STEPS FORWARD, NO STEPS BACK - 2016 RECAP

On the set of "The Rush Chairman"

   

              Since co-directing and acting in the short film, "Visions of Violence" in December 2014, filmmaking for me had slowed down.  After my production company went on a never ending hiatus in 2015, I took some time off from film to refresh my mind and figure out exactly what I wanted to do. I ended up moving from Canada to the USA. It was an adjustment from a personal and filmmaking perspective. Since "Visions of Violence" I had only been on set once in 2015 and it was as an extra in a short film called "Really Looking."  In July 2016, I again  returned to set as an extra once more, this time on a feature called "Freak on a Moped."  In between that time, I reunited with my cousin who I'd done 15 films with, this time with the goal of making something different from our past films. Something that would potentially put us on the map. After months of planning and some creative differences and a very key member withdrawing from the project, the film "Dead End" was cancelled and thus officially ended my ties with my Canadian Production company.

      For the first time since the start of making independent films, I was faced with a choice. Either I stop my film career and do something else or I attempt to upgrade my resume and go all the way back to the beginning and start over by creating my own films. "Under The Gun" was a script I had on the shelf for a while and I decided to put it into production. August 2016, for the first time in almost two years I was back on the set of my own film, this time as the Director. Filming went well, It's probably my best film to date. I intend to release this film digitally online in January 2017. Later that month I contacted my "Director of photography" from my latest short (Lee Smith) to see if he knew of any projects coming up that I could help out in... There was. It was a short film called "Love Theif." He hired me onto the project a few days prior to filming as the "Assistant Director" and a small cameo role as 'the landlord.'  It was a great weekend shoot in Spartanburg SC.


       At the end of September I received an offer from  producers named Brett Kanea and Helena Sullivan. I met Brett when I was an extra just months prior. He called asking if I wanted a role in a comedy-feature film called "The Rush Chairman." I was definitely interested and agreed. About a day after my conversation with Brett, he messaged me to see if I had any camera work experience, so I sent him one of my latest short films and I guess both he and Helena liked my style as I was given the "Director of Photography" position. The only catch was that since this film was put together last second, there was really not a lot of time for pre-production as it was shooting in just over a week which gave me less than 48 hours to do the shot-list. I got it done and was ready to arrive to set in Clemson SC in October.  Just as production began, I learned that there wasn't a director for the film and I ended up with that title as well.  I honestly didn't think I would be involved in any significant way in a feature probably for the next 7 years, just mainly because of my age. Most people in their 20's just direct short films because no one else would hire them, so they'd need to build a resume to prove themselves. So being awarded these positions made me really grateful and appreciative of the opportunity. I will always be thankful for the opportunity which was  "The Rush Chairman." I can't wait for everyone to see the final product.

     As for the future, I just finished co-writing "Violators" a short film which will go into production in early January of 2017. I've also landed the position of "2nd Assistant Director" in another Feature film called "Mr.Secret Agent Guy" which is slated to go into production in February 2017. "The Rush Chairman" is also expected to be released in Spring 2017. In addition to that I have a few other projects that I'm working on that are in development.  2015 was a step back for me as I didn't really do any projects. 2016 was defiantly a step forward without taking any steps back.

- Andrew Di Pardo

Cancelled Films, First Solo film 'Under The Gun' & SHARP SHOOTER PRODUCTIONS (January 2016 -September 2016)

        With the disappointment of the cancellation of  short film "Message From Earth," I decided to move forward and reunite the "Suit & Stubble" team for our most ambitious film yet, DEAD END.! After several months of writing, planning and casting all complete things were looking good. But with late additions to the script and the unwillingness to spend the amount of hours required to shoot the film, one of the main members of the film withdrew from the project and it was delayed and later cancelled becoming the third straight project I had worked on to be cancelled. The others being "100 Black Coffin's" & "Message From Earth." This gave me even more drive to work on a project of my own under my new company called "Sharp Shooter Productions."

    Since "100 Black Coffins" was cancelled in 2014, I always felt the need to put it back into production and now was my chance. But 'Black coffins' had a large cast and therefore a larger script and for my first short film I wanted to do a nice and condensed story. So I spent a lot of time editing and reduced it from a once large cast to a main cast of five. With these changes came some plot changes which led me to the new title "Under The Gun." The reconstruction of the script began in September 2015 and continued all the way until the final draft on July 13th 2016. The script was reduced from 30 pages to 8... With the help of Story editor Peter Crowder, the script was exactly where it needed to be when it was time for production in August.

       Prior to the completion of the script was the start of casting in February.  After going through several resumes and audition tapes I found my cast. The first on board was the lead, a good friend of mine named Kevin Bringman (a New York City Actor). Kevin has the perfect look and skill sets required to fill the role of Zachary Giovanni. He brought some Jack Nicholson qualities to the role. Which worked perfectly as Zachary seeks revenge on the mob and the way Kevin portrayed this character makes the film go beyond whats written on the page. Next on board was Damien Michael Chase (Atlanta Actor) as the Mafia Don, Marcello.  The don for this film is a more modern take on the mafia boss. So I didn't want someone with the 'Tony Soprano' look or anything that's been done before... This film needed to stand on it's own and bringing in a cast that looks like something someone had seen before would take away from the story.  Next was Valentina Ferrari as Marcy (Atlanta Actress) as the dons right hand in charge. Valentina displays the strongest female character I've had in any of my films as she over rides the don to get things done in the name of the family. The last few members to be cast in the film were: Roman Visser (Greenville SC pursing acting) and JaVarious Conway (Greenville SC actor) as the men in black who are Zachary's muscle in the film. Then there were the cops...

         I put myself in the role of Cop 1, Gissette Valentina (Atlanta Actress) as Cop 2 and Michael Kolch (Spartenburg SC model) as Cop 3. So we had a main cast of 5 actors and 3 in minor roles.  Next was getting the Director of Photography... JaVarious mentioned his brother would meet the requirements and based on what I had seen he was right. So Smitha Lee joined the team with his wife Arialle Kennedy (Sound mixer). Cayla Gunter joined the production as well as a makeup artist and with that addition we were all set!  August 7th... Day before production, Kevin Bringman (Also an assistant Director) and I start planning the fight choreography for the film. We wanted to make sure everything was planned to the tee for when it goes into production so it could be done in one day. We planned the big torture scene which involved a crowbar and our challenge was to in one take make it look like the bar hits the actor without cutting to another angle so it wouldn't look cheesy... And we did!  That was the biggest challenge and we pasted it and now we were ready to film. August 8... Production starts in Greenville, South Carolina. We started at 9am, and the way Smitha Lee and I were able to communicate to each other to understand what each of us were looking for was great! The best chemistry I've had with another member of production on set. He knew what I was looking for and found a way to make it even better. It made the shoot flow so smoothly. By 3:00pm EST production was wrapped! It took just under 6 hours to shoot this 8 minute film which for me personally was the fastest I've ever completed a film.

    The location was Angelo Di Pardo (my father)'s deli named "Corporate Deli," and it was the perfect spot to shoot this film. Whether a scene was to be shot in a restaurant type atmosphere or an abandoned basement the deli had it. It really helps to shoot somewhere that doesn't involve traveling to other locations. Makes everything go smoothly without rush.

       The actors were great, the best overall cast I've had. Kevin as the lead really shined and made you wonder what he'd do next. Valentina being from Italy originally really worked and gave an authenticity to the film that would have been missing if I went with someone else. Damien, was the modern mafia boss that was needed, he brought a threatening force to the film. JaVarious had great facial expressions in a non-speaking role which made you fear him, especially when he started cracking bones. Roman was the perfect actor required as a distraction for when JaVarious sneaks his way into the scene. Gissette and Michael were great as cops! They really felt like they were the real deal.... Everything just went so smoothly...The film has just been edited by Faizan Valimohamed and it looks great! The film is currently in post-production with the sound being mixed by Vito Sudano (who I worked with on 'Deep Trouble,' 'Visions of Violence' & 'The Challenger: Broken Hope').

The goal of this film is to be submitted to film festivals across the United States of America... After that it'll be released online.

- Andrew Di Pardo

UNDER THE GUN - Trailer
http://andrewdipardofilms.com/under-the-gun 
IMDB