By Sally Deering  

Anthony Cupo grew up in Jersey City a few blocks from Journal Square and thousands of miles from the Sundance Resort in Park City, Utah, a small ski village that Robert Redford turned into a famous film festival location back in 1978. The 2013 Sundance Film Festival was in full-swing the week of Jan. 17 and Cupo, who is the Executive Producer and Editor of his first feature film “Concussion” saw his dream come true when he received a seven-figure offer from RADIUS-TWC to distribute “Concussion” in the fall. Of course, Cupo said yes.

 The Sundance Film Festival attracts thousands of producers, directors, writers, actors, critics and studio ‘heads†who turn the small ski village into a Hollywood event where films are screened in theaters and other venues and prizes are given out to the top contenders. Cupoâ€s film, “Concussion,” written and directed by his friend Stacie Passon tells the story of what happens when a suburban wife and mother gets a concussion that fractures her perspective on her marriage and more importantly, her life. Critics like Jim Dobson, President of Indie PR in Studio City, California, who attended a screening, gave “Concussion” 3-1/2 stars.  

 

Robin Weigert stars in Concussion

“There is a real concussion at the beginning of the antiseptically beautiful “Concussion,” but it’s also a metaphor that’s no less jarring. When Abby (Robin Weigert), a suburban lesbian married to Kay (Julie Fain Lawrence), gets hit by a baseball thrown by one of their children, it sets off a need for change in her routine existence. She works on renovating a downtown loft with a contractor, Justin (Jonathan Tchaikovsky), who also pimps on the side — and Abby decides to take female clients as a high-end hooker, using the professional name Eleanor. Writer-director Stacie Passionâ€s sexually charged premise becomes a vehicle for an emotional exploration of a stagnant relationship and the struggle between desire and stability. Weigert (best known for her work on “Deadwood”) gives a performance that’s revelatory in more ways than one, as Abby sheds inhibitions and clothes. The slick look (by production designer Lisa Myers and art director Kevin P. O’Donnell) highlights the split between Abby’s suburban oppression and her urban freedom.”

 

Terrific reviews like that keep pouring in for “Concussion” and Cupo, 42, is thrilled about his Sundance experience. An alumnus of the School of Visual Arts in New York, Cupo has been involved in film since he was a kid playing hooky to catch the movies playing in the Journal Square movie theaters close to home. He has worked on commercials and videos with all the major networks and in 2006 Cupo partnered with friend and colleague R. Jamie Mamalis to open The Rust Company in Manhattan, a lab, of sorts, that offers the latest cutting-edge technology for filmmakers to edit film and video and perform other creative tasks to see their films and videos realized.

 At Sundance, Cupo took a break before his filmâ€s screening on Thursday to share with Riverview Observer what itâ€s like showing his film at the Sundance Film Festival and making a deal that may change the course of his life and career.

 

 

RVO:  Congratulations on the success of “Concussion” at Sundance.

AC:  Thank you. People here are digging it. It all goes to Stacie Passon, the writer and director.

 

RVO:  Can you describe the film for our readers?

AC:  “Concussion” is about a lesbian housewife who lives in an upscale neighborhood in New Jersey. She is playing with her kids and her son beans her with a baseball and she has a concussion. When she comes to, she has that 40-something realization – where am I and whereâ€s my passion? When youâ€re 25 everything makes sense, when youâ€re 40 it goes gray. Thatâ€s the heart of the film that people are relating to most: thereâ€s a clock ticking for everybody for different reasons.

 RVO: Were you nervous about showing your film at Sundance?

AC: This is my first feature film, this is Stacieâ€s first feature film, and the first time weâ€re here at Sundance. I feel this is the little film that could.

 RVO:  Is the film up for a top prize?

AC: What happened this year, 16 films were selected, 8 by men directors; eight by women directors. The top prizes are ‘Best Directorâ€, ‘Best Film†and thereâ€s an audience award. One of the rules, the film has to be a premier. It canâ€t be out in theaters. It has to be the first time the world has seen any one of these films.

 RVO:  How did your collaboration with Stacie happen?

AC: Stacie and I started working together making industrials for Warner Brothers Records, Sony music. Weâ€ve made music videos together and all sorts of promotional pieces for the music industry. Stacie hails from Detroit and now she resides in Montclair where the story takes place.

Iâ€m still a Jersey City guy. In February of 2011, Stacie told me she had an idea for a film and my response was ‘Good, donâ€t tell me about it, write it.†Two months later she came back with a first draft and it knocked my socks off.

 RVO: Did you shoot the film in Jersey?

AC: We shot a good portion in Montclair and in Hoboken at the old Levelor building. They were very nice to us there. We shot on location for exteriors in Brooklyn and Soho.

 RVO: For those of us who have never been, can you describe what Sundance is like?

AC: Sure. When you first go to Newark and fly out, you want to question why Redford chose this place for a film festival. You have to fly to Salt Lake and take an hour drive to get here. But once you get here and youâ€re surrounded by snow-capped mountains, you realize everybody here has the same love for film you do and it makes sense. Youâ€re cut off from the world for a week just seeing other peopleâ€s films and supporting them. It becomes a weird bonding between all the filmmakers. (Regarding the layout), it has one main road in and out of the city and from what I understand when the festival comes around the price of everything doubles. When Redford gave the commencement speech, he said the festival generates $80 million in 8 days for the territory. All the shuttles that take you from one theater to the next are free and I believe there are 8 theaters, but when I say theater, the local high school auditorium is turned into a theater, a Jewish temple is turned into a theater, all of this adds to the charm. Meanwhile big companies like Dolby will spec out the theater and make sure the sound quality is top notch. The high school auditorium, the Jewish temple, they become professional theaters in a matter of days.

 RVO: And after the first screening, “Concussion” was picked up by a distributor. Can you share how that came about?

AC: The Weinsteins have a company called RADIUS-TWC and they picked up our film. It screened Saturday and sold two days later. Iâ€m saying this in a very humble way, itâ€s a big deal, a 7-figure deal and more than half of that will go back to the investors.

 RVO:  How will this change things for you and your career?

AC:  It lets us play in the sandbox and gives us the chance to do this again. I have now 50 business cards and keep track of all the people Iâ€m meeting. Iâ€m part of the Class of 2013. Iâ€m hoping in 20 years that will have grown.

The post COVER STORY -JERSEY CITY TO SUNDANCE- Local Filmmaker Sells First Feature Film at Sundance Film Fest first appeared on River View Observer.

Hoboken International Film Festival Shines Kliegs on Teaneck!

By Sally Deering

 First Cannes, then Sundance, now Teaneck? Yes folks, Cedar Lane Cinemas in Teaneck rolls out the red carpet for the fifth annual Hoboken International Film Festival, which used to be held in Hoboken, but because of some snafu, will now wow film-lovers a few miles north of Sinatra’s hometown.

The indie film fest promises to be a feast for the eyes, 115 feature-length films, documentaries, shorts and TV pilots presented on the silver screen with in-person appearances by Oscar-winning movie stars, Emmy-winning TV stars and the writers and directors who nurtured their films from their first baby-steps.

Some films were made by accomplished writers and directors; others by up-and-comers who likely financed their flicks with credit cards while staying afloat on a diet of peanut butter sandwiches. But these filmmakers all share the same passion: to create their film, their way, with the freedom to uphold the integrity of their script and sustain creative control over every frame without big studio interference.  And since many festival entries get picked up by big studio distributors, film festivals are a great way for an independent filmmaker to get their foot in the door. It’s like when an Olympian goes pro. All the hard work earns the gold medal which leads to the deal for the Wheaties box.

“The main reason a filmmaker wants to put his film in a festival is distribution,” Festival Chairman Kenneth DelVecchio says. “We pride ourselves in being able to show the edgiest and hottest filmmaking and to give these films a shot at getting distribution. The Grand Prize this year, the film that receives the Best Feature Film Award will get an automatic distribution contract from Light Year Entertainment. As a filmmaker you can have your dream made and get a distribution contract.”

 DelVecchio started this East Coast happening with a nod to his roots. A Hudson County native, DelVecchio grew up in Kearny, attended St. Peter’s Preparatory School in Jersey City, graduated law school and served as a New Jersey judge. An accomplished writer who wrote his first book while still in law school, Del Vecchio has numerous writing and producing credits under his belt, including the hit Rules for Men. His new comedy, O.B.A.M.A.Nude is being shown at the festival, along with the controversial courtroom drama he wrote and produced about gay marriage called An Affirmative Act. But DelVecchio is not a contender in the festival he’s producing. Although his films will be screened, they’re not part of the competition, assuring the integrity of the awards given out to the winning films at the end of the 7-day event.

 Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling of The Howard Stern Show, who took on a part in Rules for Men and An Affirmative Act, which also stars Academy-Award winning actor Charles Durning, will host major events at the festival including the opening reception on June 4^th and the Awards Gala on the 10^th.

 Of the 1500 submissions, 115 films were chosen by a 15-member screening committee that helps determine the final entries. Of those 115 entered in the festival, some interesting local entries include Asbury Park and The Pope of Jersey City – both made by New Jersey filmmakers; Venus to Vegas by Luis Moro of Union City and Santorini Blue a film written and directed by Matthew Panepinto, starring Panepinto and Deirdre Lorenz who also serves as Executive Producer. Lorenz describes the five-years it took to make the film a labor of love. One that also came with labor pains from raising the financing. Lorenz says she reached out to everyone she knew to get the bucks and even received a check by a stranger in a scene that sounds straight out of a Hollywood movie.

 “I met a guy in a diner, he saw me talking and asked me what I was so passionate about,” Lorenz says, “and the next thing you know he’s writing me a check.”

 Father vs. Son, also in the feature-length category, is a comedy directed by screenwriter Joe Ballarini who has written for big studios like Warner Bros, Disney and Miramax. Ballarini co-wrote the script with Paul Wolff, his screenwriting teacher and mentor at the University of Southern California. Wolff’s writing resume is also impressive with TV credits that include Little House on the Prairie and Life Goes On.

 “I wanted to make a movie about dating in your 60s,” Ballarini says. “And I mentioned my idea to Paul. I’m 30, and I was talking about how difficult it is on the dating scene and he’s 60, and he was talking about how difficult it is on the dating scene. Not much changes from thirty to sixty and we shared some hilarious stories about different dates we’d been on. So we wrote it together. I’d been writing for studios for about seven years at that point.  I love being a screenwriter, but I wanted to make a film I can call my own and direct.”

 When working on an indie, what you lack in budget, you get back in creative control, Ballarini says. He shot Father vs. Son in 21 days with a crew of friends and classmates at USC. It premiered at the Houston International Film Festival a couple weeks ago and won the Critics Choice Award from the Houston Film Critics Association.

 Like all indie festivals, outstanding films at the Hoboken International Film Festival will be awarded prizes for Best Narrative Feature Film, Best Screenplay, Best Documentary and other achievements at the Gala Award Ceremony on June 10^th where DelVecchio will present the Lifetime Achievement Award to Robert Loggia, star of TV and films including Scarface, Independence Day and Big. But not all film festivals are equal, DelVecchio says. The Big Kahunas like Cannes, Sundance and the Tribecca Film Festival are more like film markets, because they provide venues for big studios to premiere blockbusters.

“They’re showcasing big films, studio films and not independent films,” DelVecchio says. “As a filmmaker making movies, I saw all these film festivals and decided to start my own. We started in 2005 and now we’re in the top ten-to-fifteen percent in the whole world. My film festival is a true film festival. ”

 It’s also big for Cedar Lane Cinemas, a 1930s movie house that shows big blockbuster hits, art and foreign films, says General Manager Diane Walker. There are two pipe organs, too, which will be played between shows and because they expect a huge attendance, they’ll be hiring extra ushers and popcorn-poppers to pop fresh corn before every screening.

The Hoboken International Film Festival turns on the kliegs at the Cedar Lane Cinemas where tickets are still available for film-lovers hankering for fresh popcorn, independent films and some Hollywood glam. And for one week only, Teaneck’s got the hottest tickets in town.

The Hoboken International Film Festival runs from June 4 through June 10. For ticket information and a list of the films and screening times, go to www.hobokeninternationalfilmfestival.com.

 

Cedar Lane Cinemas

503 Cedar Lane

Teaneck, NJ

201-836-3334

 

 

The post Indie Cover Story -Indie Filmmakers Head to the ‘Burbs first appeared on River View Observer.