

Movie Crazy

Wed, 8 Oct 2008 23:08:23 UTC

Sorry for the unexpected hiatus--I returned home to LA after sixteen weeks in New York this past weekend and found myself far more exhausted than I expected to be. The past four months of filmmaking have been essentially riding a wild bull--starting with our prep period in late May/early June, our shoot beginning a scant five weeks later in mid July, and jumping right into the editing after our pre Labor Day weekend wrap. We've screened the movie a few times now for invited guests to get a feeling of how it plays with audiences. It's quite amazing (and sobering) what you learn from sitting in a room watching your movie with a group...somehow things that you thought were perfectly timed are horrifically slow, and things that long ago you gave up on as hopeless seem to work wonderfully well. Robert Altman was a big believer in screening cuts of his films for invited audiences--rather than ask for specific comments, however, he would simply tell his guests: "Don't worry about telling me anything special. You watch the movie, I'll watch you..." Below are two clips, both of which show-in their own ways--how completely absurd making a film truly is. The first is a simple, beautiful shot of a bus pulling out of a terminal and crossing the George Washington Bridge. Fairly straight forward sounding, right? I've said it before and I'll say it again. "NOTHING IN FILMMAKING IS SIMPLE!" Just getting a bus to use was a major problem--the New Jersey Transit busses were, for some odd reason, off limits to us. An independent bus line was finally found who would play ball with us--but we needed TWO busses and this somehow was a problem. (Why did we need two? Who knows? In movies you always need two of everything. So why should busses be any different?) Even shooting this shot was filled with drama--the Port Authority gave us a very short window in which to make the shot, maybe ninety minutes or so to get our equipment and two busses upstairs and ready to go. By the way, once you get on the George Washington Bridge, you're New Jersey bound, so kiss that bus (and a second take) goodbye. Come to think of it, that's why we had two busses--to send the second one out for a safety take once we'd lost the first one to the wilds of Jersey. The second clip is of...a movie set. Our movie played the role of another movie--no spoilers so I can't tell you how it fits into the story. But we used our own crew to play the part of...a movie crew. The Assistant Director who tells Andy Garcia tht they need another take is, in fact, me. The guy standing around at the end (playing the second A.D. is, in fact our first AD, Eric Henriquez. The general air of confusion and hysteria captured in this scene is all to accurate. But as Sidney Lumet says in his book "Making Movies", "We really do know what we're doing...it only looks like we don't."

City Island, thy cup runneth over

Tue, 7 Oct 2008 23:37:26 UTC

If you haven't sent your eyeballs over to MovieSet's sitelet for City Island then please, by all means, get over there. Since my last story about this comedy starring Andy Garcia as a family man trying to find a connection with a son that he never knew he had (played by 10,000 BC's Steven Strait) there has been six new video outtakes posted on the film's video page. Want to see Andy Garcia get into a car accident? Sure you do. There are also two vids of Garcia riding in a tram, one of him walking down the street and calling in sick to his work and two featuring co-star Ezra Miller sitting down for breakfast and getting on his sister's nerves. These six slide alongside with the other 55 videos that the City Island team have been providing MovieSet showing what life is like for a movie production each and every day. And if you want more why not spend some time perusing through the 155 stills or reading one or two of the 143 blog postings by the film's director.

The Denise Thing

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 06:11:00 UTC

Forgive the shameless self-promotion (to say nothing of the unattractive need to point out positive things about myself), but click here to read an excellent review of my last film, a documentary soon to be released on DVD called "Tis Autumn; The Search For Jackie Paris". The film is rolling out theatrically around the USA and Canada on the art-house circuit and this review is from Winnipeg. The man who wrote it is a genius. You have to think that of someone who calls your film "one of the finest music documentaries ever made"... Now back to City Island for a moment. My property master, Dan Fisher, sent me a blog entry he'd written over the summer which never got posted. It has to do with a part of the story which I always referred to as "The Denise Thing"--a sub-plot that was quite bizarre and relatively controversial, which I'd regularly been asked to drop from the script but which I think is an important element of the movie. Without any "spoilers" being an issue, I can tell you that the BBW community (big beautiful women) and the FA movement (fat acceptance) are a part of this sub-plot. For a few years now, I've been interested in this world and its very open, very loving suggestion that we all accept how each other look--and that fat people don't have to go through this life being ashamed of or made fun of because of how they look. Size acceptance is all about the celebration of being a large person and women, it seems to me, have been the backbone of the movement. So I created a BBW advocate named Denise as a character and worked her into the story--she's played by one of the loveliest people I've ever met, Carrie Baker Reynolds. Alas, the two clips I have of Carrie are short and perhaps have been posted before, but I include them both below--Ezra Miller is in both. By the way, if the size-acceptance movement is something you're curious about, click here for the original plus-size movement magazine, Dimensions. The climax of the Denise sub-plot comes with a dinner table scene where she lays out a feast for her guests. It's a short scene but a necessary part of the larger puzzle and Dan Fisher had to buy and make a hell of a lot of food for it. Below is his account of the prep and shoot, titled "Dinner With Denise". Thanks Dan--my day just got a little longer. DINNER AT DENISE'S: Bill of fare for Sc. 139, Friday Aug.8: Baby-back ribs smothered in sauce, encircled with mixed grill meat, swaddled in steaks (Weighs about 40 lb.) Fried chicken cutlets on a bed of pepperoni, decorated with cherry tomatoes Sliced boneless ham, garnished with bacon strips, salami slices, and pineapple chunks, drizzled with Cheez Wiz Potatoes au gratin Macaroni and cheese 3 dozen Pillsbury Pop N Fresh biscuits Creamed corn Baked beans Salami chunks drizzled with cheez wiz (appetizer portion) Cheese curls Plain marshmallows Coconut encrusted marshmallows (Ezra's new favorite snack) Relish dish Dish of cold green bean salad Bowl of red cherry tomatoes Enormous Chocolate Death cake Various cakes, pies, and muffins Beverage choices: Milk, Coca-Cola, water NOTES ON FOOD SCENES: 1. If you work with a writer/director of Italian heritage (Scorcese, Chase, De Felitta) expect lots of food scenes. Sex scenes, not so much. 2. I kept asking myself, "With all of this meat, what kind of vegetable does Denise eat?" Then the answer came to me, like Excalibur offered to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake: CREAMED CORN. Denise only eats vegetables with cream in them. Yes, note above the relish dish and cherry tomatoes, but for Denise, those are mere table decoration for the guests. She doesn't touch green food unless it's guacamole or lime jello. 3. The day before shooting the dinner scene, Raymond approached to let me know that the scripted dialogue for Denise -- announcing that she's making baby-back ribs with potatoes au gratin -- had been modified to become baby-back ribs with mixed grill, swaddled in steaks. Ordinarily, this type of day-before change would make me or any prop person groan. Changes in props mean you have more work to do, more of production's money to spend while you're worrying how to tell the line producer that it's just quite possible that you may go over budget on this job. (My six least favorite words from a director or actor on a film set: "You know what would be great....?") But when this fairly ordinary meal of ribs and potatoes morphed into the ridiculous -- ribs with mixed grill and steak? What is she, a professional boxer? -- that gave me free rein to leap into the Land Of Ridiculous Food, both feet forward. The next day, the day of the shoot, I left for work early so that I could shop at BJ's Wholesale on the way. Screw the budget, I thought, I want to enter the Pantheon -- "Tom Jones", "Babette's Feast", "Tampopo", "Big Night" -- where the audience sees the amassed food on the table and collectively gasps, "Holy s--t". As I prowled the aisles of BJ's, cart practically tipping from the amassed weight, I was honest-to-God laughing, I kid you not. Pre-cooked, microwaveable bacon? Sure. Cheez Wiz? Hell, yeah. 4. The secret to good food scenes is the same as the secret to good comedy: TIMING. One must constantly seek schedule updates from the Assistant Director and cook accordingly. Because remember, the food not only has to look good, it should be hot and palatable for as long as possible. After all, actors will be eating this stuff, not just once but over and over for the next two to ten hours, so all efforts should be made to make the experience pleasant, rather than vomit-inducing. (A side note: Almost without fail, actors will dig hungrily and greedily into the food in the first few takes -- It's food! It's free! I can eat as much as I want! Cool! -- but by the third setup they will be picking at it like the proverbial birds. Be sure to have a spit bucket and/or paper towels handy.) 5. The enormous chocolate cake, seen not only in Sc. 139 but in the big finale as well, was from Zeppari's Bakery, of Pelham Bay, NY. Carmine, the owner, gave us an extremely fair price and really understood what I wanted and why I wanted it. I can't recommend Zeppari's highly enough. Oh yeah, and the cake was delicious. Additional shout-outs to Artie's Steak and Seafood of City Island and to City Island Diner, for your help in all of "City Island"'s many food scenes.

Boxing with Andy Garica and Steven Strait

Wed, 1 Oct 2008 02:07:00 UTC

Today's clip shows Andy and Steven working in the yard together and ends with an impromptu boxing match. Again, a nice bit of work that won't find it's way into the finished film, so I'm dumping it into the blogosphere. In a sense, this blog is becoming the film's "trimbim"--a parking lot for all the little things that otherwise would have been abandoned along with the harddrives when the editing is completed. Within this scene, as you'll see, is the explanation of what makes City Islander's so unique: the insistence that to be considered a true local, you need to have been born on the Island. This makes you a "clam-digger" in their parlance. If you simply pick up and move to City Island from somewhere else, you're a "muscle-sucker". This point was made in the New York Times article which first brought this strange and lovely place to my attention. I dutifully wove it into the script but somehow didn't quite believe that the locals went around talking about themselves this way. I was surprised to discover that in fact they do--and that clam-diggers take their status quite seriously. One day, while shooting on City Island Avenue, I saw an elderly gentleman watching us. I went over to him to say hello and he asked me about the movie. After telling him a bit, I gave him a look and said, "Clam-digger"? He smiled and nodded proudly. Then he said, "I not only live in the same house in which I was born, I sleep in the same room I was born in!" Thus did I meet the Islands oldest resident--he's in his late nineties. I put him in a scene later that day--he'll be visible in the opening montage of the film when you see it...

Talk a walk with Andy Garcia

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 01:42:00 UTC

Here's a take of a perfectly nice scene of Andy Garcia walking down the main drag of City Island, talking on his cell phone and then entering the famed City Island Diner. It appears unlikely to make it into the final version of the film so I decided to let it live on this blog for as long as this blog lives. (What about that? Will the blogosphere ever self-erase? I have no intention of closing this blog, but what do we know about the shelf life of blogs?) One of the forever fascinating and frustrating things about filmmaking is that, no matter how much you cut the script before shooting--no matter how certain you are that you're only shooting what's absolutely necessary--you still wind up dropping large chunks of material once the picture is assembled. What makes this doubly frustrating for me is the time I've lost on these unnecessary scenes is especially precious when working on a tight schedule as we were (the whole film was shot in 28 days). Nonetheless, its "part of the process" and one that can only be avoided, I imagine, once you've made a good twenty or so movies and have a feel for what ultimately won't be needed. All told, the deleted scenes thus far from the movie add up to about two days work--two days that could have been spent on other, more important things. On the other hand, the editing process is made even more fun by the surprise of finding what stays and what goes. The film has a way of talking back to you at this stage, and making its desires known...

The Day The Car Crash Creamed the Camera

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 08:28:00 UTC

For the "car crash" scene in "City Island" (yes, even quirky romantic family comedies need a good car crash) we mounted our lovely brand new 35mm Arricam on the back of our not so lovely 1970 Ford Galaxy. There was a lot of talk about how to achieve the car crash--we were going to have the car on a "leash" controlled by a vehicle behind the picture car, we were going to rig something to do with a fake bumper etc. etc. Finally Andy Garcia simply said: "Why don't I just crash the car myself"? Why not indeed? Andy is a very confident actor (and person) who likes to keep things simple--one of his favorite things to say to me was to give him stuff to do "so I don't have to think about acting". We made a few safety adjustments, lined up the car in front of him and decided to go for it--after all, as car crashes go it was quite modest: just a nice, simple rear-ender. We lined up the shot, tied down the camera, got into position and I called action. Andy nailed it on the first take. I watched on the monitor in horror as he successfully rear-ended the car in front of him--while acting--with real force. And then a strange thing happened: the matte box on the camera came flying open--the impact of the crash having released it from its locked position. The shot naturally was ruined--more importantly we were all afraid that the camera was too. But the Arricam is a tough little bastard and it survived unscathed. We taped the Matte box down for the next take and that's the one you'll see in the finished film. Below is the day the car crash creamed the camera. Enjoy. The Arricam didn't...

City Island: Andy And Emily Go Tramming To Roosevelt

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 19:02:40 UTC

Below are two clips from a scene which takes place on the Roosevelt Island Tram. For those unfamiliar with Manhattan and it's satellitte islands, Roosevelt Island is a strange little place located to the east of Manhattan, on which for many years the only thing of any importance was a mental hospital. (The building is still there but is closed, abandoned, deeply ghostly). Later, projects were built--middle-class projects to be sure but nonetheless vast, gray, uninspiring projects. (Somebody I know once referred to them as looking like "retirement homes for old spies"). But in the early seventies, a tram was built to take people from 59th Street on the East Side of Manhattan over to Roosevelt Island...and suddenly, one of New York's loveliest secrets was born. For the tram ride through Manhattan, over the East River and descending upon Roosevelt Island is truly a magical experience--by night or by day, in the rain or in the sunshine. The trip is a mere five or so minutes but is a weightless float through the middle of the city and past the bridge and the attendant traffic. Something about the height that the tram stays at--not super high but around the tenth or so stories of most of the buildings it passes--and then the strange ascendency it takes as it nears the bridge--is quite breathtaking.

For years I wanted to shoot a scene on the tram and I finally wrote one into the script of "City Island". Like so many things in pre-production, the whole notion of capturing the magic of the ride became vastly more complex than it needed to be. For awhile I was convinced that we had to build the tram, shoot it on a soundstage and greenscreen in the lights of the city...don't ask why, how can I explain the madness that sets in when the clock is ticking and your finally about to get to shoot your movie after eight years of waiting. My cinematographer, Vanja Cernjul, finally took a camera up in the tram at night, shot without lights and we looked at the results in a screening room: perfectly lovely. Ultiimately he rigged a few practicals to light the actors and that's how we shot it...using predominantly the natural light of New York City. We were able to "own" the tram for about four hours one night--in other words the tram authorities closed it to the public and allowed us full use of it. We made the trip back and forth ten times--twenty trips over the East RIver--to complete the three page scene. Below are two clips from that night...

City Island: The Ezra Miller Show?

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:44:23 UTC

In my experience there are three kinds of improvising actors: those that can, those can can't, and those that think they can but really shouldn't bother. Ezra Miller belongs to none of the above categories. He belongs to one of the rarest of all actor categories: those that MUST improvise because their flow of creativity so surpasses whatever material they are working with that it would simply be irresponsible for a director to not encourage it. When I hired Ezra--who most of you don't yet know, but trust me you will soon--it wasn't because I knew he had this gift; rather it was because of his charm and natural humor that he displayed in his reading. And his confidence. Often, actors coming in to read for a part may not even be the best actor for the role--but if they give the director a sense of security, if they display a sense of self-sufficiency, that can go a long way to making a director feel...how to put it? More at ease. Like there's one less burden on my shoulders. In Ezra's case, he was so already cast in his head when he walked in, and so charming and funny and already "beyond" the process that we were asking him to participate in, that the decision was made the second he walked out of the room; I turned to my casting director Sheila Jaffe and said, "hire him". She wasn't surprised. She was thinking the same thing. Then on the set I discovered that I'd not only hired a fine actor--but I'd tapped into an excellent writer as well. If you give Ezra the leash, he'll take you on a hell of a walk. His invention never lets up, his attention never flags, and he'll never stop making you laugh. There are things he's said that will never make it into the finished version of the movie--for whatever reason--that still wake me up in the middle of the night laughing. Enough. Below are two clips of somebody who has earned my utmost respect and from whom you'll be hearing in the near future....and he's not even eighteen frigging years old yet...

Julianne claps the board, Andy picks up the walkie-talkie in latest City Island vids

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 23:40:54 UTC

City Island director Raymond Di Felitta gives us our Friday quotient of director blogging by giving MovieSet two short clips of actors Andy Garcia and Julianne Margulies preparing to shoot two scenes. "Here are two charming and telling moments, showing Julianna in the one and Andy in the other, each alone--trapped--in the car trying to figure out how best to get started," explains the director in his latest blog posting. "Directing via walkie-talkie is almost impossible and being out on the highway, with other cars passing and pointlessly honking at us, makes everything even tenser." One of the hazards of being a working actor is when the scene calls on you to drive a moving automobile. It's hard enough having to have your hands full with a cup of coffee or a cigarette but it's also up to you to mark the scene by snapping the clapboard yourself. You try doing that with all those things in your hands and while pretending to drive a car on the back of a flatbed truck and trying to remember your lines. Ah, the joys of working in show business. "The process trailer truly is a weirdly clustrophobic filmic experience for all involved," adds Di Felitta. "My DP, Vanja Cernjul, told me that the great DP Allan Davieu told him that he once turned down a script because he could tell that eighty percent of the movie was going to be the crew and actors stuck on process trailers and there was no way he was dealing with that; the film was American Graffitti." Read the latest City Island blog entry from the director and watch the two funny clips.

City Island: Julianna Smokes, Slates and Smiles

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:13:12 UTC

Apropos of my discussion the other day of the absurd contraption known as the "process trailer", here are two charming and telling moments, showing Julianna in the one and Andy in the other, each alone--trapped--in the car trying to figure out how best to get started. Directing via walkie-talkie is almost impossible and being out on the highway, with other cars passing and pointlessly honking at us, makes everything even tenser. Dig Julianna and her wildly winning attitude--she is so frigging cute when she gives that thumbs up having successfully slated herself, while holding the cigarette. Julianna and I had a line we used with each other: whenever you need her to do something--even if you haven't successfully explained it--she suddenly...just does it! I complimented her on this acting fearlessness once and she said, "Yeah. I commit!" That is such a lovely thing about actors--once in the moment they are there to get un-shy, unabashed, unafraid. The better they are, the quicker they jump in. Julianna is one of the quickest (and thus best) and every time I'd see her do this, I'd say to her "You commit". One of these days (after the film has come out) I'll tell how Julianna got involved in the project to begin with--one of those by-your-seat show-biz tales that I know people love to hear, but discretion is still the order of the day. The second clip is of Andy, similarly trapped on the process trailer and waiting for his befuddled director to tell him what the hell is going on. The process trailer truly is a weirdly clustrophobic filmic experience for all involved. My DP, Vanja Cernjul, told me that the great DP Allan Davieu told him that he once turned down a script because he could tell that eighty percent of the movie was going to be the crew and actors stuck on process trailers and there was no way he was dealing with that; the film was "American Graffitti".

The bloopers of Alan Arkin

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 18:34:49 UTC

One of the latest additions to MovieSet's City Island sitelet is the addition of some bloopers from the production, specifically those showing Alan Arkin flub his scene. In one scene Arkin messes up a line while he's supposed to be tutoring his character's acting class and in the other he's got a chance to see if he can get his co-star, Andy Garcia, to break out in uncontrollable laughter. See what City Island director Raymond De Felitta had to say about the pair and then watch the bloopers.

City Island: A Steven Strait Joyride

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:43:16 UTC

Two clips below, featuring Steven Strait and Dominik Garcia: they're driving in a car. Sounds simple, right? NOTHING IN MOVIES IS SIMPLE. This mini-moment involved mounting the Honda Element onto a contraption called a "process trailer"--an insane device that is, essentially, a trailer on which you mount the car you're shooting, several cameras, all kinds of lighting equipment...etc. etc. Then a few of us--the director, the DP and the script supervisor at a minimum--ride in the car that's towing, buried in video monitors, headphones etc. Often the sound crew rides in the cab of the towing car, trying to dial in the actors voices...all I can say is Oy Vey. Steven is one remarkable young man--I hate referencing him by age because he's truly ageless. Still, it was often strange for me to realize, while working with him, that when I was his age (early twenties) he was barely born. So asssured and serene is he in his dealings with work, the world and people that I felt he was beyond being a contemporary; like Alan Arkin he was somebody whose very presence made me feel better about my own work, place in the world and station in life. Jesus, has this blog become nothing but gush? The truth is, I've actually made films which were not pleasant experiences. This one's different and thus my enthusiasm continues, unabated. By the way, Steven's married to a terrific actress and lovely woman, Lynn Collins. Check her out in the Pacino "Merchant Of Venice" (she's Portia, of course). In one of the below clips, Steven slates himself for two cameras. In the other the scene is over and the actors, stranded in the above described contraption, wait helplessly for me to say cut. Eventually I do...

City Island: Andy and Alan

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 23:20:24 UTC

One of the delights of the shoot of "City Island" was observing the genuinely warm and admiring friendship between Andy Garcia and the great Alan Arkin. Alan plays the role of the "great and failed acting teacher Michael Malakov" (as Emily's character Molly characterizes him) and though he's only in a few scenes, he's pivotal as the presence who allows, in a sense, Andy's character to take his acting ambitions seriously. Alan played Malakov not in an ironic or comic way, but as a very real somewhat burned-out veteran of the "arts wars". Alan and I had a discussion about Malakov in which I suggested that far from being a quack or a phony, he was an actor who--some years back--might have achieved a certain level of prominence, at least among other actors; perhaps he won or was nominated for an Obie. And then, like so many fine actors who don't really take off, he turned to teaching to support himself while waiting for the breaks that never arrive. Alan suggested to me that the way to demonstrate his tiredness and burnt-out nature might be through a rant delivered to the students about how bored he is by the interminable pauses that litter most amateur actors performances. I told him to write whatever he liked and show it to me. The result is quite memorable: a speech that is both truthful, unhostile and comes from an artist who just has no time left for bullshit. What was especially odd, though, was that Alan's speech is written entirely in his voice: when I read it aloud to myself, I sounded like Alan Arkin. Indeed, so distinctive are Alan's vocal rhythms that the first time we spoke, on phone, I felt like I was talking to an Alan Arkin impersonator. Andy and Alan worked together previously in a movie I've never seen called "Steal Big, Steal Little" (see above photo) and Andy's respect for him is enormous, coming from a deep appreciation of Alan's gift to be human, real and comic all at the same time. This is something that not many people recognize about Andy--they will, I hope, after they see his performance in "City Island"; he is equal parts both dark and light--and the light is comic and sad. Among the performers he most admires are the ones--like Alan--who can make you laugh without straining and who, underneath the laughter, conveys the melancholy vaudeville that defines our life on earth. Below are two clips--one of Alan re-setting himself after a false start on a take in which he addresses his "class" (I like it because you see the simplicity with which Alan approaches the task of acting); and the second of Andy in class trying to ask a question but fumbling helplessly; his inarticularity cracks Alan up and you get to experience one of the greatest sounds you'll ever hear; the marvelous, uninhibited laughter of Alan Arkin.

City Island: Emily, Emily, Emily...

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 23:25:37 UTC

I have the odd feeling, having worked with the ineffably charming and wildly professional Emily Mortimer, that I've worked with an "obit-definer". Do you know what that is? Well, think about it. When we die, if we deserve a public obit at all, it tends to be about things that we might not have imagined were going to be quite the life-definers that we'd originally set out to make. I remember a few years ago reading about a man--a Congressman for Goddsakes--who was the last person to have breakfast with John F. Kennedy. That fateful morning in Dallas, this guy--who knows his name?--was the local politico who hosted the President's breakfast. Kennedy was shot a few hours later. Forty some years later, this fellow died and rated a Times obit. Not because of his life's accomplishments. But because fate put him in the way of something much larger. Truly Emily Mortimer makes me feel this way. When I'm aged and decrepit--assuming the journey takes me that far--I have an odd feeling that my phone will still be ringing because of the brief but decisively wonderful moment in which my life intersected with hers. Her "Molly"--her character in "City Island"--is so lovingly drawn, so original and so effortlessly tossed off as to make me feel that I overwrote, overthought and overthunk the whole thing: Emily showed up and showed me how it should be done and who this woman truly was. Oddly we only worked together for about five days--yet now that I've got the whole movie assembled it feels like she's in at least half of it. Somebody wrote me in the comments section askiing about screentime for the actors: both Emily and Julianna share the same amount of screen time. But for whatever reason, Emily's shoot days were concentrated into just a few and Julianna stuck out the run of the show. It felt to me like Emily was doing a cameo--but not at all; she is a major and majorly important piece of the puzzle that is "City Island". Her bearing and worldview is both incredibly poised...and wonderfully obscure. Sometime we would simply look at each other and laugh...at nothing. I'm not sure if she was just being polite and thinking "Poor man...he's so distraught and tired"...and perhaps, in some way, she was and that makes it even sweeter of her. Enough. She's a life-giver and a super-pro. She's also a great "Molly". The person I wrote became a much more interesting life blood figure because of Emily and her participation. Which is how it should be, granted. But not always is it so gratifying and lovely a thing to witness. Next up I'll tell you about that other fabulous woman J. Marguiles. Meanwhile, here are two outtakes of the soon to be legendary Emily Mortimer: in one she pronounces the word "fuck" in the way only the English can do: "Fack". In the other, she steps on Andy Garcia's foot and apparently hurts him--but they both carry on with the scene no matter what. And third, I've included a wonderful clip of the great Bill Evans from 1970 playing Johnny Mandel's theme from "The Amercanization of Emily"...called, what else? "Emily".

Live from the Edit Room: Three Little Clips

Tue, 9 Sep 2008 23:30:49 UTC

The above machine is a movieola, the ancient industry standard editing machine. I'm old enough to have actually learned to work one--it was on its last legs and flatbeds (remember them?) were already in use. Currently we're editing on Final Cut Pro. I'm also old enough to remember when convincing the producers on my first feature to spring for an Avid instead of forcing us to cut on film seemed like a very progressive thing to do. (To their credit, they did even though they thought it a lavish request). Below are three snippets of film from the Empire Diner night. In one you'll see Rocco, Andy Garcia's stand in, seated in Andy's place for lighting. The second is of Andy in the same position and features a bizarre camera malfunction--I believe the film jammed which creates the rather pretty,yellowing effect at the end. Last is a piece of Emily laughing at something--for the life of me I can't remember what (it was by then about four AM and at that hour everything's either awful or funny.

Luther Davis: In Memoriam

Sat, 6 Sep 2008 22:53:00 UTC

While I was shooting "City Island" I learned that a dear friend of mine had passed away. Luther Davis died on July 29 of this year, age 91, of natural causes. For those who follow musical theater, Luther was something of a legend, having written the libretto's (scripts) to two hugely successful and influential musicals--1953's "Kismet" and 1990's "Grand Hotel" (he was nominated for the Tony for both and won for the former). The librettist's art is an under-appreciated one--they are often called "book writers" which was a term Luther would have firmly rejected--and Luther, along with Joseph Stein ("Fiddler On The Roof"), Dale Wasserman ("Man Of La Mancha") Larry Gelbart ("A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to the Forum") and Hugh Wheeler ("A Little Night Music") was one of the giants of his theatrical generation. He was also a screenwriter of note, having written "The Hucksters" with Clark Gable, "A Lion In The Streets" with James Cagney and the darkly fascinating "Lady In A Cage" starring Olivia De Havilland--a truly independent film both in its spirit and making which Luther produced as well as wrote. I met Luther through my family about fifteen years ago and I can only describe my first impression of our meeting as being akin to having walked out of my own life and into a 1940's movie of what life, among the Manhattan intelligentisia, was like. Engaging with Luther was to step into a vanished world of grace, charm, finesse and--make no mistake--a barbed intelligence that didn't suffer fools. I realized that Luther--born in 1918 in Brooklyn--grew up in the world that I always wished to be part of, the upper-crust New York of the thirties and forties, and was deeply a part of that society--no matter how long-vanished that world was. He told me tales of the nightclubs he frequented, the theatrical figures he hobnobbed with and the women he openly and unabashedly admired and loved. He lived with his beautiful partner Jennifer Bassey in a penthouse on East 86th St (though they eventually married, he once gave me a lovely lecture on what a "stuffy" word marriage was and how much cooler it was to be boyfriend and girlfriend--this from a man then in his eighties). He jogged around the Central Park reservoir daily, kept strict writing hours, was fastidious about personal health and appearence, was openly delighted and unembarrassed by everything sensual and whenever we went to lunch he ordered a Kir Royal to start. Bon mots fell from his lips without effort and to this day my wife and I quote "Lutherisms": once we all went to see a Broadway show, beginning with a dinner at Joe Allen's. We all started with a Martini and when the waiter came by to ask if we'd like another, Luther replied, "No thank you. The first act is already in peril." Clifton Webb couldn't have delivered that line better. We repeat it religiously to this day. Another time, I had the amusing misfortune of attending a not terrific revival of "Inherit The Wind" with Luther and Jennifer. The play's creakiness was only worsened by poor, aging George C. Scott's attempt to liven up what would prove to be his last Broadway performances. By intermission it was apparent that we were all suffering through an evening that never should have been. But, to be polite, I said to Luther: "Isn't it amazing to see this back on Broadway?" Luther paused. Then, subtly and with a glint in his eye: "And for it's farewell appearence, Raymond." The history of Luther's show, "Grand Hotel", taught me a great deal about what it takes to succeed in show business--unending perserverence and self belief--as well as a willful ignorance of the calendar and how absurdly long things can take. Originally Luther got the idea of transforming the novel (and movie) of "Grand Hotel" into a musical in the 1950's--he and his "Kismet" collaborators Wright and Forrest put the show together and premiered it at the LA Civic Light Opera in 1959. And apparently it didn't really work. Paul Muni was the star and I got the impression from Luther that a number of decisions were made to placate the star that were not, ultimately, beneficial to the development of the show. It never went to Broadway and, for most people, the experience would have been chalked up to just another show-biz misfire. But Luther held onto the notion that they were onto something for...thirty years! Think of it. As he told me, it was upon seeing "Les Miz" in the late 1980's that "I finally figured out how we should have done our show". I don't recall quite what the connection was, but the late 80's blockbuster dramatic muscials infused Luther with a sense of mission to revive the long dormant project. To many this would appear a hopeless hill to climb. But for Luther it was what he did and what he was meant to do. Before long he and his longtime collaborators had revised their work, gotten Tommy Tune on board and were "suddenly" the biggest hit show of the early 90's. In a strange twist that I will never be able to explain, my son--when he was three years old--became captivated by the score of "Grand Hotel" and can still sing it. And it's not exactly kid material...I chalk it up to DNA. He felt my friend's sensibility through the music and knew that he wanted to be part of it... I knew Luther as a man only positive in his view on life and work, as a lover of all things that brought delight and as an unabashed sensualist. What I didn't know until I read his New York Times obituary was that his life was formed by a very peculiar tragedy, one that he never discussed with us: when he was four years old his father, a successful and respected businessman, shot three people to death--he was under the impression, apparently that they were burglers when they were, in fact, a policeman and a couple of insurance adjusters. He was duly sent to the penitentiary and the emininantly respectable home that Luther was born into was transformed into a home from which the father had been forcibly removed from and incarcerated. Now I begin to understand why his film "Lady In A Cage" was so important a piece of his life's work--the story revolves around senseless violence perpetrated on innocents and how even the innocents are capable of violent and lawless responses when put in a dangerous situation. Thus, this most elegant and astute of life-loving men also had his own dark view of how thin the blade we live on is; that he lived his long and productive life in such a compellingly un-neurotic fashion is, in retrospect, quite the accomplishment--as graceful and accepting of life as can be. Even more lovely than this, though, is the last bon mot he left me with: when I visited him in the hospital in June, he was asked if he wanted to get out of bed. He answered that he did. Then he was offered a heavy woolen robe to keep him warm. "No thank you", he said. "I wish to remain seasonal about this." Which meant that the summer sky was setting out of the window over the East River and Luther would remain in his light pajama's, suitably attired for the world and the season and the city that he'd been part of for so many years.

City Island: An Empire Diner Moment

Fri, 5 Sep 2008 22:33:00 UTC

I've received a number of questions from various readers and thought I'd address a handful of them in no particular order. First: the most fun scene to shoot? Andy Garcia going on his first "audition", lousing it up horribly and then unexpectedly being asked to do an improv at which he proves to be quite brilliant. I always say that for every movie I've done, there's one scene I can't wait to shoot and one that I hate the thought of shooting. The audition scene was the one I was always most eager to do--it epitomizes, to me, the story's essence--that within everybody there lies a sleeping lion of an artist, just waiting for the right opportunity to come along and roar. Andy was brilliant in the scene too--clearly he relished the moment. On the other hand, the day we spent shooting in the prison (Andy's character is a corrections officer) was by far the least pleasant. Having never spent a moment behind bars, I was unprepared for how deeply unpleasant the prison vibe truly is. I couldn't wait to get home that night. Soon as I did, took a big fat shower while drinking a bit fat Vodka. Release plans for the film: wish I could be more certain. I'll be getting it out on the festival circuit early next year and then we'll see... As far as the "actors to avoid list", no I was blessed to only work with "lifeboat people" on "City Island". Andy, Emily, Steven and Julianna were ultimate professionals and all loved being there. I won't reveal any of the names on that list--that's strictly a "directors confidence". But I will tell you that when directors meet, they tend to spend most of their time asking each other about actors who they've worked with. Thus you hear conversations between them that go mostly like this: "You worked with...X." "Yeah. I did." (Pause). "How...WAS that?" It's the thing that, the more you direct, you realize truly makes the difference between wanting to go to work every morning or having to just get through it. Dig the below moment between Andy and Emily, set in the Empire diner and shot on our last night of work, one week ago. It's an improvised moment at the end of a long and complicated scene, one that served as a tension-releaser for both the actors and crew...

City Island: Where's a copy of the f#*Q%@[ING script???

Thu, 4 Sep 2008 22:28:00 UTC

Somehow the past three days vanished in a haze of life-cathing-up errands, phone calls and the truly transitionary shift from production to post. Said "transition" for me takes the form of a particularly strange anxiety dream--this exact dream has happened to me after every movie. In it, I am standing on the set waiting to shoot but NOBODY HAS A COPY OF THE SCRIPT. At first I stay calm and tell myself that since I know the script I can deal without it. But I can't. I need to shotlist, I need to read the lines, I need to tell the actors something--and all this requires a COPY OF THE SCRIPT. And everybody becomes aware of the fact that not only can't I tell them what to do, they can't help me with the easiest request possible--to hand me a COPY OF THE SCRIPT. Embarrasment mounts and then turns to anger. Why are there no COPIES OF THE SCRIPT? I wind up thrusting myself down on the ground, like a child, and pounding the pavement: until there is a COPY OF THE SCRIPT in my hand, I announce, nothing will get done! How will that make everybody feel? Pretty silly, right? Still, this tantrum doesn't produce the one thing that I need: a COPY OF THE SCRIPT. Worse, the dream ends as a humiliation for me--the crew doesn't ultimately owe me a COPY OF THE SCRIPT...and it is plain that it was I who should have had this under control. I sit, angry, bereft, humiliated and completely de-authoritized. Then I wake up. Now, like I said, I've had this exact dream at the end of every film I've made. Which is strange enough. But last night, I had dinner with one of our pre-eminent filmmakers, Fred Schepisi ("Plenty", "Roxanne", "Six Degrees Of Seperation"). His son Nick was part of our A.D. team and Fred visited set one day when we were in the city. We hit it off and made a dinner plan which turned into a lovely evening of confessionals--directors of all ages, backgrounds and reputations share so many of the same problems. (Remember the brilliant scene in "Ed Wood" when Ed meets Orson Welles at the bar of Musso and Frank's and they have a surprising amount of common-ground?) After going through with Fred the "which actors to avoid" conversation, and discussing the improbables of so many productions, we got into the "coming down from production" scenario. And dig this: Fred's had the exact same dream of being on the set without a COPY OF THE SCRIPT. I felt both vindicated and entirely less alone than I thought I was. Even Fred Schepisi has this ridiculous reflexive post-production nocturnal scenario. And I have a feeling that he's not the only other director who has this dream. What an interesting poll this would be to take; how many directors have this dream? Are they all good directors? Do the bad ones not have the dream because they don't find anything unusual in being out of control? What specific deep-seated neurosis inherent in directors does this dream speak to? Lack of control? False empowerment syndrome? Complete and utterly lunatic lack of faith in the organism that is the movie set? All I suppose, but the latter is the most provocative; for a movie set, when fucntional, is an organizational thing of beauty, a mini-society in which seemingly anything--given the right equipment--can be accomplished. But a movie set bereft of a single important element--an actor who wont come out of a trailer, a director who can't decide what to do next, a camera that doesn't work, even NO COPY OF THE SCRIPT BEING AVAILABLE--such a set is a truck parked on a hill with the e-brake suddenly being released. The descent into chaos threatens the process at every moment. Staving it off is the triumph of a good day's work. I'll have new clips from "City Island" coming up tomorrow. Meanwhile, enjoy this superb Will Smith monologue from Fred Schepisi's brilliant cinematic tour de force adaptation of John Guare's "Six Degrees Of Seperation".

City Island: The Tributes Continue

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 08:52:00 UTC

What can I say? Giddy with acheivement I can't stop the flow of love and appreciation. So more tributes! Let's start with...myself. Click here to read a superb and insightful review of my documentary "Tis Autumn: The Search For Jackie Paris",which opened a few weeks ago in Canada and will make it's appearence on DVD late this year. This writer, Rick Groen, is now the official author of my favorite review of my own work. By the way, bad reviews are as easily dismissed by me as good ones are embraced. Call me a spineless whore. I laugh at your words. Zachary Matz, my co-producer, old friend and occasional jazz co-hort (he plays guitar and bass) deserves another major thank you for having had the worst job on the movie and pulled it off. He was locked in an office for most of production juggling the accounts--er, rather, making financial sense out of things. Kudo's to Dan Fisher, a great property master (an extremely important and often underrated job) who is also the author of a number of fictitious book titles that gave me great pleasure (see previous posts). My favorite: "Beam Me Up; Dramatic Monologues From Star Trek". He also digs the same old tunes that I do and even knows the lyrics... A toast to Tere Duncan, who wardrobed up our actors in excellent fashion, made great choices along the way and kept showing me pictures of various clothing options up until the penultimate day of shooting. Big time thanks to Phil Caruso, an extraordinarly talented photographer and a presence that you truly want gracing your set. And Ged. And Andrew. And Glen. And Brendan. And Shannon. And John Greenway. And Rachel Connors. And Johnny and Sorangel and Marina and Kelly and, and... And to everyone else and everyone I haven't mentioned, know that I love and appreciate your participation and will not forget your hard work. Here, in a fit of Italian-American over-emotion, is a clip that perfectly expresses how I feel; Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis performing "That's Amore" from 1953's "The Caddy". I'll calm down in another day or two. Meanwhile...

City Island: Tributes Abound

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 08:47:00 UTC

"City Island" wrapped at dawn, Thursday morning and immediately gave itself a wrap party that very evening. I hired two excellent jazz musicians--bass and sax--to accompany me (I play piano) and gave the movie's crew the gift of jazz as background entertainment. Then Andy Garcia brought in a Cuban band to kick things up a notch. The evening ended with me and several members of the crew going to the absolutely stupidest bar I've ever been to--a place called the "Beauty Bar" somewhere downtown, where guys sit around with the heads in old hair-dryers. Jesus. A few tributes. First to my excellent producing partner Lauren Versel, without whom we would not have actually become a movie. Lauren and I go back aways in life and could never have anticipated our relationship evolving into what it's become--partners in a joint movie venture that significantly has altered both of our lives already. From the beginning of her involvement, she has been nothing but supportive, clear and positive that we would get this done. Now she's exhausted. We all are. That's the game. I would also like to "out" the co-author of this blog over the past six weeks, the person you know as Cecilia Bee. Cecilia is, in fact, my personal asssistant, Amy Basil. Amy is so frigging great at pretty much whatever she puts her mind too that it genuinely shocking to me that she's leaving town (and my employ) next week...so dependent on her talent and gifts have I grown. She's also young and English--that accent plus her attitude will take her wherever she wants to go. My old friend and sound mixer Jan McLaughlin also was a fabulous partner in crime. I can't describe what makes Jan quite so magnetic and fascinating--she's both very much more present than most people and also on an entirely different plane of existence than most of us. Jan did my first movie, "Cafe Society" a dozen years ago and this was our reunion movie. She's got nothing but a brilliant attitude toward the whole mess and made me smile every morning--not an easy task as a shoot progresses. By the way, she's also a mad genius and a Goddam good Audio capturer. Best Assistant director: Eric Henriquez. Simple. This is a job that few people understand or appreciate--unless you're a director you can't quite grasp how necessary it is to have an excellent first A.D. and how quickly lost you are without one. Eric trained with some great people and is a top-of-the-craft guy. I've never had a set as well run and I told Eric at one point that I consider his the hardest job on a movie: because, like a hotel, it CAN NEVER STOP. I can rest, I can think, I can pace around. But the A.D. must literally be in motion and anticipating everything coming up all the time. Nuts. Eric's first class, no ifs or ands. I had the the wonderful fortune of having as my Production Designer Frankcie Diago, as talented and honest and forthright an artist as you could ask for. Franckie is a veteran of several other Andy Garcia projects--she worked for many years in the great Dean Tavoularis's art department which means "Godfather 3" was their first connect--and I met her at Andy's suggestion. She was the only PD I met who came to the meeting without a pile of materials to look at...which I found wildly refreshing. Instead she spoke to me about the story...so I hired her on the spot. This is very Franckie--she's "outside" the norm in every possible way and not fearful of anything. She also has truly lived a life--more than just working on movies she's traveled, built houses, lived in India. etc. You get the picture? Franckie is a life embracer. She also has highly sophisticated reference points--she doesn't think in terms of movies but of all art, all life, all experience... Lastly, I had the great good fortune to work with a "rising star" cinematographer, Vanja Cernjul. I've yet to see a scene that he hasn't bathed in lovely, soft light--he has a way of being both realistic and just a little mystical in the way he sees the frame. I interviewed a lot of DP's for this movie and Vanja was my first choice--and just a week or two after we hired him he was nominated for an Emmy for his work on 30 Rock. Vanja is Croatian--which means he too has a charming accent that comes in handy in stressful situations. Beyond that he has the patience and artistry that a really fine DP must have to keep focused when things threaten to implode. His steady and never wavering attitude saved me on a number of occasions when I was ready to settle for less in the interest of getting things done. The final tribute goes to you, who is reading this. When I started this blog a year ago I did so in a spirit of what-the-hellness, figuring that I'd soon run out of things to write about and that nobody would read it anyway. Somehow I've built an audience--not an easy thing in the blogosphere--and I'm genuinely thankful and moved that you followed the journey of the movie and that so many of you are writing in expressing your thoughts. Blogging is truly like broadcasting--you send it out into the universe and suddenly a response is forthcoming. Crazy! Once I was on a radio show and the host asked for callers questions. One second later--ONE SECOND--I watched as all the phone lines suddenly lit up. It was weirdly thrilling--because it was live. I get the same pleasure from seeing the comments section every day. So stick with me. I'll keep this blog as interesting as I can make it. And when I make another film you can take that journey with me as well--unless once was enough. Since there can be no blogging without a youtube clip, see this piece of Benny Goodman and his orchestra playing a truncated bit of "Sing Sing Sing" from the 1938 Warners movie "Hollywood Hotel". Why Benny Goodman? Because I was listening to him at dawn this morning when I couldn't sleep. Goodman was a wonderful musician and apparently not a very wonderful fellow. In fact he was so detested that the following joke used to be told. "I got good news and bad news. The good news is Benny Goodman died. The bad news is he died in his sleep."

City Island: Recording Wild Track W/Andy Garcia and Raymond De Felitta

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:50:00 UTC

Andy serenades Raymond with his City Island lines late into the last night of our shoot. I thought I was being discreet, evidently not.

City Island: Empire Diner

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:49:00 UTC

Our last night has been spent at the fitting and classic Empire Diner, right in the heart of Chelsea. Fitting, I think, because the movie takes a route from the fringes of Bronx and un-germinated dreams to the hub-bub of New York and the promise of a bright future. We too began in the Bronx, nicely rooted, and now are here, in the bustling, bright city. The two paths have finally converged; art really does imitate life.

City Island: An Ode to Zachary Matz, the Unseen Hero

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 02:45:00 UTC

This is a post I had been meaning to do for a very long time and then there came a point when it could only be done on the final night; only now it seems apt. Our producer Zachary Matz has been the darkest of horses when it comes to set presence. Yet, he has been the definition of "trooper", assuming the above position for 14 hours a day, his phone headset never far from his earlobes. This is a post in acknowledgment of Zachary Matz and it comes from my endless reserve of gushiness. So readers, suffer no more my ramblings, but be assured he is awesome, the movie would not have been made without him and it would not have been the same experience without his impromptu lessons in production throughout the long days in the musty City Island office. I don't really need to say much more, (I think my sentiment is clear) because I know I will get wasted tomorrow at the wrap party and tell him myself... The minutes, along with the film feet, are slowly slipping away and burning up. In 3 hours all this starts to become a memory and no longer a reality...

City Island: Walk and Talk in Chelsea

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 02:43:00 UTC

A video montage from the late hours of last night. Up and down 10th avenue, and then to the bar for some drinks and cheese. Yum.

City Island: West Bank Cafe Photos

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 02:41:00 UTC

Street chaos that manages to end up being a movie, and a rather wonderful one at that.

City Island: A Shaky West Bank Cafe

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 02:32:00 UTC

Let me know when the little flip camera movies with musical accompaniment get dull... Here is a rather sneaky and shaky waltz through our West Bank cafe set up.

City Island: West Bank Cafe, the penultimate day

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:42:16 UTC

Raymond with producers Greg and Lauren. The happiness is palpable. Not because the film is nearly in the can, but because everyone seems acutely aware at how little time there is left to be friends. This sense is something akin to the end of a school year when the petty feuds are laid to one side and the smiles begin to creep up at the corners of your mouth... Sentimental? Me? Never! I guess all this is heightened by the fact we are shooting a particularly 'feel-good' scene (when the punters of the West Bank Cafe all applause Vincent's successful audition) It all lends to the mood of good-will and the sudden rush to exchange numbers with those you may want to see again someday. Sides from today: A scene with Emily Mortimer and Andy Garcia.

City Island: Photographs from the theatre days by Tom Hayes

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:03:23 UTC

De Felitta, with Andy Garcia, Assistant Director (Far left) Eric Henriquez and Associate Producer Joe Drago (Far right). And the camera team. Another lovely contribution to the blog. Photographs from the days filming the Malakov Acting Studio scenes with Alan Arkin. They really captured the mood and pace of this particular locale.

City Island: Thank You to the Crew and...Billy Wilder?

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:59:06 UTC

For some reason that I was never clear about, a three day weekend was built into our last week of shooting. So now it's Monday, with two more shooting days to go, and I'm sitting around feeling pleasantly, utterly lost--not yet finished with the shoot, nor on the clock I've been on for the past ten weeks. Nonetheless, the two last nights coming up will put an end to that. And will also put an end to the most enjoyable filmmaking experience I've yet had. I'm not sure who on the crew checks this blog, but if any of you are out there please accept my heartfelt thanks and gratitude for your super-professionalism and all around great attitudes. And spread that thanks to your compatriots who may not be reading this. The crew, as always, carried the movie. And the actors felt well supported and able to focus on their work. We'll post more clips this week as we come to the end of our shooting period. And then I'm not sure what this blog will turn into. I'll be editing for the next couple of months. Perhaps I'll go back to posting music and old movie stuff as I previously did. Or it'll evolve into a history of what happens to this particular independent film. Our expectations for the movie are high, but I've been doing this awhile and know how hard the road is. Still it'll be a journey and perhaps an interesting one to share. If anyone has any ideas for the blog and where you'd like to see it go, drop me a comment. I had a number of director heroes in my youth that made me interested in pursuing this maddening craft. Cheif among them was the great Billy Wilder. It sounds easy to say now--he is universally regarded as one of the all time greats--but in the 70's when I was growing up and watching movies on television he was in eclipse. His new films were failures--"The Front Page", "Fedora", "Buddy Buddy". And his critical reputation seemed not to be high with the Andrew Sarris/Pauline Kael's who then dominated the film crit world. But I was fascinated by his movies early on--especially his Paramount noirs, 'Lost Weekend", "Double Indemnity", "Sunset Blvd." and "Ace In the Hole" and watched them whenever they came on (usually the KTLA Channel 5 movie theater). The fact that he co-wrote all of his own films was not lost on me--he seemed to exert a control over tone and an authority over the material that even other great directors could not consistantly match. It became apparent to me that his role--as both writer and director--was the be all/end all in terms of authority over material. To create a film in your head is to direct it before you're ever on the set. I saw Wilder and Sturges and the few other writer/directors that old Hollywood produced as occupying a loftier, royally untouchable position. The writer/director remains, to me, the ultimate filmmaker. It was Wilder's example that convinced me to become a writer first and not pursue filmmaking through other channels. I'm hardly alone in this--he truly, in a sense, showed the way toward modern, auteurist filmmaking (even though the old Hollywood craftsman in him would probably have rejected this claim). When a book called "Billy Wilder In Hollywood" was published in the late seventies, I bought it and ate it up, reading it constantly and committing large segments of it to memory. Wilder was alive--indeed he lived well into his nineties, dying only a few years ago--but though I did meet him once, I never had the interaction with him that I hoped to. (Cameron Crowe did, instead). The occassion of our meeting was after a screening of "Some Like It Hot" at a theater in Beverly Hills. He showed up to do a q&a and afterward was swarmed by admirers. I jumped in early, grabbed his hand and said something along the lines of: "You'll never know how much your work has meant to me". Wilder, in his charming and brusque German-accented manner, replied: "Put that on a tape recorder for me. I will play it over and over." Then he turned sharply away from me, effectively ending our encounter. And now, in closing, I'll offer some Billy Wilder quotes as my way of thanking him for having played such a large role in getting me involved with this mess of a profession. On having relationships with actresses: "I never get involved with my actress. If I have a yen, I fuck the stand-in." On subtlety in films: "In movies everything must be made obvious." (The person he's talking to:) "But Billy: what about subtleties?" "Make the subtleties obvious also." On France: "France is a country where the money falls apart in your hands but you can't tear the toilet paper." A cable he wrote to his wife, after she asked him to purchase a bidet while he was abroad: "Cannot obtain bidet. Suggest you do handstands in shower." On Marilyn Monroe's chronic tardiness: "My Aunt Minnie would always be punctual and never hold up production, but who would pay to see my Aunt Minnie?" And finally the immortal: "A director must be a policeman, a midwife, a psychoanalyst, a sycophant and a bastard." This from Michel Ciment's interview w/Wilder, shot at his beach house in Malibu, California. You get to see him fly a kite at one point...and you get a look at his longtime writing partner, I.A.L. Diamond.

City Island: I'm With the Movie and Marguiles Last Scene

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 03:38:00 UTC

Firstly, a well-earned, thank you and applause goes out to our Joyce, Julianna Margulies. Today we wrapped (finished shooting) the woman who more than fulfilled the character's potential (and De Felitta's vision) with a dynamic of attitude, strength and likeability. So... To Julianna. Sante! The first part of our day/afternoon (call was at 2pm) was spent at our law office location on 57th and Lexington Avenue. Yet again we are faced with the fictional riding up against the real. As myself and producer Lauren Versel approached the plaza that dramatically leads to the revolving doors, a new but eager PA (Production Assistant) informs us that we cannot walk through. It was a classic moment. Versel did her best 'No, no, no, you don't understand, we are with the movie...' And all that remains is a blushing PA... Cut to later that night, Roosevelt Island, West Side. Director Raymond, Erin (Versel's assistant), Producer Zachary Matz and myself in a crew van driving to set. Man in neon vest, armed with a red light stick, stands in the middle of the road, in front of the van and our nonplussed driver, starts yelling: "WHERE YOU GOIN'?!?! WHAT YOU DOIN'?!?!" (accompanied by crazy arm movements and the waving of his red stick) "WHERE YOU GOIN'?!! WHAT YOU DOIN'?!!!?" The driver, who has quite clearly seen it all before, calmly undoes his seatbelt, slowly sticks his head out the window, and says in a normal tone: "We're with the film." The yelling man seems to react in no way but just says, as though none of the yelling had occurred: "all right, go ahead." The change in tone took us all by surprise and had us all struck by disbelief. At least we know our set is well protected... And the moral of these tall and arbitrary tales? "I'm with the movie" may just get you everywhere...

City Island: Roosevelt is De Felitta Follows Garcia and Mortimer

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 03:35:00 UTC

From this evening's shoot on Roosevelt Island. Raymond De Felitta calmly follows the scene that unfolds on the boardwalk below. The bright lights buzz in the background as the final yell of 'cut!' looms on the horizon. Monday we are idle, then Tuesday, Wednesday and 'That's a wrap!'...

City Island: Roosevelt Island Night Spot

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 21:08:54 UTC

A short cut sequence from tonight down at the Roosevelt Island tram. Truly spectacular and romantic. Yet a little on the bizarre side of things, the island is one of those Truman show-esque where it all feels a little to considered and held together. Neat condos flanked by neat streets and a tram as a mode of transportation. A little toy town methinks... P.S You can see Andy walking up the ramp in the blue shirt, rehearsing a scene with Raymond and Emily Mortimer.

City Island: Andy Garcia Taking Direction Over the Walkies

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:26:20 UTC

From our day in TriBeCa. Filming the crash scene in the ford Galaxy was a logistical feat of biblical proportions, De Felitta directed Garcia via Walkie. Copy That! Phrase of the shoot for sure!

City Island: Bookcovers by Dan Fisher for the Acting Class

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:22:11 UTC

Dan Fisher, our property master, has created these rather tongue-in-cheek book covers for our acting class extras to hold as props. Likely that they will never be seen on screen, so I have posted them as a courtesy to Dan and to give the books their 15 minutes. Because everyone, even inanimate objects, deserves their 15.

City Island: Inside the Malakov Acting Studio

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:36:34 UTC

City Island: Walk to the Malakov Acting Studio

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:29:35 UTC

Today we are shooting at a theater off Park Avenue in Midtown. This is a little walk through our holding areas and lock down of the street, accompanied by some Wagner, just for fun!

City Island: Stills Phil Does His Best De Felitta

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:24:21 UTC

Tuesday, Day 23: Phil Caruso does his best Raymond impression, and at the same time keeps us all entertained. HI-LAR-IOUS. I think he has the head rub down to a T.

City Island: Steven Strait and Julianna Margulies Slate Themselves

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:21:40 UTC

When working on a low budget, independent feature such as we are, sometimes corners have to be cut... Or when an actor is squashed in to a Honda Element then the slate must be done DIY style, that or have a camera assistant sit on your lap...

City Island: Auctioning roles and pushing Andy Garcia in a Ford Galaxy

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 03:57:00 UTC

Click on the image above to watch 'Pushing Andy'. The lovely gentleman above won his role as part of a charity auction in which a walk-on role was donated as one of the prizes. Another of the many stories behind the story of "City Island". It was a great day back in Manhattan again. Zachary Matz, one of our producers (who I will profile before we are done I promise!), opened a tab at the TriBeCa Tavern, for some after work cast and crew drinks. Code word was of course "Botero". (This is in reference to a story line in the film in which Andy Garcia's son, Vinnie Jr, has a infatuation with overweight women. To enter into the gluttonous depths of the Big Beautiful Woman community, one must know and use the secret word: "Botero") The drink was lovely. Well, half of the drink was lovely. The other half ended up on the floor courtesy of Mr Matz's left foot...

City Island: Tribeca, Waiting In A Surreal Line

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:31:00 UTC

Day 23, and a little more waiting around is going on than usual. This time the waiting will both on camera and off as we film an open call audition sequence in TriBeCa (I want to know who comes up with these funny names... Triangle Below Canal? Seriously?) With 140 extras on our hands it is set to be a day of logistical somersaults, and the fact they all have been pulled from the extras casting pool entitled: "Stereotypical New York City Cop" makes for a day that is somewhat surreal... Everyone around me looks vaguely similar and I cannot tell if the guys hanging on the street corner really are just loitering or whether they have ambitions that parallel Vince Rizzo's, and are actually actors in this little film of ours... Reality and fiction seem to have truly collided, but I guess that's what sign up for when you say "yes" to life in the movies!

City Island: Process Trailer Clips

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:32:00 UTC

A tour round a process trailer with Cameron Gorman.

City Island: Andy Garcia Takes the Roll Call at the Correctional Facility

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:30:00 UTC

A clip from the shooting on Day 21, Friday August 15th, out in the dark, desolate depths of Long Island. The section of the prison we were located in had not seen any inmates for 15 years, but if you were to slink down certain corridors, one could see the brief flash of a bone fide orange jumpsuit, hear the macho banter and as a result resolve to tread no further...

City Island: De Felitta Clip from the Correctional Facility

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:27:00 UTC

From the day of shooting at our fictional "Dalegrove". De Felitta takes a moment before filming to begins, to ready himself for what are some of the most emotionally supressed scenes of the film. Andy Garcia's character Vince Rizzo, runs in to his illegitimate and forgotten son: Tony Nardella (Steven Strait) whilst doing the roll call.

City Island: Back At Orchard Beach

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:23:00 UTC

Bang! And we are back at Orchard Beach on a blistering hot day. Picking up some left over driving shots, which means for Raymond and his first team, being clipped on to a process trailer, literally shackled to a machine. The Ford Galaxy is having one of it's last outings, along with Steven Strait. Steven has been a 'tour de force' on the set of "City Island", and as well as bringing his charm and skill, Strait also brought his lovely (and supremely talented) actress wife Lynn Collins (Collins plays opposite Andy Garcia in the movie-within-a-movie scene).

City Island: Sunday's Daily News Gets the Scoop

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:00:00 UTC

Click here for a look at a nice features piece on our movie, "City Island". The New York Daily News came out to set on one of our last days in City Island proper and interviewed both me and Andy for this piece. I'm off to try to get a seat to "Gypsy", for my money one of the three best musicals ever written. ("Guys and Dolls" and "Carousel" being the others). Arthur Laurents, who wrote the original book, directed this revival at the age of ninety. Clearly a good role model for both directing longevity as well as plain old living of life longevity. Below is Patti LuPone from the Tony Awards singing "Everything's Coming Up Roses". I much prefer posting this than anything from the execrable 1960 movie version starring Rosalind Russell. Come to think of it, the above mentioned shows were all made into mediocre movies--Mankiwicz's "Guys and Dolls" is almot as boring as "Cleopatra" and "Carousel" is pretty undistingueshed. Two of my three favorite film musicals were all developed directly for the screen: "Singing In The Rain", "The Bandwagon". The third is a toss up between "Cabaret" and "West Side Story". Laurents, by the way, can be glimpsed at the end of this clip.

City Island: Clips Will Return This Coming Week

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 23:54:00 UTC

Thanks for such a powerful response pro-posting clips. The result is that the folks who didn't like me posting the clips have come around somewhat and now feel that so long as I don't post anything to lengthy or any cut sequences it's okay to resume the clips. I thank them for being forward thinking and hope that the pieces that I post are elucidating and silly at the same time. A few directorial aphorisms: "The first thing to go is the legs". This from the late Sydney Pollack. It happened to me this week. Standing is, for the most part, no longer an option beyond a few minutes. I'm lying down as I write this. "Just tell Raymond not to work too hard." This from Robert Altman who, before I ever met him told this to Peter Gallagher. I asked Peter, who was having dinner with my director hero, to ask him for any advice for me on my first movie. The above was his response. He later told me himself to listen to everyone's suggestions and use the good ones because "you'll get all the credit anyway." From Peter Bogdanovich, when asked by Tom Sizemore, who was playing Pete Rose, how to make such an unlikable character acceptable and interesting. Sizemore asked PB: "Where's the redemption?" PB's answer: "It's in the close-ups." Extraordinarily true. A good close-up says so much about humanity and forgives us our flaws. From an unknown grip, overheard on a now-forgotten set. The usual work pattern that so often emerges is a slow morning filled with careful work followed by a rushed afternoon. When the grip was asked by a friend how the movie he was working on was going: "You know. In the mornings it's "Lawrence Of Arabia", in the afternoons it's "Dukes Of Hazzard". Henry Hathaway on compromise. "If you compromise only once a day on something and your shoot lasts fifty days, that's fifty fucking compromises in the finished picture." And from my old mentor Eddie Dmytryk: "In films, compromise is a way of life." Whenever I feel that the workload and responsibility of making a film is just a tad too extreme, I remember the following clip of Buster Keaton from "Steamboat Bill JR." and realize that, in pursuit of artistic perfection, he literally PUT HIS LIFE ON THE LINE doing the following stunt.

City Island: DeFelitta Directs Dalegrove

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 03:29:00 UTC

As a week of variety and multiple locations draws to an end Raymond keeps it together and perfects his pointy directorial finger. We have had everything from Strippers to correctional officers and a shoot out in Washington Heights. Next week awaits with promises of Alan Arkin and threats of Steven's final day. A reminder for you Sir Raymond: Barber's appointment, tomorrow morning, 11am. Be there or be unkempt.

City Island: Inside the Correctional Facility

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 03:26:00 UTC

Well the prison definitely has an 'aesthetic'. People seem to think it is depressing, but I am fascinated by it, the design and the graphics throughout are so solid and functional; dragged from the depths of the late 1950's. I am a particular fan of the desk lamps... Maybe I will ask for a souvenir...

City Island: Down at Dalegrove

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:55:00 UTC

The external of our fictional Dalegrove correctional facility. The concept of filming in a prison seems exciting but in reality you cannot have your cell phone or internet! What good am I as a blogger if I am not connected to the rest of the world? So no doubt today I will be making various trips back to the honeywagon...

City Island: Franckie Dresses The Part

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 19:28:28 UTC

I am somewhat lost for words. This outfit is so amazing and hilarious. Franckie comes in costume for a day at the correctional facility. And she is most definitely free.

City Island: Bethune St, Storms and Spying On Schnabel

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:22:33 UTC

West Beth's community courtyard, and below shooting on the thirteenth floor. Below, a stormy sky rears its ugly head. Below is Julian Schnabel's infamous magenta home, (on the left). It was amazing to be in the village and to be on the 13th floor of the Ramscale studios really took the day up a notch. We whiled away the hours with plenty of space, fans, air conditioned rooms, functioning toilets, and spectacular views. I think the cast and crew could get used to this kind of working environment... Well tomorrow it is off to the correctional facility so lets not get too comfy... The West Beth building is a fabulous place to be. It has nurtured artists for over 25 years, and is the largest artist residence in the world. The choreographer Merce Cunningham still is based here, and the building once housed Diane Arbus. I tried to get one of the inhabitants to adopt me, so I could inherit the space, but it was to no avail... Anyway I must dash: I am spying on a Cunningham rehearsal across the rooftops!

City Island: Andy Garcia Preparing For The Final Scenes

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 21:14:00 UTC

Today we were back in Manhattan (where we belong), shooting in the village is such a pleasure. Above is the preparations for the casting office scene, where Andy Garcia brought Vince Rizzo to his fruition, it was awe inspiring to watch.

City Island: Andy Garcia Does Lunchtime Entertainment

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 21:10:00 UTC

Only in the world of movies does one get serenaded by Andy Garcia's fingers on ivory as a form of lunchtime entertainment... Well they told me it was glamorous!

City Island: Thank You Stills Phil

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:32:00 UTC

Images by Phil Caruso. Another of our locations was the Port Authority Bus Station uptown and the George Washington Bridge, Epic stuff. Our stills photographer has been awesome and I want his job, especially because of the box the camera goes in to shut it up and not bother Jan "Friend of Sound" McLaughlin. Here is his self-titled 'Art Moment', back in that distant memory of a place: City Island... Well, I love it, in spite of his self-deprecation. Aye Aye Cap'in! If I were to ever make a statue of Director Raymond De Felitta it would look something like this photo below. Of course he always is touching his curly Italian bred hair, it is so much fun, like a slinky I guess... What shall he do after the hair trim on Saturday? (Buy the way: Raymond, your barbers appointment is at 11am on Saturday, I know you will read this for sure!)

City Island: Ezra's Last Day

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:26:00 UTC

A super photograph taken by our on-set stills photographer Phil Caruso. And another fantastic picture from Phil Caruso. And so they begin to fall like flies. Today we wrapped on both Ezra and Hope Davis (who plays Cheryl, Vinnie Jr's Love interest). We really are in the final strait now. Seeing Ezra go was truly a milestone, he has been a tremendous asset to the film and I can hardly wait to see him blow up on the big screen. It will be, truly spectacular I am certain. Hopefully we shall see both Ezra and Marta again, I very much doubt they will be able to hold themselves away from the set for more than a few days. Below are some questions that Raymond formulated for Vinnie Jr. In the absence of daily clips, I have to ask you all to open your imaginations and wonder at the potential answers the sparky and sharp-tongued Ezra Miller whipped up! **************************************************************************** Ten Questions For Vincent Rizzo III (aka Vince Jr./Vinnie) to ask of himself: 1)Why is Sunday necessarily a day off? Research the eight day week. 2) If a camera doesn't record an event, did it happen? Conversely, can an event that's been recorded ever claim to have not been staged? 3)Clearly my sister is a hooker. The question is: what does she charge? 4) We wash everything except our teeth with warm water. Why do we brush our teeth with cold water? Why does a mouthful of warm water mixed with toothpaste produce a gagging reflex? 5)Feeding a girl and watching her grow larger as the ultimate erotic stimulai. Why have I been so cursed? 6)Clearly he can't have sex with this guy in prison and so needs to bring this one home to the boat shed. Why? Overcrowding? 7) What's with remaking "Incredible Hulk" two years later? Will they do it again in two years? Should there only be "Incredible Hulk" movies every summer? 8)Grapefruits do not resemble grapes. Why the name? 9)"Kinko's". What an interesting name for a copy store. Discuss. 10)Is it normal to look forward to my service in Iraq? **************************************************************************** Where does De Felitta dream up these things? Hilarious, non?

City Island: Bronx Island School

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:21:00 UTC

Today we were shooting in three different locations. We kicked of the day with the Bronx Science High School doing the last shots of Ezra Miller. That's a wrap!

City Island: Shooting in Washington Heights

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:17:00 UTC

This is the madness from today. We had an insane amount of onlookers and with the heat added into the mix, it set us up for an intense day. Our PA Campbell, kept the punters at bay with his trained Spanish tongue. Whilst Lauren Versel and myself battled with a local public notary for 45 minutes. Apologies to Andy fans that I do not have any footage of the man himself, tomorrow my dears, you shall not be disappointed. Today we were shooting a movie within a movie sequence. I do not want to give too much away, but let us just say that it involves a fair few blood packs and some dead looking Andy Garcias...

City Island: Interview With Raymond De Felitta

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 03:09:00 UTC

This is a video response to some questions asked by Christina Bord from On Location Vacation, who visited us last week to research an article on "City Island". Raymond was super busy at the time and so we have compiled a set of truly 21st century answers...

City Island: Call Sheet Day 18 (And Counting)

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 03:07:00 UTC

So the end is in sight. The wrap party is being planned and the wheels have yet to fall off this vehicle. Everyone is keeping it together and keeping it super-good. Tomorrow looks exciting: we have two company moves and three locations... I feel we have been lulled into a false sense of security by the relatively slow pace that City Island afforded us. Now Manhattan's bright lights awaits us and promises to be a handful, but it is nothing Shannon Bowen Causey (our locations manager) hasn't taken on before! Wish us luck!

City Island: Hell's Half Acre w/Steven Strait

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:25:00 UTC

From Day Two of our strip club shooting at the wonderful, but fictional "Hell's Half arcre which is right next door to a Gymnastics center... This is some behind the scenes action featuring Steven Strait. Shout out to all the extras on set today, thanks for being here and I know it is tough work watching strippers for a living. Just please save some snacks for Erin and me.

City Island: Call Is At A Reasonable Hour, But Will We Make The Day?

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:58:00 UTC

And that my dear friends is the ever present question, that will only ever be answered with the passage of time. It is around 10pm now and the 12 hour mark looms closer and closer... eek! Above is the call sheet from today, Monday August 11th 2008.

City Island: De Felitta Takes A Moment And Eats A Calzone

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:55:00 UTC

After a weekend of moving back home to Manhattan, Raymond De Felitta finds himself on yet another Island in the far reaches of these five boroughs. Staten Island is providing the locale for our strip club and fight between Vivian (Dominik Garcia-Lorido) and Tony (Steven Strait). After a schizophrenic morning, the weather has yet to make up its mind, however, for now it would seem there are blue skies abundant. Craft Services' Joe Facey plied us all with some home grown, Staten Island calzones, whilst Producer Lauren Versel and De Felitta did that which they do best: get on the phone. Again.

City Island: Parking Lot w/Steven Strait and Dominik Garcia-Lorido

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:50:00 UTC

A rather poor quality clip from today's shooting with stedicam. We are working on the quality of compression, so any suggestions would be warmly appreciated.

City Island: Stripping Down On Staten Island

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:14:00 UTC

Art Director, Franckie Diago's floor plan for the Strip Club location. So from one fabulous location to another... City Island to Staten Island. The views in City Island were forgiving, here, there is no view to speak of. But it is nonetheless our location for the strip club scenes, what does one expect? I know for certain that these scenes will have an inescapable "gritty reality". I had the pleasure of taking the logistical nightmare that is the Staten Island Ferry and once the epic journey across the steely intersection of the East and Hudson Rivers had come to a close, only the infamous Honeywagon awaited me. A model of self-sufficiency, the Honeywagon has it all in a cozy 32 ft sq of space. A Honey Wagon sounds lovely, but Wikipedia begs to differ: "A Honeywagon is the term given to a mobile toilet unit used in the film and televison industry. The ledgend behind the name 'Honeywagon' is thought to relate to the 'honey-coloured' liquid that comes out of it when emptying the holding tanks." And so the glamorous life continues, all I am left wondering is whether there will be a chocolate on my pillow/makeshift cushioned bench tomorrow... methinks, not. This is how we run things, independent style. Please check your airs and graces at the door.

City Island: Staten Is. Photographs. So Much Wonder!

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:59:00 UTC

Photographs from the first part of the day on the ranch (parking lot, really) that dedicates itself to the rearing of dysfunctional families, strippers and small time criminals .. "Lipsticks" the strip club that for two days will be transformed into De Felitta's neon vision: "Hells Half Acre".

Information Democracy or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love YouTube

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 22:35:00 UTC

Last week I was asked by one of the production entities helping to finance my film "City Island" to stop posting clips of the dailies. Actually I wasn't asked to do so, I was ordered to do so. Being in mid-filming and this not exactly being a priority of my day, I told them it was not a problem. So the clips came down. But now I wonder: why did they ask me to do this? And what message does my compliance with their request actually send? Having had a few days to think this one over, I'm gradually coming to some conclusions and am ultimately glad that this controversy--minor though it is--has reared its head. I was especially interested to see how many readers of the blog wrote in protesting the removal of the clips. This, more than anything, told me that I was on to something with the whole notion of blogging a film production and sharing the experience as well as sharing the bits of the mosaic--the "dailies"--that go into the end result. So, in order of the above questions. First: they asked me to remove the clips because of "piracy" issues and fear that the small amounts of the film that I'm sharing could possibly appear to other buyers as "unpolished" or "unrepresentative" of what the final product will be. Okay. But what is piracy? It's taking something for free that should have a monetary value and profiting off it. So my question is: what could possibly be done with any of the dailies clips I've posted that would provide monetary gain? Would anybody pay cash for a ten to thirty second clip of my film? Clearly the answer to this is no. As to how representative of the final product the dailies are, I argue that they are both completely unrepresentative while at the say time super representative in their rawness and thus a good deal more tantalizing than, say, a slick little trailer. When I show you a piece of my dailies (and believe me I'm like all good directors--I ain't showing nothing that I'm not proud of) I'm showing you part of the process we go through in achieving the end result. One of the reasons outtakes are so fascinating and elucidating (and I'm a big fan of DVD extra outtakes for old movies--check out the new "My Man Godfrey" edition with some fine Carol Lombard and William Powell outtakes) is that they provide a view of the meta-film, the other movie that's happening while the end result is achieved. Robert Altman used to insist that the cast and crew watch the dailies together at the end of the day because, he said, "the real movie is in the dailies". (This was also Altman's way of encouraging his actors to improvise and then feeling free to discard 90 percent of it without guilt since they'd already seen and admired their work in the dailies). Dailies are an entirely different view of the movie that will eventually emerge. I think it's important and not at all harmful to let people in on how the process works. That old "don't show the magic" line feels last century to me. By now, the bizarre and beautiful process that movie making is is known to many, many people. And if it's not, I think it's my right to share the process. What are you going to do? Pirate the process? As to what message I'm sending by complying with the request to not show the dailies, clearly I'm agreeing that the last century and its thinking is still correct, that the world order is unchanged, that 19th and 20th century notions of ownership and control (as well as 19th and 20th century fears) are still wagging the dog. But let's face it: even large corporations realize that in the current world, any viral presence is a help, not a hindrance. Clips of movies on youtube are a non-starter in terms of harming people's copyrights. Clips are clips. Not movies. They are their to educate you on the existence of the finished product, not rob you of the opportunity to see it. A final word about this subject for now. We live in the age of branding. If you're an artist and haven't found a brand for yourself, chances are your marching uphill on an increasingly lonely trip. Nothing I do is "brandable". The movies that I make, and the movies that I watch, are specialty items. The music that I love--jazz--is also now considered "boutique". (That means unpopular to large masses). With the advent of youtube, the cultural treasures that I've clung too ever since I was a kid are now available to share with others and--I hope--are being given new life because of this availability. Hence this blog--which I started in order to justify the hours I was spending on youtube watching clips of forgotten movies and dead musicians. The glory of the information democracy is in the ability to reinterpret the very existence of this material without profit being an issue. Thus people post short brilliant clips of music or dance from old two hour movies that are simply not movies that most people would watch in their entirety anymore. Perhaps the sum of the parts of "Down Argentine Way" no longer speaks to many people...but the parts certainly do. The numbers featuring the fabulous Nicholas Brothers deserve to stand on their own no matter the dubious value of the rest of the structure that was initially there to support them. Similarly, I don't know how many people will see "City Island" when it's done. Plenty I hope. Some readers of this blog will probably seek it out and some may have, by the time of its release, moved on. But if right now people are interested in the story of how a movie is made, that part of the process should be shared should if I choose to do so. And posting information about the film--production reports, call sheets, dailies,--can't, I believe, truly do any harm and probably can do some good in terms of letting people know that we're out here, creating this particular film. I'm not sure that removing the clips was the right decision. And while I think it over and decide what my next move is, how 'bout those Nicholas Brothers?

On-Set Philosopher

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 22:34:00 UTC

Following a couple of inspired observations by our production designer Franckie Diago, Marta Miller, Ezra’s mother, suggested that all film sets should have on-set philosophers. This blogger thinks that it would be an excellent idea. Existential doubts, worries about hierarchical structures in film production, actors feeling empty: an on-set philosopher probably wouldn’t solve them all, but the terse, balanced language of academia would go some way to relieving the symptoms, if only in the short term, but how long is that anyway? Go ask the “philly”.

Carrie Baker Reynolds

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 22:30:00 UTC

Carrie Baker Reynolds, who plays Denise, just minutes ago completed her last shot of the shoot. In addition to her stellar acting and unshakable sunny disposition (even at the end of 14 hour days), she has kept us all entertained with her micro-opera (see video below with Ezra) and wide range of faultless regional accents. It’s been a pleasure Carrie, we look forward to the next time.

Signs - The Best Ones

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 22:19:00 UTC

My earlier post on City Island signs were lacking. I had seen some true gems, but hadn’t had any photos to hand. As far as I can see, the best are in the car park of Tony’s Pier at the end of City Island Avenue.

Why don’t they just say “Just Eat, Pay & Leave. All Else Prohibited.”

Props - The Fridge

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 22:17:00 UTC

Today we shot Denise (Carrie Baker Reynolds) from inside her fridge. Without destroying the magic of cinema too much, here is how our masterful prop team managed it (this is the "inside"):

City Island

City Island: Hitting the Polish Presses

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 22:16:00 UTC

I know its in Polish, but I think it speaks for itself.

City Island: Doing it for the love of art and cinema

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 22:14:00 UTC

Oh the glamorous life of show-business! Raymond De Felitta and Rachel Connors, our script supervisor, squeeze into the back of Joyce's Honda element. Thus, giving up all graces and proper knee function in the name of the movie. Now that is dedication. But of course not forgetting the dedication from the other 60 or so people you cannot see in this picture, but that were there and were up at 5am stifling their yawns with will power and extra large Dunkin'-Donuts-Iced-Coffee-To-Go. Sante!

City Island: Cheese Balls Return and Honey Wheat Braided Twists

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 21:48:00 UTC

Thank you to Utz the supreme snack company who have supplied both our supermarket and one of our homes on City Island. Above, a production assistant ferries cheese balls that seem to be multiplying and popping up on every corner. Marta (Ezra's mom) and Franckie (Production Designer) huddled away on a wall late last night fawning over Utz's Honey Wheat Braided Twists. They were like crack addicts; they lured me in to their pretzel snack lair and got me hooked. I began by being skeptical and rather nonchalant about their appeal: They were okay. But then after the first one, I had to make sure and before you knew it I was eating two at a time. Sitting on the wall, delirium setting in, giggling with two of the loveliest people on the whole set about how ridiculous we all are. Just the right mix of salty and sweet. Perfect.

Linguistic Differences

Thu, 7 Aug 2008 23:09:14 UTC

I thought I'd share with you a couple of interesting linguistic differences: In the UK, doing a "touch-up" is, as it is here, a last minute paint or make-up job. However, "to touch somebody up" means to "caress so as to excite sexually" or "sexually molest". As you can imagine, all the touching people up that goes on in the makeup department can be very exciting if you're British. In England, if you're referring to fishing equipment, it's usually "fishing tackle" and rarely just "tackle". "Tackle" on it's own tends to mean male genitalia... make up your own caption for the photo below:

City Island's Many Rules and Regulations

Thu, 7 Aug 2008 23:08:14 UTC

Perhaps because of the Friday and Saturday night crowd (when the Bronx comes to town), the establishments of City Island cover themselves in notices in what appears a rather desperate, last-ditch attempt to curb any late shenanigans. Here are a few that I have photographed, more to come:

Wednesday's Night Shoot

Thu, 7 Aug 2008 23:07:14 UTC

Wednesday was a phenomenally long day. Call [the official start time] was at 9am and most of us only left at 12.30am. The fatigue was attenuated by the spectacular silhouette of the Manhattan skyline reflected in a moonlit sea. This long exposure was taken when the moon was obscured by cloud.

A Tribute To Adam

Thu, 7 Aug 2008 23:05:14 UTC

Adam, our Unit PA, is the hardest-working man on set. Eating sitting down is quite out of the question. In fact, he's evolved a unique stomach over these last few weeks that never gives him indigestion no matter how fast he eats nor how much running he does when full. You could call him superhuman, or you could just call him Adam Wolk. Here's Adam erecting a grass-painting crime scene.

Ezra and better than Ezra

Thu, 7 Aug 2008 23:03:14 UTC

Carrie (who plays Denise) told Ezra that his name reminded her mother of early-90's rock band, Better than Ezra (http://www.betterthanezra.com/hi.php). Ezra was appalled: "I hate them for two reasons: 1.) they suck, 2.) They think they're better than me and they're just not. They suck." Well said Ezra. For Ezra. Word.

City Island: Announcement About Dailies

Thu, 7 Aug 2008 23:02:14 UTC

Dear Viewers, Sometimes, some things are too good to be true. I was left thinking recently that this shoot was far too relaxed and lovely, I was posting dailies after all! But, alas, the reins have been pulled in and there shall be no more dailies from the set. However, I will still report back and document as much as possible, the trusty Flip camera by my side. I tend to agree with the powers that be: after all we don't want to lift the red velvet curtain too much (plus, behind the scenes is WAY more exciting). If readers have any suggestions then let me know; let me be your eyes and ears! Your faithful reporter navigating the jungle of cinema, Cecelia Bee. Post Note: As a result of the above, please will any crew members follow Dan Fisher's example and send me any materials (photographs, videos, anecdotes, sketches etc) they have collated over the past couple of weeks and we can make this blog a collective scrap-booking of all our hard work.

City Island: Franckie Serenades Ezra As He Perches On The Rooftop

Thu, 7 Aug 2008 22:59:26 UTC

So much energy and so much life! Our wonderful and terribly Parisian (in the best of ways) Art Director, Franckie Diago keeps it light with some tom-foolery on set with our rising star (shh! don't tell anyone, we want him for ourselves!) Ezra Miller. And yes, we ARE breaking boundaries with a gender reversal, off-the-cuff version of Romeo & Julliet. We don't just make movies, we change the world at the same time.

City Island Crane Day: Just Enjoy The Machinery

Thu, 7 Aug 2008 22:34:36 UTC

The phoenix crane is rather soothing don't you think? The stills photographer not so much. But at least his energy is up, Wednesday's can either make you or break you. One can either run out of steam in the wait for the second wind, or look dead ahead to the weekend. You decide.

City Island: Ezra Miller Tenderizes Some Meat At The IGA

Wed, 6 Aug 2008 18:59:27 UTC

Ezra (playing Vince Jr.) tenderizes 12lb of beef with some strong right hooks

City Island: Born and Bred in the Bronx

Wed, 6 Aug 2008 18:54:33 UTC

A post from our new blogger Cameron Gorman. A number of members of our team our from the Bronx who used to come to Orchard Beach as children: Del AKA Delvan James our Set Costumer is from South Bronx and knows the beach well. He has a tip; if you want to find a unique, relatively unspoilt beauty spot: Go onto the walkway, take a left and continue on. There is a hidden path at the end which leads to the north shore – apparently a leafy paradise with cliffs, marshland and a great view. Rocco Parente Jr Rocco is our stand in actor for Andy Garcia and sometimes Steven Strait. He’s also a Bronx boy with childhood memories of City Island and Orchard Beach. The Orchard Beach location was great place if you weren’t needed for five minutes. Jean & Marie Jean and Marie are two Bronx girls who ran into the film set on the way to the beach. Perhaps the color coordination wasn’t deliberate, but we love it anyway.

A Tour Of Vinnie Jr's Briefcase By Dan Fisher

Wed, 6 Aug 2008 18:50:22 UTC

Thank you so much Dan for this lovely tour of Vinnie Jr's briefcase. We will only see a small glimpse of the case in the film, so it is awesome to have a closer look into its depths. Cecelia Bee.

Çity Island: Ezra and Carrie Sing It Out Between Takes

Tue, 5 Aug 2008 23:48:01 UTC

Today at the supermarket on City Island. Courtesy of our reporter in the field, who has yet to assign himself a pseudonym. We're waiting!

City Island: Orchard Beach Photofile From Our Reporter In The Field

Tue, 5 Aug 2008 23:47:01 UTC

The beautiful beach New York on the Beach More New York on the Beach The set in the car park Entrance to the car park: This City Island blogster spent a lot of the time helping the team out by preventing Janeta and the other boisterous car park cashiers from reaching the punchline of their jokes while we were rolling. They were fantastic, cooperative and charming, but another group of seaside tourists that heard we were rolling helped us out by screaming, whooping and honking their horn. Well hell, what’s one take in a feature film anyway?

Supermarket and City Island: Dylan relaxes with some cheese balls and the offensive stroller man gets told!

Tue, 5 Aug 2008 23:46:01 UTC

More images from the front lines. Dylan Bresnan, star for the day, kicks back with some cheese flavored snacks between takes. Today we are shooting in the IGA Supermarket, and the best thing about this location is the "Hometown Proud" slogan that adorns its awning. This sums up City Island, and this sentiment was held up by Laura Tressel's (Locations assistant & native City Islander) shock and horror when a guy with a stroller came past the set and one of our extras asked how he was doing, and what it was like living on City Island. The man responded: "Now that all the career alcoholics and native in-breds are leaving, it's a nice place to live." and Laura, overhearing, snapped back: "Excuse me? I grew up here!! How long have you lived here?" He was speechless, pulled his jaw from the floor and stuttered "I've just been living here since 1998" Yuppies. Once again the mussel-suckers are distinguished from the Clam-diggers. CB.

City Island: Looks like a moon landing, but lets hope it's a movie

Tue, 5 Aug 2008 23:43:27 UTC

It looks like some kind of bizarre science fiction movie, a burnt orange Honda Element has descended to earth to take over the potholed expressways of these five fine boroughs. These are some shots from the Orchard Beach parking lot yesterday as we rolled camera on the hurried hook-up/ renegade make-out session that steams the film up a little. FYI Steven fans: prepare to be jealous. Cecelia Bee.

City Island: Andy Garcia and Steven Strait come to heads

Mon, 4 Aug 2008 07:35:00 UTC

This is a clip from late last week, filming the final scenes of the eventual movie. We don't want to give too much away, but it is always great to see Andy in such a convincing rage. Cecelia Bee.

City Island: A gem from night shooting last week

Mon, 4 Aug 2008 07:33:00 UTC

Jan and Raymond keep it low key. (If you appear relaxed, then the crew will be relaxed, at least I think that is the idea). I just ran across this fabulous photo. Jannie Jan did me the honor of posting a portrait of Ezra Miller I took last Friday and I shall do her the courtesy back. This picture is so awesome and so inspired. Today I dressed in some seer-sucker pants like a sailor. Can we come in costume everyday? Tomorrow (seeing as we are shooting on the Marina): Fisherman attire. The Pants. How do they make it all puckered like that? "The sun is coming up, HURRY! HURRY!": Producer Lauren, Raymond and our script supervisor, Rachel, Early Saturday morning (We wrapped around 6am). Cecelia Bee.

City Island: Splint Unit Gets Crazy Under the Sun

Mon, 4 Aug 2008 07:31:00 UTC

Today the family has been broken up. We have been split into a main crew and a splinter unit, who are picking up all the lose ends and doing all the exciting driving stunts. It would appear that a little of the daredevil may have rubbed off on the crew... This image was sent by Eric Henriquez our AD (Assistant Director) and let it be a lesson to the rest of the crew out there: this is your blog, please send any images or documentation so we can share it with the world. Cecelia Bee.

City Island: End of Week Two

Mon, 4 Aug 2008 03:26:00 UTC

Above is an old photo of the original schoolhouse on City Island. For the opening montage introducing the island, I'm looking for home movie footage or stills that show the place in period, like above. If anybody reading has anything to contribute leave a comment and we'll get in touch. This past Friday night we shot the denoument of the movie, a kind of mad explosion of truth telling in the middle of the street as the Rizzo family reveals all their secrets. Sun went down at 8:30 and it took another hour to "light up the sky". We began shooting at nine-thirty--nine pages of dialogue to be covered about twenty-five seperate camera set-ups by two seperate cameras. Lunch was at eleven PM and we'd covered only a quarter of the material. We came back in and kept working. By three AM I was convinced that we wouldn't finish and would fall behind schedule--a disaster when making a film as tightly budgeted as this (it can actually mean not finishing the scene at all--ever...) We "turned around" (i.e. turned our lights in the opposite direction so as to shoot out the reverse angle continuity) at three thirty. And by five-thirty, as the night sky turned blue with morning's arrival, we finished the final set up, completing the sequence in its entirety and not even dropping a shot. How the hell did we do this? I'm not sure. But I will say this: get a great crew--which I have--and stick to a well organized plan (which we did) and those guys can make anything happen for you. And above all: GET GREAT ACTORS. Andy, Juliana, Steven, Dominique, Emily and Ezra we're all on board and they were champions. Andy--who had the most challenging amount of stuff to do--was hoarse by the end of it. But he never wavered and his exemplary professionalism motivated everyone else. And what was my part in all this? I'm starting to agree with Orson Welles that a director isn't necessarily the most important thing in a movie. Yes I staged the scene--with the actors guidance of course--and yes I planned the camera coverage (with Vanja Cernjul, my excellent DP). But I had the easiest job. The thing to remember about directing is that it really is a matter of setting events in motion and letting the talented people around you do their best work. Except for the enormous amount of stress I was undergoing (three AM was truly dark for me), I had the least amount to do. Since it's the weekend I'll post something not precisely related to the movie but somehow reminiscent of it. When I wrote the "City Island" script, I had Tony Bennett playing in the background the whole time. His music is always linked, in my mind, to this story. Furthermore, Tony is a Bronx boy. And his birthday is today. So is my father's--and he was a Bronx boy too. Crazy! Here then is Tony Bennett--not exactly at his most attractive photogenically but at the peak of his 60's vocal excellence. This was from a Dean Martin show. And Happy Birthday, Frank De Felitta, eighty-seven years young today.

Ezra looking pensive with a red foam nose

Sun, 3 Aug 2008 03:24:00 UTC

Ezra is a guy with priorities: neglecting his duties as an actor in favor of the Ice-cream and colored sprinkles. Its okay, secretly, we all understand. CB.

Spinning on the set of City Island

Sun, 3 Aug 2008 03:23:00 UTC

A late night spin round set. CB

Walk to Set, Night of August 1st

Sat, 2 Aug 2008 03:19:00 UTC

Let the bright lights speak for themselves. It has been a long old night and we are still going at 04:08am and we shall continue right on through til morning, like Peter Pan. We have had Empanadas courtesy of the dexterous Jackie and Ice-cream courtesy of Joe. There was quite an audience as we filmed the closing scene of the movie, our City Island neighbors sat out on the porch, and kicked back with beer and a movie. Who could think of a better Friday night? Not I. CB.

Editors Pick: Scene with Garcia, Marguiles and Mortimer

Sat, 2 Aug 2008 03:16:00 UTC

Clip from late, late last night. CB.

City Island: 8MM Home Movies

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:28:51 UTC

I have been on a mission for archival footage and home videos of City Island for the past couple of days. The search is starting to reveal some treasures, like this beautiful antique box from Tex, a lovely lady two doors from our set house, who persuaded her niece to rummage through the basement for all these reels of 8mm home movies from the late 50's. This is a dream, my holy grail. What I have learned about City Island is this: if you ask, people will most likely help. They still have the time and the trust to spare. Who today could believe that someone would lend their memories to an utter stranger? Not I, but I have been proven wrong. Yes, I accept my quest, and I shall guard these faded images fiercely. Now I just need to get my hands on a projector... We are attempting an outreach to the people of City Island, to accumulate footage for the opening sequence of the film. Keep it local. "The Keeper of the Keys", Cecelia Bee.

CITY ISLAND'S OWN PLACE OF REPOSE

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:25:51 UTC

This is the Madness. A photograph taken away from the madness. -CB.

What happens with the camera is left rolling

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:22:51 UTC

What happens when the cameras are left rolling? When no one is looking? What is the true movie behind the movie? Is it scandalous? Are movies sets really this dull? I quit. Only joking. Thank you David (Our Editor) for lifting the corners of my mouth. Cecelia Bee.

City Island: Beads of Sweat, Band Aids and Ballpoint Pens

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:22:51 UTC

Not every picture can be exciting folks. The reality is this: there are a thousand people and many more beads of sweat (that even the most desperate of interns could not count) going in to making the sunsets and pectorals looks as sparkling as they do in reality. It is a shame, because movies may well look great, but they have the potential to smell rather bad. And there was asparagus for lunch. Oh dear. P.S This is not diminish the intern, it is a truly wonderful creature, without whom the wheels would most definitely fall off. CB.

City Island: Night Time Photographs

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:13:59 UTC

Pictures from our night shooting. It takes a surprising amount of light to render "night-time" on the screen. CB.

Andy Garcia and Steven Strait in Fist Fight: Dailies from Editing Lab

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:20:15 UTC

Andy and Steven appear to be growing ever more comfortable... This is one happy household. CB.

City Island: Call Sheet July 30th

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:38:08 UTC

Fingers crossed the rain holds off... CB.

City Island Newspaper Descends: A Visit From Some Friendly Locals

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:58:18 UTC

We had a lovely visit from the local press, and I wanted to profile them as a matter of courtesy and because their paper is so bloomin' cute, AND furthermore, because City Island is a endlessly nuanced place that has a rich, diverse mix of well kept lawns, patriotic flags and the occasional ghost of a seafood restaurant, which, deserves to be mentioned.

Giving Steven's Pectorals a Break: Clip of Ezra and the Sunset

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:41:28 UTC

PECWATCH, DAY 8 ON HOLD! I know the Strait fan base will be disappointed, but I feel the influx of Steven's bare chest in the past few days may be a little tiresome. So, we thought we would give Steven a break from his exploitation and train the camera on the chilled out Ezra Miller for a while. This mellow clip from Monday is yet another reason why Vanja, our Director of photography is a very positive thing. -CB

City Island: Gearing up for a week of nights

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:37:48 UTC

Everyone at "City Island" is readying themselves for the night shooting that awaits us. Everything seems so much more exciting at night time, more magical and lovely. It feels like we are doing something secret, or covert. It feels as though at night you can appreciate that everyone is here for the movie, that we all went that extra mile to be out of our beds. Or maybe everyone just broke through the barrier of tiredness and went a little insane... Ged our line producer did just walk in singing Bob Dylan at the top of his voice, so it is possible... How DOES it feel, Ged? CB.

Dropping matches and making Steven work for his money

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:17:11 UTC

A continued take from Friday's shooting. Raymond is a sadist, pushing Steven to his limits in the name of art. CB.

Editors Pick: Steven Strait and Andy Garcia

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:52:01 UTC

Scene between Andy and Steven. Vince teaches Tony about the differences between Clam-Diggers and Mussel-Suckers. For bone-fide City Island Clam-Digger merchandise click here. Cecelia Bee.

City Island's Polish Bretheren

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 21:30:47 UTC

Lauren shows polish producer Grzegorz around the set. City Island is currently twinned with the small but perfectly formed, polish city of Krakow. Gremi Productions, headed up by Grzegorz Hajdarowicz, is a fledgling company that is a pioneer, in Polish terms, with their funding of international projects (see article below). This collaboration with Hajdarowicz brings yet another culture to an already diverse production. From Croatia to Argentina, France to Brazil "City Island" as a production extends well beyond the bounds of the Bruckner Expressway. Clam-diggers and mussel-suckers unite! (see image below for an explanation) Some of the "City Island" team pose at Cannes in May. From left to right: Lauren Versel, Grzegorz Hajdarowicz, Andy Garcia, Lucia Seabra and Raymond De Felitta. Below is a Hollywood Reporter Article on Gremi Film Production: ******************************************************* Poland's Gremi on 'Island' with Garcia Project was presented at Berlin's Co-production Market By Vladimir Kozlov July 21, 2008, 05:39 PM ET MOSCOW -- For the first time in Polish film history, a local company is investing in a co-production with major Hollywood stars. Krakow-based Gremi Film Production is providing 32% of the unspecified budget for U.S. film "City Island," directed by Raymond De Felitta and starring Andy Garcia, Gremi production coordinator Bozena Cerba told The Hollywood Reporter. "The project was presented during the Co-production Market in Berlin 2008, and that is how we entered into the co-production," she said, adding that the movie, which is currently being filmed, is expected to be completed by early 2009. Gremi's co-production credits include Peter Greenaway's "Nightwatching" and Janusz Kaminski's "Hania." Poland's Gremi on 'Island' with Garcia Project was presented at Berlin's Co-production Market By Vladimir Kozlov July 21, 2008, 05:39 PM ET MOSCOW -- For the first time in Polish film history, a local company is investing in a co-production with major Hollywood stars. Krakow-based Gremi Film Production is providing 32% of the unspecified budget for U.S. film "City Island," directed by Raymond De Felitta and starring Andy Garcia, Gremi production coordinator Bozena Cerba told The Hollywood Reporter. "The project was presented during the Co-production Market in Berlin 2008, and that is how we entered into the co-production," she said, adding that the movie, which is currently being filmed, is expected to be completed by early 2009. Gremi's co-production credits include Peter Greenaway's "Nightwatching" and Janusz Kaminski's "Hania." ****************************************************** CB.

City Island: This is my weekend?

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 23:35:00 UTC

Welcome to City Island. Above is a view of this magical and strange place where I am currently living, working and blogging. We wrapped our first week of shooting Friday night at eleven PM. I took off for the city in the morning and somehow a day and a half has passed. Thus it's Sunday afternoon and I have everything on the "to-do" list still staring me in the face, except the laundry. A few rhetorical questions; 1) Did David Lean do his laundry on the weekends? 2) Is this truly the first full account of a film being made being covered via the blogosphere? (Can't imagine nobody else has thought this one up...) 3) Is it alcoholism if you wake up at dawn on your day off and drink a lot of white wine? Many kudos to my excellent assistant "Cecilia Bee" for keeping this thing going during the work week. Even though it makes perfect sense not to focus on anything but the film, I can't help but think that Soderbergh would be blogging himself while shooting--as well lighting and editing. Quick history of this script and then I have to move on to my shotlist. It's the only script I've written (out of about thirty) that I can date precisely. Started it after the labor day weekend, 2001. That weekend my wife and I took an early morning walk to the East River and I told her the vague idea I had--a prison guard who finds out his secret love child is in his prison. Her enthusiasm and my general good mood of the moment sat me down to write some notes. And suddenly the idea that this prison guard also has a secret ambition--to be an actor--made me move from notes to script. No outline. Just started writing the people. I was on the roll of my life and got to page 50 on the eleventh of September. As some of you might remember, the immediate sensation after the attack was one of complete senselessness. Why write? Why make films? Why live a normal life? Why do anything? It seems a little odd now but that was--at least if you lived in NYC--the general tenor of things at that supremely odd moment. So I put the Rizzo family down and didn't do much for a couple of weeks. And then I realized that I was of no use to the firefighters and clean up crews downtown, that I couldn't solve the world's political problems (and indeed had and continue to have very little interest in politics to begin with--they really are the least profound thing in life)...so what the hell? Finish your fucking script. Writing and piano playing are the two things I was born understanding how to do. So I finished it--in another couple of weeks. My agent quickly read and liked it but it became one of those infuriating "good but hard to explain" projects. Everybody liked it. But how do you make this? Answer: get an actor. But I didn't. Instead I got a producer (a few of them). They meant well. But we didn't agree on much. And a lot of time was spent talking. Like three years. I made two other movies while we were talking about this one. And finally, when it was time to renew the option, mercifully they'd had enough. Meanwhile, Michael Chicklis (great actor, good guy) had come and gone...and I was fresh out of luck. No producers, no actor, just me and my script and a few years older and wiser. But everything happens for a reason and my agent, seeing the flounder session that "City Island" was morphing into, asked what I might think of Andy Garcia as the lead. Seeing as we're repped by the same agency, I was surprised that we hadn't thought of him before. "Send it" said I. They did. He liked it. Andy and my first phone call was write before Thanksgiving, 2006. When the film is truly done, our partnership will be two years old. Somehow when things click into place the inevitability is astonishing. The road was still bumpy--even with Andy involved a lot of companies passed based on the reasoning that the film was "execution dependent". (Aren't they all? Who dreams up these movie business terms? And do they get paid a royalty every time some shmuck uses it?) Anyway, many months passed during which Andy and I became obsessed with finding a way to make this happen--to make our dream project a REM reality. Next aboard was my old friend Zachary Matz--excellent producer and pal who started to plot with me and Andy how little the movie could be made for. And that's when my wonderful friend Lauren Versel (pictures w/Steven Strait below) showed up--with a company she'd started with equity financing. From the beginning Lauren had a serene confidence that we would pull this whole thing off. Which is a hell of a lot nicer than having a worried producer who sees nothing but obstacles--the situation I was in a few years ago. I have to go. Keep reading. Dig Cecilia Bee's clips--we'll be posting both behind the scene clips as well as dailies. Send this link to your friends.I can't tell you how my heart leaps when I see the stat counter take a jump. As well as when I see my characters come to life on set, courtesy of the best cast I've ever worked with. Meanwhile, since I'm constitutionally unable to blog without posting a youtube clip, check out Frankie Laine from 1954. Why Frankie? 1) I listen to his Mercury records every morning before going to set--hence I will forever associate this movie with him. 2) There's something about the way Andy is playing Vince that reminds of Frankie Laine. And 3) My excellent production designer Franckie Diago--is...named Frankie. So is my father, Frank De Felitta. So you see...

Steven Strait Bare Back With Producer Lauren Versel

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 23:27:00 UTC

LADIES, PLEASE! CALM DOWN! Producer Lauren Versel of Lucky Monkey Pictures maintains her cool on set with Steven Strait, whilst I, with my eagle eye, keep the punters happy. The art department has come through with beautiful, shining colors once again. How can we ever repay them? Cecelia Bee.

Editors Pick: Steven Strait comes round for a little supper

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 23:09:00 UTC

Yesterday, Thursday July 24th: Steven Strait, in the role of Tony Nardella, joined the rest of the Rizzo family for some polite dinner conversation City Island style. At least they are comfortable being themselves around the estranged son, and make no trouble to ladle on a nuclear family sheen.

City Island: Julianna Margulies at the dinner table

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 22:33:00 UTC

A clip from the dinner table of Julianna Margulies being rudely interrupted by a grandfather clock. Sometimes roles seem to fit like snug gloves and "City Island" is one of those moments. Margulies makes Joyce Rizzo, Joyce Rizzo. And Raymond is a happy boy

City Island to be on News Channel 12 (Bronx Local) Friday 25th 5PM EST

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:11:53 UTC

"City Island" was visited by News Channel 12 this morning and a report will be broadcast at 5pm EST for all the lucky local cable subscribers. For those that are farther afield I will endeavor to post a clip. For now, here are some pictures of anchorwoman Alexis Rivera interviewing Raymond, on a day that promises to be hot, dry and mosquito-free. CB

City Island: Production Report Weds July 23rd

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:34:49 UTC

(Click Image to enlarge) CB.

Radio Man Takes A Day Trip To City Island & A Moment With Andy Garcia

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:32:13 UTC

Now we know we are a real movie, the contracts have been signed, the hair sprayed within an inch of its life and we have had our mandatory visit from Radio Man. Radio Man rolled up on his bicycle mid-afternoon took a look around, had a casual conversation with Andy Garcia, then chilled out on some steps. (City Island IS in New York, but its a long-ass haul from that little place known as Manhattan. The ride up must have been tough). When I got the call, I pounded down the two blocks from the director's cottage, 'Flip' camera in hand. The blogger must not miss a beat. Special mention to our spectacular intern, Luca Michelson who documented this encounter without a moments hesitation as I threw the camera at him. CB.

Editors Pick: Shot w/Garcia, Strait and Miller

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:30:59 UTC

Overhead shot from Monday July 21st. Each time I see the dailies,my digestive system goes a little weird: it looks so AWESOME (In the true sense of the word: a thing that induces awe). CB

Ezra Miller: Mad Libs At The Dinner Table

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:29:26 UTC

Ezra Miller launched proceedings on Monday with a quick,'fox' like wit and style, that lifted the words from the page. Miller seems to fully grasp the sentiment of De Felitta's character (Vinnie Jr) with his off the cuff add-libs. Food was thrown, so artfully, by Dominik Garcia-Lorido, in the role of Vivian Rizzo. CB.

City Island: T-Shirts Messages No. 1, Weds July 23rd

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:26:40 UTC

More cast and crew craft projects. I am not a rude person. But, I did forget to say 'Good Morning' to Eric Henriquez our Assistant Director two days in a row. So I made a T-shirt to make sure. I am planning to do a line of one-off, couture "City Island themed apparel, so expect some more. Cecelia Bee.

City Island: Top Billing at IMDb Pro, Weds July 23

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:22:25 UTC

The word is spreading and spreading thick and fast, from the positive to the critically constructive. From the top billing on the ImDb Pro homepage to the honor of two sentences from the people at New York Magazine's Vulture blog. I feel as though there is an ethical code that underlies the blogosphere, that one should be a good sport and take the rough with the smooth. I refer exclusively to the comments made by Vulture, the industry blog of New York magazine, whose tag-line rolls: "Devouring Culture". I don't mean to fight fire with fire, but what IS in a name? Quite a lot apparently. As we slave away trying to rescue culture from the trenches, these 'commentators' feast on our bleeding veins. But lets not play at heroics. De Felitta is not hurt, and can see their point, but it is the movie that will stand up and be counted at the end of the day. Let us keep the conversation diverse and free. It is all a matter of opinion, and here is mine: any news is good news. P.S I think there were some leftovers at lunch if they are feeling peckish... In the name of being a good sport here is the link: Vulture Below are some more links to other, nicer, articles: Cinnematical Announcement Scoopspin mention

City Island Arts and Crafts, All Welcome To Join

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:02:00 UTC

We like to keep it 'bootleg' down at "City Island" (Don't tell the investors) After all this is a project set in the Bronx and shot exclusivley within the five boroughs; how could we not be rolling deep with the hip kids? Click image to enlarge. The wonderful Sherry, (Raymond's Wife) slaved for days over this wonderful poster. I made her do four versions before I was happy to let it sit on this distinguished blog. This is the best entry yet, but we encourage any others who have an artistic itch to submit, the more inventive the better! Judging committee chairwoman, Cecelia Bee.

City Island: Ezra, Creeping Up From The Outside

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:32:40 UTC

I couldn't see the awesome Ezra Miller but I could hear him and it sounded GOOD. As the sun went down Miller, a rising star, came up, and brought his goods to the (dining) table, literally (see image below). I am already a huge fan of Miller's incarnation of Vinnie Jr; it seems to hit the perfect note of laid-back and endearing sarcasm. Despite being a relative newcomer to 'the game', Miller has an intriguing pedigree: calmly he emerges from the raw, Cannes 2008 featured, "Afterschool" by one-to watch Antonio Campos. And in January Miller wrapped on the (soon to be) impossibly cool short by Steven Tanenbaum: "Busted Walk" (I'm putting my money on it!). Sides from Monday: The (1st) dinner table argument. We promise to have some clips up of Ezra giving the 'more qualified 'actors a run for their money tomorrow, until then you can satiate yourselves with the links below. Click to link to an interview with "Afterschool" Director, Antonio Campos. Click to link to the official website of Another Urban Riff, makers of "Busted Walk". Cecelia Bee.

Walk Through Set - July 23, PM

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 04:15:00 UTC

Click here for a walk-through of the City Island set. - Cecelia Bee

Raymond Has Designs For Ezra Miller

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 04:09:00 UTC

A stolen moment, surrounded by multicolored tape. July 23rd, AM. I squeezed a mini interview with Raymond this morning, somewhere between rehearsal and the first call to ACTION! De Felitta weaves a cautionary tale, lending some personal insight on the path that lies ahead for our free-styling wonderboy, Miller. Cecelia Bee.

Tuesday July 22nd, Day 4 of 28

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:29:00 UTC

Just a few pictures for now. Today was officially (and affectionately) known as: THE DAY OF 96 THOUSAND SET UPS. Screw "City Island"; someone get Ridley Scott's people on the phone; we are making epic battle movie instead. Sorry Raymond, I guess the beautifully shot (Thank you Vanja) indie comedy, is on the cutting room floor... Just kidding. Until tomorrow my friends, Cecelia Bee.

"CITY IS." BLOG IS BLOGGED BY NEW YORK POST

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:35:00 UTC

In true 21st century style, the "City Island" blog has been blogged by a fellow blogger. When will this end? Will we carry on blogging about other blogs until we can no longer remember where we began? And that my friends is the beauty of the great electronic conversation; the blogosphere. On that note my regards to Lou Lumenick at the New York Post's Movies Blog for his mention: 'DeFelitta Blogs City Island' Right Back-at-cha, Lou. Posted by Cecelia Bee

VARIETY ARTICLE: DEBUTANTE "CITY ISLAND" IS FORMALLY INTRODUCED

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:21:00 UTC

"CITY ISLAND" is now being courted by the trades. Today the announcement was made online by Variety: ************************************************************************************ 'City Island' begins shooting Film stars Mortimer, Arkin, Garcia, Margulies By PAOLA CAPO-GARCIA Indie pic "City Island" has just started lensing in its namesake Bronx locale, with Emily Mortimer, Alan Arkin, Andy Garcia and Julianna Margulies filling out the cast. Written and directed by Raymond De Felitta ("The Thing About My Folks"), the comedy tracks a Bronx prison guard (Garcia) who recognizes one of the inmates as his own illegitimate son. Steven Strait ("10,000 BC" and "Stop Loss") plays the inmate son. Paradigm's film finance group packaged the pic and will handle domestic sales, while Westend Films will handle foreign. ************************************************************************************ Click for Variety's page Post by Cecelia Bee

City Island: On Two Wheels

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:42:29 UTC

This is not a real job. Yes, the hours are long, but riding a bike round a lovely, if slightly dilapidated, yachting community, is not really a job in the traditional sense. No complaints here though. Just a little sunburn. CI seems, from first impressions, to be a real community, and a really lovely one at that. I expect to be telling y'all out there in the wire-free ether, many more a tale of my adventures on my trusty neon-green steed. Today I met the liquor store owners. They were relaxing, in the shady (as in dark, not dodgy) store eating mangoes. They gave me gifts and advice; below is the 'Official' postcard for City Island from JGL Wines & Liquors. Go there, they are lovely and sell intoxicating substances. Bonus!

City Island: Fisher Screws It Up

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:07:05 UTC

DAY ONE OF THE PRODUCTION PROPER. Today it all took off. And Dan 'modified' a Ford which as ceremonious as it may well have been for Raymond to whack a sledge hammer into the grill of a beautiful car, we need his health to be in a good solid condition, for at least the next 27 days. Then he can do what he likes. Which I suspect will take place somewhere at the bottom of a bottle of champagne. For now De Felitta is on a energy laden diet of raw almonds and fiber rich cereals, which look as good as they taste (a little like cat litter...) We have gone from slightly tense (the fatal mix of nerves and eagerness) in the early morning, to a more relaxed, yet even hotter, afternoon.

City Island: Dominik Raises The Bar

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:02:49 UTC

And so on the brink of the first day of filming in the Rizzo house, as all crew members grasp on to the last precious moments of the weekend, we finalise our cast profiles. And boy are we going out with a bang with the smoldering yet fresh Dominik Garcia-Lorido. We have been blessed, not only with a stella cast (from which De Felitta promises to tease a explosive performance) but we have an increasingly gorgeous cast that more than matches the breath-taking backdrop of City Island. Dominik will let reality stroll on to the silver screen, as she joins her father's side playing the role of daughter Vivian Rizzo. Some may claim this to be an unfair advantage, yet after the table read on Friday I for one will vouch for their competency, passion and flair. And they are all SO capable, MORE THAN capable, that watching this film (and this family) begin to congeal in front of the camera tomorrow will be truly compelling. However, for now I must resolve myself to the last forty winks for a while, but at least I will have a smile on my face. Cecelia Bee.

The Fabulosity of J. Margulies

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:25:00 UTC

This past Wednesday, I became the luckiest filmmaker in New York when the fabulous Julianna Margulies leapt aboard the runaway train known as "City Island" and agreed to play Andy Garcia's wife, Joyce Rizzo. How the hell can a movie be one week away from shooting and still not have such an important part cast? I think I'll leave that story for my memoir--titled "Raymond De Felitta: A Life Of Waiting Around", currently scheduled for a spring 2043 paper-less release. The truth is: everything truly does happen for a reason and there was never anybody nearly as perfect for the role of Joyce as Julianna. So why didn't we offer it to her first? This goes so far back in the putting together of this movie that honestly I can't remember what we were thinking. But from the moment her name was mentioned it made perfect sense; and as soon as I sat across from this beautiful, tough, thoroughly at home in her skin woman over lunch a couple of weeks ago I knew I had found my Joyce. Adding to my good fortune is the fact that she and Andy have worked together in the past--in a very good film called "The Man From Elysian Fields". So they're comfortable together. Believe me, that takes a hell of a burden off of a director--when two people are supposed to be married or in love and the actors playing them don't particularly like each other, it's hard to separate the personal from the professional and you're always wondering if the performances are going to feel real or if your movie is getting screwed because of two fragile egos. (This happened to me once--actually the performances turned out great but I spent the whole movie worrying if there was any chemistry between...never mind, I think I'll save that for my memoir as well). Here are two interviews with Ms. Margulies, the first with Charlie Rose, done about ten years ago, and a second more recent one from the CBS Early Show (I don't know the identity of the fawning interviewer but J.M. handles his obsequiousness with great panache). This last one's from 2006 after she had finished "Snakes On A Plane" and was starring on Broadway in an adaptation of the Dogma movie "The Celebration"--I hadn't heard about this project until she told me about it over lunch. I certainly would have gone to see it as "The Celebration" is, in my opinion, one of the best films ever made.

City Island: No Words, Just Andy, Steven and Raymond

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:11:45 UTC

Pictures from the last week scouting locations.

City Island: Production Day 1 of 28

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:06:32 UTC

One of my directing mentors, Edward Dmytryk ("Caine Mutiny", "Murder My Sweet") once told me that he always picked simple things to do on the first day of a movie since he it always took him a day to brush the cobwebs out of his eyes, get his footing and get back to the pace and clarity demanded of film directors. Now, this guy made two or three movies a year--so if he grew musty in between jobs, imagine how I feel? I was last directing on a set FOUR years ago. (My documentary came in between that film and this one but that wasn't directing so much as writing with a camera). So today's first day of principle was--Dmytrykally speaking--a perfect choice. We shot clothing and make up/hair tests. We shot material that will be incorporated on websites that are featured in the film. This--along with our "b-unit" day on Tuesday which was mostly driving shots and shots from a boat (all without actors)--has been a very mellow way to get back in the groove of being on set, of getting the rhythm back. In a strange way filmmaking is like jazz--I'm a jazz pianist and I've always noticed that even if I haven't played in a long time, if I'm invited to sit in with some other musicians or with a singer, jazz just...happens. Once learned, never forgotten. Indeed one feels more normal playing than not playing. Same with the film set--an environment that I first experienced as a kid and immediately felt at home in. You show up and suddenly the world makes sense again. It's the years in between--the years spent putting together the opportunity to make a film--that are when you feel pressured, stresssed, not quite yourself. Above is our call sheet. We're now off until Monday, when the actors show and the "real" work begins. In between now and then I'll post more info about our cast, which includes a certain actress known for the television show E.R. (and much else) and another actress who may be related to somebody else in the cast...

City Island: The Alan Arkin Of It All

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:26:25 UTC

The great actor, writer, director, comedian, folk-singer and children's book writer Alan Arkin is--I'm proud to say--a member of the "City Island" cast, playing a slightly worn out acting teacher named Michael Malakov. Though he appears in only a handful of scenes, Malakov is an important character as he is the acutalization of what Vince (Andy Garcia) aspires to be. You see, Vince secretly desires a career as an actor--but in his world (he's a corrections officer) admitting this is akin to admitting that he's always wanted to be a cross dresser. Malakov is a deeply serious man whose acting class shows Vince that the craft is a SERIOUS one and must be taken SERIOUSLY. But that doesn't mean that the scenes with Malakov are SERIOUS ones--in fact, once Alan came onto the project the scenes got a lot funnier. I had a talk with him about what happens to people who teach acting for many years and Alan's response--that they become frustrated with the ponderousness of what they're seeing up on stage--led me to suggest that he rewrite the scene so as to reflect his own feelings. Alan's rewrite produced a speech about...well, I won't give it away. I will say it's one of the great rants on the subject of acting I've ever read. And the bonus thing is, I'll get credit for it! (Robert Altman taught me this--let all the talented people you hire contribute their ideas, since you'll get the credit in the end anyway...Altman was a provocateur and always had a gleam in his eye, but I have a feeling that his tongue was only slightly planted in cheek when he passed on this bit of wisdom to me...) Did you know that Alan Arkin was a member of a band called The Tarriers who co-wrote and performed the "Banana Boat" song that Harry Belefonte later made famous? That he is one of only eight actors to have the distinction of being nominated for an Academy Award for his first screen appearance? That he played Sigmund Freud (in the lovely 1976 "The Seven Per Cent Solution")? That he's been married three times? That he lives in New Mexico? Want more? Click here and Wikipedia will fill you in on the multifarious accomplishments of this remarkable man who truly is a walking cultural monument. There are so many degrees--much more than six--to Alan and this movie. There's the Inspector Cloeseau one that I mentioned the other day (he was in the non-Sellers one and Andy Garcia and Emily Mortimer were in the new non-Sellers ones). Then there's Alan and Andy together in the quite amusing and little seen movie "Steal Big Steal Little" (a very funny Andy performance). Alan co-starred with Peter Falk in the brilliant 1979 comedy "The In-Laws"--twenty-five years later I directed Peter Falk in "The Thing About My Folks". (We had a funny talk about "The In-Laws" one day on the set--Peter told me that he "didn't know it was a comedy" until half way through it. What the hell could he have meant by this strange comment? Peter, I think, isn't above completely putting people on to keep himself from being bored. Which begs the questions:was I boring him?) And Alan's son, Tony Arkin (damn good actor) is in my film "Two Family House". Finally, Arkin appears in one of the sixties great social comedies, "Popi"--playing a poor Puerto Rican man in New York City, a widower with two sons, who notices that Cubans who escape their country and wash up on American shores are hailed as heroes and welcomed to America with open arms. So he decides to set his kids afloat in the sea in the hopes that they will be discovered as refugees and be taken up as "a cause"--which will lead them to a better life than they could have alone, in Harlem, with their "Popi". (The tag line on the poster was: "Better To Drown In The Ocean Than The Sewer"). Just recounting this plotline brings a tear to my eye--party because of the brilliance of the comic and emotional conceit of the story...but also because the movie was written by a husband and wife writing team--Lester and Tina Pine--who I grew up with (they were dear friends of my parents) and who were a terribly important part of my young life. Lester, a commited socialist, used comedy to tell stories of the poor and oppressed and shine a light on the absurdity of the lives of the "have-nots" in the land (America that is) of the "haves". He was an angry, funny, dear man who loved the craft of writing more than anything and taught me great respect for the process of mastering dramatic form...and the need to say something with the medium. When Alan and I first spoke about his appearing in "City Island" I mentioned this connection and he was quite moved; he and Lester went back to the 1950's when Lester was a stand-up and I imagine part of their past had to do with the fact that Lester and Alan's father, David Arkin (a set designer) had both suffered the blacklist for their association with the Communist Party. Here is a quite interesting interview with Alan done around the time of the "Little Miss Sunshine" buzz, as well as a clip--the airplane scene--from "The In Laws". (This has been a Raymond De Felitta early morning "I'm supposed to be on my way to my own set what the hell am I doing blogging" post).

The Cloth Is Being Cut: Steven Strait Fitting

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:04:46 UTC

A snapshot of the lovely Steven Strait to whet the palates of his adoring fans... The Wardrobe department is working overtime to get everyone looking suitably City Island. Steven and his impossibly likeable wife (actress Lynn Collins) dropped into City Island headquarters yesterday and the awesome Tere Duncan outfitted him in some ex-con threads. I would like to say at this point (and I speak for all who have had the pleasure to meet the Strait/Collins) something that is always said with a tone of surprise about actors and their spouses: they are really are 'down to earth'.This quality (at the risk of wandering into the realm of the slushy) makes the whole process feel like a great collaboration, where the integrity and quality of the end product (the film) is the ONLY thing to care about.

Andy Garcia Goes Cachao-Happy

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:21:37 UTC

Simply put, without being hyperbolic, the most important musician in Latin music in the 20th century was a Cuban bass player named Israel "Cachao" Lopez, who single-handedly (with a little help from his brother) invented the rhythm we now call the "mambo". How did he do this? When? Who was he and where did he come from? ARE YOU NUTS? I'VE GOT SO MUCH CRAP TO DEAL WITH AND NOW I'M SUPPOSED TO WRITE AN INTELLIGIBLE POST ABOUT MUSIC HISTORY? Click on this Wikipedia article if Cachao isn't a name you know and dig the history created by this spectacular figure. The world of the Mambo and its inventor is one that--if you're not hep to it--is well worth investing a little time learning about. Also, the music rocks. For many years Cachao--who left Cuba in the early sixties and moved around the US from New York, to Vegas to Florida--was a legend among Cuban's and musicians of a certain stripe. But he was more likely to be found playing "casuals:--i.e. weddings and bar mitzvahs--than to be found in the concert hall. I don't believe he felt any bitterness about this--he was born to play music and that's what he filled his life doing. But the respect level changed when, in the early 90's, he had the good fortune to meet a young movie star of Cuban heritage who'd always admired his music; that would be our friend Andy Garcia. I can say this first hand about Andy: when he fixates on something that he loves or admires, there is no greater supporter/believer. It's not that he seeks out causes: it's that he simply decides when something (or somebody I suppose) needs to be stood by, supported, celebrated and sees it as his duty to be steadfast. I felt that when he read and loved my screenplay; there was nothing he wouldn't do to help me get this done... And when Andy found the "sleeping giant" Cachao--then a seventy-year old man--he frankly changed the aging Cuban's life. He began producing concerts of Cachao's work which led to a CD which won a grammy as well as making the first of two documentaries about Cachao and a final blast of worldwide recognition for the aging musical giant. Not every artist comes to their prime in their seventies and eighties but, thanks to A.G., Cachao was finally given his due and allowed his place on the world stage--a place he'd always deserved but which life, for various reasons had never quite...enough. You get the idea. Below are clips of Andy Garcia and Israel "Cachao" Lopez as well as some footage of Andy's very moving farewell speech to his mentor, delivered just this past March after the master's death at the age of 89.

The Cameras Are Rolling: Images from the Front Lines

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:23:10 UTC

Day One: Pre-production Photography. So now it gets exciting. The cameras are being dusted off and powered up. Our B-Roll shoot has commenced and City Island will be begin to burn its beauty on to celluloid. Above Raymond (whipping up mystery and noteriety in dark sunglasses) and our brilliant Cinematographer: Vanja Cernjul (fresh from the hit television show 30 Rock) bask in the magnificent City Island sunlight. Who would have thought that the Bronx could be so beautiful? As a traditionalist, Raymond strikes a classic pose, turns on the glamour and transports us to the south of France. The Bronx as you know it is a distant memory. (I for one, am happy to see that the clever little Blackberry has managed to fuse itself to his palm). Today's verdict? The director hat is well and truly on de Felitta's head. CB

Birthday's and Bastille: Just a Mini-Post.

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:04:45 UTC

Happy Birthday to both producer Lauren and director's assistant Amy. It's worth a mention if only to show off the as-good-as-it-looks-cakes. Equally, a very happy 'quatorze juillet' to our fabulous Art Director, Franckie and to France. You can expect some bleary-eyed postings tomorrow... Oh well... Pass the chilled rose and sante! CB.

Bagels & Boxes o' Coffee: Production Meeting

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:08:09 UTC

The shifting of gears is palpable in our musty 3rd floor offices. (Being in Queens makes one feel edgy, if nothing else). The heat really turned up at the City Island headquarters this morning as we cut the brakes and catapulted ourselves headlong into the final week of pre-production. Suddenly the family has gotten bigger, and one must submit to the pace; get wrapped up in the whirlwind, or face being left behind. The photocopier couldn't hack it. Let's hope there are no more casualties... You have been listening to Cecelia Bee. More Later.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION: Raymond de Felitta conquers already chartered lands.

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 19:42:26 UTC

*Today Cecelia Bee dips her virgin toes in the murky waters of the blogosphere as your guest writer and documentarian. Be nice.* From the gritty reality of the dark depths of a Queens correctional facility, to the lofty heights of an uptown law office, De Felitta has traversed them all. After spending two long days taking the technical scout head-on, the intrepid De Felitta takes a moment to reflect upon his mission and comes to see the actual shooting of the movie as the easy part. The technical scout is a bonding experience. Work was done, and enormous meals were eaten. Jan McLaughlin the goddess of sound battling with lawnmowers and the shooting range near our main location is one thing; taking on the grilled salmon fillet the size of a small cat, quite another. But remember kids: What is important is that it was a battle fought together. Each location was measured from multiple angles, filmed and noted in every conceivable manner. From the more traditional pen, paper and measure tape, to Dan Fisher Property Master Extraordinaire's enviable 'Flip' camera. The reconnaissance is nearly completed; De Felitta is getting ready to go up and over, leading the troops into the humid jungle of the Bronx.

City Island: Emily Mortimer New York Times Update

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 15:53:39 UTC

Here's a link to a a quite massively impressive Sunday New York Times piece about Emily Mortimer. The size and placement of this sort of piece is a sort of coronation in the NY-LA theater/film community--a kind of official handing over of the keys of the city. Show biz doesn't really get to take this kind of piece back, if you know what I mean. Once the Times gives you this nod you can be damn certain your agent is going to be saying things like..."she wants to take the summer off...this isn't right for her at all...it's just not what she wants to do at this point...I don't even want to bring her an offer like this..." You're also assured of a New York Times obituary. And knowing your life will rate a Times Obit to me makes life worth living... Further hints on my six degrees question of the previous day: Alan Arkin (who plays an acting teacher named Michael Malakov in "City Island".) briefly plucked the role of Inspector Clouseau from Peter Sellers in the mid-sixties to play the character in a movie called..."Inspector Clouseau". (Great title...must have taken them weeks to come up with it). The second time a non-Sellers version of "The Pink Panther" was made, Steve Martin starred as the Inspector and Emily Mortimer and Andy Garcia co-starred--well compensated (I assume) for classing the proceedings up a bit. But I believe I also mentioned Otto Preminger and Lawrence Harvey and Olivier and Preminger in this circle of show-byzintanium and this is as far as I'm going today. Clips of the day--what else: The teaser of the new Pink Panther 2 (which Andy and Emily also participated in) as well as the quite cool opening title sequence of Arkin's 1964 "Inspector Closeau". And thanks to my fellow blogger Marc Myers at JazzWax for mentioning our modest proposal to blog this whole damn movie--surely I must have better things to do, wouldn't you think? Stay tuned for tomorrow's Andy Garcia/Cachao clips. They will rock you.

City Island: The Strait Story

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:18:00 UTC

At the end of last year I was doing a little public relations work in New York to promote my documentary "Tis Autumn: The Search For Jackie Paris". Accompanying me on my round of interviews was a very nice young lady, an assistant who worked at the firm handling the p.r. She asked me what I was going to do next and I optimistically announced (I say optimistically because I had as yet not a whiff of the necessary financing) that Andy Garcia and I would soon be making a film called "City Island". Then she asked who else was in it. I mentioned a young actor named Steven Strait who (I thought it necessary to explain) would soon be out in "10,000BC"...and that's as far as I got. The reaction she had was galvanic, Beatles-like in its intensity. Words issued forth from this otherwise reserved and professional young woman in what can only be described as a gusher of gush: Can I meet him? What's he like? He's so hot. Wo, you know Steven Strait?" You get the idea. What's odd about this is that while Steven has made several impactful appearences in films, he is (to my mind) still at the very beginning of what promises to be a seriously high-profile career. The reaction of the publicity girl indicates to me that sometimes stars are simply meant to be. Indeed I've since heard similar reactions from a number of other people...okay, they're usually women under the age of thirty but hey--who goes to see movies, right? Steven has a serious following that are there waiting to watch him explode into stardom. People felt this way about Brad Pitt around the time of "Thelma And Louise". Since "Undiscovered" and "Sky High", Steven's recognizability factor has been remarkably high--"The Covenant" and "10,000BC" clearly boosted awareness of him more. It takes only one to put someone over the top--into the elysian fields of "being a greenlight"--i.e. an actor whose interest in a movie guarantees financing. Do I wish this on him? Does he wish it for himself? I don't know. Steven's a Stella Adler trained theater actor who grew up in Greenwich Village. This is important merely because, by dint of coming from New York (and a quarter that's always been associated with the arts) he has, I suspect, few illusions about urban glamour and excitement. Indeed, given his relatively young age, he's already something of a settled homebody. (His wife is a terrific actress named Lynn Collins--that would be them next to these words. And while you're at it see her as Portia in the Al Pacino/MIchael Radford "Merchant Of Venice"--well worth checking out). Also, coming from New York gives you--in LA--a guaranteed ten point higher IQ advantage. And they respect that.Back to his age for a moment: could I really have been twenty-two WHEN HE WAS BORN? Christ... Back to the stars who can greenlight a movie; the way the system has wound up working places an unbelievable strain on a star actor--other people's careers daily hang by a thread based on what you may or may not wish to do. No wonder Tom Cruise started dancing on couches. What I can tell you about Steven is that he is a remarkably intense and seriously trained actor with a dynamic film presence. He is also unbelievably open and friendly. So were that kind of a career to come to him, I have a feeling he'd handle it better than most. Recently we were talking--and talking and talking--and suddenly I heard myself say to him, "I feel like I could talk with you for hours". He has no hidden areas or no trespassing signs. This is someone who, at a young age, has a clarity and directness of expression and a tremendous sense of good will toward humanity that most of us rarely develop--and many only after years of bizarre therapy treatments which have their own odd side effects (in my case a complete inability, when having a pleasant time, to wonder if the entire social exchange is, in fact, being secretly taped and examined by graduated psychology students. I don't know. Does that sound weird?) In "City Island", Steven plays the role of a young con in prison who is inexplicably taken out of prison by one of the guards--excuse me, Corrections Officers (played by Andy Garcia) and brought into the CO's home to live. Why? He doesn't know. But we do. But the family doesn't. But Andy's character does. But enough spoilers. Plot your own movie. Or try to guess the plot of mine!

City Island: The Emily Mortimer File

Wed, 9 Jul 2008 21:00:57 UTC

To begin with: please welcome the very fabulous Emily Mortimer to our cast. What do she and Otto Preminger and Andy Garcia and Alan Arkin and Woody Allen and Laurence Olivier and Lawrence Harvey all have in common? I'll get back to you on that... Meanwhile, here is the Facebook page created for "City Island".Am I too old to understand why facebook is such a splendid addition to life? Something about it eludes me, yet here I am--forty-three and posting, for goddaskes--yet happy to ride on Facebook's successful coattails. To paraphrase Truman Capote: a boy must hustle his movie. And here's a site all about the magical Bronxian place know as CIty Island.As the character played by Ms. Mortimer in the film says (or will say, once we shoot the scene): "City Island. I like it. It's sort of Nantucket by way of Washington Heights". Now Emily Mortimer I first saw in Nicole Holofcener's "Lovely And Amazing"...and of course I loved her in Woody Allen's "Match Point". Though I had the oddest idea that the film--which I liked--might have been just a little weirder, kinkier and scarier if cherry, sweet Emily had Scarlet Johanson's role and vica versa. (Then again, as Francis Coppola was supposed to have said to the late Gene Siskel who was peppering him, in an interview about "Apocalypse Now", with his negatively-slanted opinions of the film: "Go make your own fucking movie") I'm privileged to have found Emily through Andy Garcia, who worked with her in "The Pink Panther" (which was shot after Andy and I had already hooked up on "City Island"). He called me immediately after working with her to tell me how great she'd be for "City Island". Her husband, Allesandro Nivola, is also a fine actor--he can be seen to great effect in Lisa Cholodenko's excellent "Laurel Canyon". And her father, John Mortimer, is not only the creator of "Rumplole Of The Bailey" (do you remember this as well as I do?--a Brit import that ran for decades, it seemed, on PBS in the golden age of the Masterpiece Theater years) but is the author of a number of screenplays of films that I always loved--significantly Otto Preminger's mid-sixties English-based noir "Bunny Lake Is Missing." There was a recent New York Times Book review of an unauthorized bio of Mr. Mortimer which gave me the impression that his life has been both happily fulfilled and...reasonably complicated. Perhaps it was the mention of the secret child he never knew he had who he discovered late in life...which sounded something like Andy Garcia's character Vince Rizzo...but enough about my movie. In "City Island", Emily plays the role of a woman named Molly Charlesworth, an English born, European-bred sophisticate who is trying to make it in New York as an actress...but possibly has a secret other life...and perhaps has created a few fictions about her background... As to the six degrees question I posed in the opening paragraph, hints to the answer can be found scattered through the above text. Further hints will emerge in the coming days. Then again I may just forget the whole thing. Below is Emily on Craig Ferguson from a couple of years ago.

City Island: Two Weeks Out?

Mon, 7 Jul 2008 04:00:00 UTC

For the handful of faithful readers of my weblog, I hearby apologize for switching gears from old movie and music epheremra to my other--you might say primary--obsession; the making of my own films, a maddening and utterly addictive puruit which I've been doggedly...um, pursuing since I was a kid (GAF Super 8mm camera, little editing set-up in my bedroom, the whole schmeer). And currently I have the great good fortune of beginning my fifth feature film from a script I wrote seven years ago called "City Island" . The film shoots this summer in and around New York City--and I have the honor of making the film with one of the film world's few true acting giants whose participation, support and steadfastness in putting this movie together have made it a reality: that would be the guy in the above photo, Andy Garcia. Starring along with Andy will be Emily Mortimer, Steven Strait and Alan Arkin. More about all of them as the days unfold. My plan is to blog the making of the film day by day. Some days in pre-production I will simply post videos of the various actors who are featured; other days photos of locations; once production begins, we'll provide a daily clip or two of our outtakes. If seeing actors screw up lines and then say the word "fuck" in frustration is what you dig, this site will be for you! Above all, this experiment will clearly articulate--for me more than anyone--what happens in the weeks when a movie (one long planned, lovingly discussed, often dreamed about) comes into being and instantly turns into the hell-on-wheels reality that can only be compared to a truck losing its e-brake while parked on a steep hill. The momentum of any movie shoot--even the long ones though mine have thus far all been mercifully short--is a kind of mad rush to oblivion culminating in a usually losing struggle for control and order. Actually it sounds something like parenthood--a mad, abbreviated time-lapse version of parenthood. Only with kids, one out of three seem to turn out okay. Having said that, let's remember Josef Von Sternberg's quote from "Fun In A Chinese Laundry" (his 1965 autobiography, o.p. but very much findable and an important addition to any cinephile's library): "Man has never yet invented a machine more intricately designed, hard to construct and impossible to master the use of, as the motion picture." On that note we begin with a photo of the place that inspired the movie, City Island, located in the Bronx, New York. And now join me in watching a ten minute condensation of Andy Garcia from his appearence on James Lipton's "Inside The Actor's Studio" show, from 2000 (or so). In it, Andy is very himself--poised and self-confident while being a little uncomforrtable with the standing ovations the students give him. It's a nice appearence and Andy is very much the sweet "everyman" that I see in him as a person which led to me to send him this script two years ago...and perhaps why he liked the idea of playing my character Vince Rizzo...an everyman who dreams of becoming an artist...and how the presence of a kid in the prison he works in makes him think, for the first time, of his own early life...but more on the story of "City Island" in the coming days.