Sorry about the language but that is exactly the reaction I had recently while moderating a film at the Regency South Coast Village Theater. Let me tell you about it because it further reinforces what I tell my students about this business - you just never know so never say no to anything!
First, the movie: A terrific little independent feature called "The Mulberry Tree" written by actor and first time writer Louis Crugnali. The logline sounds like you're going to want to get a box of tissues instead of popcorn:
A drama centered on a young man working in Rhode Island's state corrections system and his relationship with a convicted murderer who is dying of AIDS and spending his remaining days on hospital detail.
Yikes. Pass the soft but strong paper. And certainly some of that is true, tissue-wise, but the film is ultimately very positive and life affirming as the central character (played by Crugnali) struggles to find his place in the blue-collar world he's in. The terrific Joe Morton plays the dying con with amazing grace and quiet charm and the stunning Daniella Alonzo plays Crugnali's love interest with as much skill as Morton but she is just a bit easier on the eyes.
Guys, I love 'ya but bring Daniella next time she's in a movie of yours, okay? Seriously...
This unassuming, small film shouted its truth so loud and strong at various film festivals it's won several "Best Of" categories. Everyone who saw it Friday night loved it and stuck around to listen to the men who helped birth it.
Their distributor New Hollywood Entertainment's (NuHo) Chris Kanik was refreshingly blunt and honest about his work and the way films actually get to the screen. Shoot anything you want, he said, then what? You need a distributor to get your work to an audience. I loved Chris' plain talk - truly a breath of fresh air. Of course, Russell was equally as honest but there was always a little twinkle in his eye when he said anything - an indication to me that no matter what anyone said about the business, Russell knew from hard-won experience that there were exceptions to any rule, situation, or reality. "It depends," he said - about almost everything. Truth.
The experience that had me saying "No Sh*t!" was so much fun. In introducing myself to Russell before we went on stage and he said my name sounded familiar, asked me if I was in the business. I (humbly - ha!) mentioned that I had 19 films produced. When we talked a bit further we discovered that he had done casting for one of my films. We had a good fifteen minutes of reminiscing about the production which was both great and very frustrating. And we talked about how many people and companies we had in common. At then end of the night, we exchanged cards and worked out that we would try to get something over to SyFy channel as soon as possible. Russell doesn't cast anymore but he's doing even better as a producer and is as busy as a Hollywood madame after the Oscars. I don't think there's any way that he and I can't connect given my track record with SyFy and his connections on the business side of things.
What made me happiest was that I got one of my talented scriptwriting students introduced to Russell and they exchanged contact info. If she makes it, I'm getting a cut! No, not really - just a thanks will do. Really. No really. Well, maybe a Starbucks gift card...
The amazing, wonderful, effusively enthusiastic and massively talented Lorenzo Porricelli, the Regency's general manager, was responsible for this incredible evening. Mille grazie, paison - I had a perfect evening as usual.
Go see Mulberry Tree while it's in the theaters! You'll be glad you did.
