I'm the writer & producer of the feature movies "DETOURS," which is available exclusively on Amazon Prime, and "Surviving Family," which is available on iTunes & Amazon Prime.
I blog about indie filmmaking, writing, and occasionally something tangentially related.
Showing posts with label Robert McCaskill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robert McCaskill. Show all posts
I'm delighted to announce that my 2nd feature film, DETOURS, will be released on Amazon Prime on Friday November 25! Prime members will be able to watch for free, while rental will start at $2.99 for non-members.
I'll share the Amazon link, as soon as it's available, but it will also be accessible via the IMDB page, as they're owned by Amazon.
DETOURS is a road-trip dramedy about a newly-single New Yorker (played by Tara Westwood ) who re-locates to Florida for a new job. She travels south with her widowed dad (Carlo Fiorletta ) and her mom's ashes in a coffee can.
We had a great screening of DETOURS on September 18 at the Strand Theater in Lakewood, NJ - it was a terrific return to one of the Ocean County locations where we shot back in October 2014. The team at the Strand was wonderful, both then and now, and I hope to have the opportunity to work with them again.
The crowd included a lot of our wonderful extras, and I was so glad to see that they really enjoyed the movie. It was such fun to actually HEAR when people recognized themselves on the screen.
Photos:
Top left: Actress Celia Schaefer, director Rob McCaskill, stars/producers Tara Westwood and Carlo Fiorletta, me, and actor Craig Wollman.
Center: Stars and producers Tara Westwood and Carlo Fiorletta
Bottom: Carlo Fiorletta taking photos with our extras in the lobby of the Strand before the screening
We're very excited to be screening DETOURS at the beautiful Strand Theater in Lakewood, NJ on Sunday September 18 at 7 PM!
It will be almost exactly 2 years since we went into production right here in Ocean County, New Jersey. Everyone was wonderfully helpful and supportive, and we're thrilled to bring the movie back home.
In addition to shooting at The Strand Theater itself - a gorgeous venue that dates back to the roaring 20's - we hit a lot of great local spots. The photo at the top left is DETOURS star Carlo Fiorletta on a return visit to the delightful Bay View Cafe in Lavallette, with a photo that was taken of him, his co-star Tara Westwood, and director Rob McCaskill by our stills photographer Hank Gans.
At the top right is the wonderful Paul Sorvino with Tara Westwood at another great Jersey Shore location - Charlie's Farm Market in Normandy Beach.
Tickets are $15 in advance at www.strand.org and $20 at the door. Join us on the 18th for a delightful father/daughter road trip comedy from NYC to Florida, with a lot of Jersey beautfy!
I'm very excited that we're having our New Jersey premiere at one of our great filming locations - the Strand Theatre in Lakewood on Sunday night September 17 at 7 PM.
We shot a lot of DETOURS at the Jersey Shore, at terrific local spots like the White Sands Hotel in Point Pleasant, The Ark Pub and Eatery and Used To Be's, Charlie's Farm Market, and the beaches in Lavallette. I've been visiting a lot of them this week to ask them to hang our flyer for the screening, and I really love the support that we continue to get.
The best part has been seeing photos from our shoot on display at several of our locations. First I stopped by the delightful Bay View Cafe, which, through the magic of movies, serves as 2 separate locations in DETOURS. I was delighted to see a lovely photo on their wall of director Rob McCaskill (in hat) discussing a scene with stars Tara Westwood and Carlo Fiorletta.
The next day I visited Charlie's Farm Market, and was thrilled to see photos of the great Paul Sorvino with Tara Westwood in a scene from DETOURS and also chatting with line producer Caryl Pierre.
Click the link below to get tickets to this great event, which will be followed by a q&a session with McCaskill, Westwood, and Fiorletta...and me.
It was a great follow-up to last Saturday's screening of DETOURS at the Long Island International Film Expo to learn that DETOURS was nominated for the Best Feature Film award. We didn't win, but it truly IS an honor just to nominated.
Next up is our screening at the Strand Theatre in Lakewood, NJ on Sunday September 18 at 7 PM. More on that next time!
Director Rob McCaskill, Actors Celia Schaefer, Carlo Fiorletta, Peter Graham, & Marguerite Stimpson
Next up is a week-long run at the Sutter Creek Theatre in Sutter Creek, CA starting July 22, and a special one night only screening at the Strand Theater in Lakewood, NJ on September 18 (tickets are on sale now!). We shot a beautiful scene at the Strand, and many other scenes in and around Ocean County, NJ and are very excited to return.
I learned a lot from making my first feature, Surviving Family. I swore that I wouldn't repeat the same mistakes on my 2nd feature, Detours. I didn't.
I love the cast of Surviving Family (you can see the full list HERE), and there's no one who I would get rid of. But when I wrote the screenplay, I put a lot of actors into many different scenes in many different locations. This created major logistical challenges (working with the actors' schedules, transporting them from place to place, and - not the least of the problems - blocking the scenes). I promised myself that I wouldn't make that mistake in my next feature. I didn't. But I created new production challenges instead.
Detours is a road trip movie: a newly single New Yorker (played by Tara Westwood) must re-locate to Florida for her dream job. She travels south with her widowed dad (Carlo Fiorletta), her mom's ashes in a coffee can, and a GPS with a mind of his own (played by the delightful Craig Wollman).
On the plus side, I DID limit how many scenes each each actor is in. We put together a wonderful cast, including TONY award winners Michael Cerveris and Richard Kind, and iconic Italian-American actor Paul Sorvino. Each one is only in a couple of scenes, and they truly shine in those scenes. But it's a damn ROAD movie. Which means you need to (a) shoot car scenes and (b) move from point to point and show it. There is nothing - and I mean NOTHING - simple about shooting a road movie.
Is Detours good? Absolutely - it's terrific and people will love it. It's a fun story about a father and daughter, starting over, and falling in love. It has great actors and wonderful music (more on that another day). But if you'd like a look inside the challenges of shooting a road movie, here's a behind-the-scenes look:
