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Your new movie Bad Frank
- in a few words, what is it about?
Bad Frank
is about a guy who has impulse control disorder.
He’s screwed up all his relationships with his family, friends, etc.
He’s now married, and medicated, and he’s trying to repair all his
relationships, but just as he does, his old boss comes back in the picture
and all hell breaks loose. With Bad
Frank being a gangster movie of sorts, is that a genre at all dear
to you, and some of your genre favourites? A gangster
movie? I’ve never heard someone call it that before, but I am an Italian
from Jersey. Yes, I love gangster movies (Godfather, Godfellas,
etc.) but I’m a movie fan in general and I love all genres. If
it’s a good story and well acted, it could be all zombies for all care.
Just entertain me. (Other)
sources of inspiration when writing Bad
Frank? My mom worked at a mental health institution
when I was a kid so that’s partially where this came from. It’s
not based on anyone in particular, but just an affliction that I thought
had great opportunities to explore. What can you tell us about your
co-writers Kevin Interdonato and Russ Russo (who both also star in the
film), and what was your collaboration like when writing Bad
Frank? I had the original idea and script when I
brought it to Kevin. I asked him to be the lead because he had the
intensity and chops to pull it off. Once he read it, he had some
great ideas to expand and bring it to life. Russ also added some
good things and we were off and running.
In all honesty, to what degree can you
identify with Frank and his inherent rage? Ha! I have
no idea. Most people who know me and have seen the film ask me what
the hell is wrong with me, because it’s just about the complete opposite
of who I am. Then again, maybe that’s what makes you sane is when
you have an outlet to get rid of the bad stuff. What can you
tell us about your directorial approach to your story at hand? I
think preparation is important, of course, but I think it’s also
important to let people do their thing. When you hire actors,
you’re doing it to let them bring what they bring to the role. My
job is really to make them feel comfortable to do their best. If you
have the right cast, then my job is really easy. Do
talk about your key cast, and why exactly these people? Bad Frank
was all done without a casting director. I’d worked with
both Kevin and Brandon Heitkamp before so they were the first two
involved. Kevin is married to Amanda Clayton, they knew Russ, Russ
knew Lynn, and it just kept going from there. Everyone was brought
on through relationships, and to me, that’s the best way to do anything.
A
few words about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere? We
did the whole thing in just 11 ½ days so I had to keep things light
but efficient. I had a great first AD, Tommy Monahan, and my DP,
Mike Hechanova, was also fantastic. We all worked well together and
had the end game in mind, so things went very smoothly. With that
short amount of time, it had to! Anything
you can tell us about audience and critical reception of Bad
Frank? The reception to the movie has been
incredible. We’ve gotten some amazing reviews, every actor has
received at least one award on the festival circuit, and we’ve won Best
Film a few times, as well. That’s just amazing to me and a
testament to the performances we were able to get. As far as an
audience, we’ve really resonated with horror fans. I did not see
that coming, but I’m super pumped. I’m a horror fan myself, and
I know how rabid horror fans are. We’re not your typical gore-fest
horror film, but we definitely delve into the darker side, so I really
hope people continue to enjoy it and talk about it. Any future projects you'd like to share? I’m
working on a rape revenge story called The Price for Silence. It
stars Lynn Mancinelli who also starred in Bad Frank. She was awesome
as Crystal and I wrote this in collaboration with her. I didn’t
want to stray too far from the tone of the last one, so if people liked
Frank, I think they’ll like this one, too. It’s going to be
dark, dirty, and a lot of fun.
What
got you into filmmaking, and did you receive any formal training on the
subject? No formal training at all. I took a
screenwriting class in college, but that was longer ago than I’d like to
admit. I’ve had some good mentors and worked with some good
people, so I keep learning all the time. The smartest guy in the
room is the guy who surrounds himself with people who are smarter than
him. And let’s just say you’ll never see me standing alone. What can you tell us about your filmwork prior
to Bad Frank? I
worked on a few short films that did pretty well, and I wrote a film
called Wingman, Inc. which was released about two years ago. It was
a romantic comedy so its about as far away from Bad Frank
as you can get. How
would you describe yourself as a director? I’m a pretty
easy going guy, and I like everyone to be comfortable, so I guess I’m an
actor’s director. I’m not the most technical, but I’m getting
there, and I’ve got an awesome, creative DP which really helps. Filmmakers
who inspire you? Kevin Smith and Ed Burns are two of my
favorites. They’re the kinds of indie. Great dialog, great
stories, and they do much with so little. Plus, they both are great
guys so how could they not inspire you. Your favourite movies? Goodfellas,
the Godfathers, Shawshank Redemption, Spaceballs,
Teen Wolf. I could go on for
days. ...
and of course, films you really deplore?
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Ha! When I
was in college, I wrote the movie reviews for the school paper.
People would get frustrated with me because I only wrote positive movie
reviews. It was mostly because I paid for my own tickets and I
didn’t want to pay for something I didn’t want to see.
Eventually I saw a movie called The Fourth War. Hated it. It
ends in a snowball fight. I mean, come on. Really?
Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, whatever else? You can find the
film on @badfrankmovie on Twitter and Instagram. Personally,
@tonygerm on the same platforms. Anything else
you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? I’ve
got the best wife and kids. They put up with me acting like a kid
and let me do this. What’s cooler than that? Thanks
for the interview!
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