Movies Til Dawn

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.

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

Emily Mortimer will have her first day (well, night really, we are shooting until 4am) today. Mortimer joins on a momentous shoot day as we begin to secure the final denouement on celluloid. Today the final sequence of the film is being shot, where all the proverbial worms come out of the woodwork to have it out. In a family surrounded by secrets, there is nowhere to hide. I should write tag-lines. CB.

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.

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

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

Fingers crossed the rain holds off... CB.

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. CB.

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.

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.

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

Monday July 28th 2008: Lucky Monkey Pictures partners Maria Teresa Arida and Lauren Versel, watched their project of passion come to life in the seafood central that is City Island. With Headsets, Andy Garcias and exciting-looking equipment surrounding them, Maria and Lauren slip into their most favorite and well-worn pair of shoes. Lucky Monkey Pictures is an emerging company started by Versel and Arida in 2004. Lucky Monkey took Raymond De Felitta's "City Island" to the Berlin Co-Production market earlier this year and started the ball rolling on what has now become a international co-production. LMP has a strong focus on narrative and has been eagerly developing and accruing content over the past four years; "City Island" is the first to step up to the plate and take a swing. Arida and Versel have also just recently wrapped on another: a spanish language feature "El Ultimo Verano de La Boyita" by Julia Solomonoff which also featured at the co-produc...

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.

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 pres...

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 ...

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.

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. CB.

A clip from the diner 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. CB.

"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.

(Click image to enlarge) CB.

http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif 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.

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 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.

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.

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 freehttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif. It is all a matter of opin...

By Cecelia Bee.

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. Off the Cuff interview by Ged Dickerson (Normally our Line Producer). Director of Photography & Camera Operator, Cecelia Bee.

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.

Monday Night: July 21st, City Island, Sunset. I couldn't see the awesome Ezra Miller but I could hear him and it sounded GOOD. As the sun went dhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifown 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 ...

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.

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

"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 Po...

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! Cecelia Bee.

DAY ONE OF THE PRODUCTION PROPER. Today it all took off. And Dan 'modified' a Ford (see below) 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. And in the words of Penny Lane in Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous": It's all happening! More mildly irritating quotes later! Cecelia Bee.

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 fo...

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 ha...

Pictures from the last week scouting locations.

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 o...

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 ponderou...

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. CB, Contented, Queens N.Y.

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:-...

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

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.

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.

*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 ...