Welcome to Good News York, sponsored by Ads on
the Go. Get ads on the go dot com. Again, Mike
Bernissi flying solo. No Matt today, but that's
OK because I'm joined by a very special guest
from the Syracuse International Film Festival
right here in Syracuse, New York. Michelle DiBernardo.
I know it's not as. I am the only one clapping.
I try to, you know. How are you? Good. How are
you? I'm good. I'm glad to have you. The Syracuse
International Film Festival. This is fantastic.
So obviously we know about it, but we I was on
the website looking around. You guys have been
around since 2003. Why don't you tell us a little
bit about yourself and about how the festival
kind of started? Okay. Yeah. So I'm Michelle
DiBernardo. I've been in the industry for a long
time. I'm not telling you how many years. You
don't have to. I started as an actress and then
I moved on to like running Barbizon USA and teaching
at Syracuse University until like just growing
into different positions and realizing like I
just wanted to be involved in the film industry
somehow. And Syracuse International was actually
created by Owen and Christine Shapiro. Owen Shapiro
was the one who started Syracuse University.
visual performing arts. Wow. So, really, really
big in the film, like here, and they, you know,
are a little bit older now, and kind of stepped
down, and I took over a couple years ago. With
a different vision maybe per se and adding different
things with the community rather than You know,
they were really big on foreign films and some
other things where we've added like LGBTQ and
prison reform and just many different You know
things that really need awareness like homelessness
and addiction and just all sorts of like cool
different Things that are creative that you would
never realize like really it's like really cool
on on a screen Yeah, that's wonderful. And you
know, those are all things that that um It's
just very selfless of you guys to you know To
also include everybody like that and and to try
and make a difference through film. Um Did you
start in were you part of? Circus International
Film Festival in 2003 or you joined you just
you look join later. Yeah. Yeah, no, it was like
way later 2003 I was you know still a baby in
the industry like I had done, you know as an
actress, but it wasn't like changing the realm
of behind the scenes, you know, until further
on. Definitely came as, like, I used to do press
and celebrity interviews and those kind of things,
like, so I would go with my old business partner
and Giancarlo Esposito and Daniel Baldwin and
those kind of people. We interviewed, we put
together a little press thing and, you know,
Owen obviously was someone who I looked up to
for many years. And eventually I got a call,
like, two and a half years ago, the president
was, like, stepping down. I had no clue what
the heck I was getting into. I own like a for
-profit film festival, but that was just like,
we started it during COVID, so it was online.
It was really easy. But yeah, so like with Syracuse
International, they kind of gave me a logo and
it was like, oh yeah, a festival of like 20 years.
Like, ah, what do I do? So, you know, there's
definitely been some learning curves throughout,
and you know, it's almost like rebuilding a business.
takes like five years and it's getting bigger
and better and just you know things are running
more smooth and efficient and this year is definitely
gonna be really big. I'm sure now when I I went
back to college a few years back and I was in
charge of putting together a film festival now
this was a college film festival so not at the
level that you're doing and I was ready to pull
my hair out because there are so many It's not
just like picking films setting the place and
then go. I mean there are so many Look, there's
just so much in logistics that that that goes
through the That that's part of all that is this
a year -long process for you in planning like
the film festival ends and then you're just like
rocking and rolling for the next year. Yeah,
like yesterday I was on a zoom with some new
advisory board members and literally the one
guy wasn't on the panel for this year. And I
was like, oh, so I don't want to add anybody
to this year. But hey, you want to be on the
panel next year? Sure. And they're looking at
me like I'm crazy. And I'm like, no, like this
is how it takes. Yeah. And we don't just do like
the one main event. We introduced honoring outstanding
black filmmakers. So that's in February. And,
you know, we have our new filmmaker showcase
and there's other things we do and there's definitely
going to be some like day events because you
know we've had at war and so we'd love to like
do things with like Clear Path Veterans. Last
year we did something within My Father's Kitchen.
We love that. So there's like different Things
like brewing that wonderful. So let's talk about
that. So there's the actual film festival itself,
which is what when is that? Yeah, October 17th
through the 19th October 17th through the 19th.
How many submission? How many submissions do
you have? Well, it was like over a thousand,
but it is all a hundred percent programmed as
of right now we're trying to You know make things
pretty now because everything's just like in
a Google spreadsheet Sure times and get things
over to the website and like really like it's
it's time right now Now it's really prime time.
And where will this be? So it's actually going
to be at the Catherine Cummings Theater in Casanovia.
Nice. Yes. So we've kind of been looking for
a home. You know, like, obviously it used to
be like here and there. And it's just really
confusing when it's like, hey, they're at the
Marriott and then they're at Rathaus and they're
at, you know, like we need a home. And we also
needed a home that had really a homey vibe around
it. And Casanovia, it's got the boutique so they
can go shopping. The lake is right there for
tourism. There's, you know, Lincoln and Brewster
and Hampton, and there's just so many different
walking hotels. You know, there's nine, which
is a restaurant there. So, you know, and there's
other restaurants in the area. It's beautiful.
It's perfect. So in addition to everything that
you're doing, you're also bringing some some
money to Casanovia, which is always awesome.
Yeah. Now, I do agree with you. You know, I've
seen, you know. The word film festival gets thrown
pretty loosely these days, and I've seen and
been a part of film festivals in the past where,
you're right, there's actually not a location
and it's all online, or there's five different
locations, so having a central location I think
is key. How many people do you expect coming
out to this? Is there a way for you to gauge
numbers ahead of time? Okay, so we're talking
with the new owners and stuff like that, and
this year we're... We're packing the house, period.
We're going next level, just like with the selections
and what we're doing. I mean, we have two panels
on Friday. And it's like, I don't know, probably
about 16 people, OK? And so anybody that works
in the film industry, if you're an actor, you
go to New York, you pay $149 for one little class.
It's with one casting director. you know like
insane amount of people all in one place one
house right there students free and and it's
like a $15 ticket and you get to see a movie
afterwards a great phenomenal film so like where
are you going to see a film and get all these
panelists and like even if you're not in the
industry and you just want to know like okay
we have like an education panel we have like
catering people that are there so maybe you're
just you have a wedding and you want to you know
see yeah catering or just want to know more about
it it's it's Like, come on, no, it's not happening.
So we're back in the house, and the crazy films
that we have, we have everything from Celebrity
and Invitational. We have a three -time Emmy
winner who's a current director from CBS, Beyond
the Gates coming out, and she's screening her
film with her husband. And they got some upcoming
projects that you never know might be here. That's
phenomenal. So let's talk about that a little
bit. What are some of the categories? And how
are the films judged? Yeah, I'm assuming the
panel, but I'll let you explain. Yeah, yeah.
So we have judges that judge throughout the year.
Like I'm like on them from like right now. Like,
hey, like we they're like, yeah, there's like
10 films right now. I'm like, no, like we got
to cycle through. Yeah. Because at the end, you
know, it was rush still watching like 50 to 100
films because we still needed those judged. But
so basically, you know, the judges will go through
and there's like a whole system on film freeway.
from creativity to lighting to sound to all that
kind of fun stuff. And you got to get a certain
score for me to even like look at it at the end.
And this year was really hard because there was
like a lot of like nines that it was like, I
can't even look at you because they were like
so high and there was so many great pieces and
you know, you got people emailing you afterwards
and you know, you hurt some feelings. It's unfortunate,
but like. It's a judging system. Like I can't
just be like hey Yeah, that's it's an Invitational
then like yeah, then it's okay. We looked at
this sure ever so sometimes I'll go back through
and just see like what the judges are doing and
we have people from the community as Well as
industry people so it's not just you know one
one set of eyes But yeah, so these these films
are submitted and judged before the festival
even starts kind of like a preliminary Is that
what you meant? That's awesome. I think that's
actually from someone who went through the hell
of trying to organize a festival. I think that's
great. And I don't want to say it weeds anything
out because I'm sure every submission is fantastic
in its own right. But it just makes it easier
to dwindle down. Oh, absolutely. And what are
what are some of the categories that you guys
have for the festival? Yeah, so the first night
is beautiful, psychological, and everything will
be up on the website in the next couple of weeks
at syrfilm .com. The second day, we're starting
with a block of short films that is anything
from war to, you know, it's a variety. It really
is a variety. Prison reform, the LGBTQ, there's
just... There's like 14 films on Saturday alone.
I love that because when you think of film festivals,
like traditionally you think of like best picture,
best soundtrack, you know, best, all the normal
category. I love that you're getting into LGBTQ,
you're getting into, what was it, prison? Prison
reform. Prison reform? That's big enough for
a whole category? Oh heck yeah. I mean, we have
so many prison reform documentaries or shorts
that we got submitted. We're actually showing
inmates with talent, which is with iced tea.
No way. I used to tease the man. Yeah. Have you
noticed, because you've been involved for a bit,
and even when you weren't involved in the festival,
I mean, you're an actress as well, you've always
been involved in film. What are some of the trends
you're noticing, like the difference in submissions
now, or just in the industry in general, as to
when you started? The types of films? Things
have changed. There's a lot more diversity, which
is great. It's great. You know, there's definitely
some things that I've seen that I never think
I would see on film. So I have to be careful
because obviously we do have like students that
come and I don't want someone to bring like a
kid in. Right. Yeah. Life is changing rapidly
especially with technology, but I you know, every
industry seems to also be evolving, you know
the music industry I mean decades ago you saw
this shift and now you're really within the last
few years seeing the shift in the film industry
with streaming and everybody's kind of scrambling
trying to figure out how does everybody make
money and make this a career and But but creatively
there's also been a shift and like you said there's
diversity and other things like that So I was
just curious from from your point of view so
You mentioned that you guys, in addition to just
the Syracuse International Film Festival, you're
also doing events throughout the year as well.
Let's talk about some of those. What else you
guys got going on? Yeah. This is amazing. Yeah.
So this year, we don't have any more dates locked
in. You know, like, obviously, the holidays are
coming. But our honoring outstanding black filmmakers
will be in February. It will be our third annual
event. Our first one, we had a filmmaker come
from Cameroon, Africa. Wow. So yeah. we're definitely
like I mean we're international so we have people
that are like involved and and exciting and have
followers in different areas that you would never
never know so last year we honored a local Who
knows who it will be this year, you know, we
might be bringing someone in, you know, we're
getting a little more attention with it, you
know, slowly rising. But I think it's something
that was like much needed for attention. And
then, you know, there's other people that are
like, hey, you're a white girl doing this. Why?
You know, you got haters everywhere. Of course.
It's like, you know, if you bring a certain celebrity
and, you know, you're getting hate mail. But
it's like, you know, it's a great event. And,
you know, there's people that are, you know,
on I don't know how to say, like, the proper
terminology, because I'm not trying to, like,
you know, say anything wrong. No, you're fine.
But, you know, there's just some people that
don't get recognition that need to. 100%. Yeah.
Well said yeah, I could not agree more and you
guys do such a good job of that of of just spreading
the wealth of You know within the actual film
festival itself all the different niche categories
like that But as you mentioned all these extra
events that you're doing Throughout the year
and you guys are very involved with the community
as well if you want to talk about that I mean,
it's really impressive when you go to the website
to see this isn't just a film festival I mean,
this is a community involvement and that is amazing.
Yeah. Yeah, so obviously, you know most film
festivals you just think like film, but we're
like art. fashion, film, music, all of it goes
together and people don't really realize. Even
like the catering side of it or the boring producing
side of it or the location management or whatever.
Like it's a community thing and people don't
realize how much money like it brings to the
community. We do a lot of community events. You
know, the students are free. The students are
always free, always, always free. Student submissions
are free. So it's not like we're trying to make
money off the students. We have interns from
different, you know, universities. and we really
kind of take them under our wing, and there's
a lot of them that will... When you... For instance,
when you go to film school, you normally make
like your senior thesis or you make all these
short films. A lot of times we take them and
we bring them on feature films that are actually
going to be streaming on things. So it's like,
oh, hey, like on my resume, I did this for like
an actual feature film before they were ever
even like in their senior year. Wow. So yeah.
That's a huge deal for somebody at that age who's,
you know, just learning the ropes. It's the next
generation. And without them, we couldn't have
awesome festivals like yours. So I just think
it's. wonderful that you're doing that. So I
wanted to ask you this question. You know, when
I was coming, when I was growing up, You know,
I had started, I was like, I want to be an actor.
And then I was like, I want to be a musician
and a comedian. And it was just, you know, I
like to perform. But it was you really had like
two choices back. It was like you moved to L
.A. or you moved to New York. American High is
here now. We're seeing a trend. We've seen a
trend over the last decade or more that, you
know, Hollywood, still Hollywood. But people
are filming movies and TV everywhere. Do you
think that that's true at this point, that you
don't have to be in New York and L .A. anymore?
to be like a working actor or working production?
I mean, I've worked in the film industry and
only the film industry for like... five years.
You know, it's my life. I eat, sleep, breathe
and I own a home here. So I love that. You know,
good for you. That's fantastic. And American
High obviously has been on the map for a while
with what they're doing. Are you guys do you
work with them at all? Really? Yeah, absolutely.
Jeremy and Will are great over there. We did
show a film from American High last year. We've
talked about, you know, maybe getting some classes
donated as prizes for them. So, you know, obviously
they're a big studio here and they're doing great
amazing things and employing people and so you
know obviously we as a film festival want to
work with everybody in the entertainment industry
and there's no all love from us. Yeah of course.
I mean what a perfect marriage American High
and Syracuse International Film Festival and
it just makes complete sense. So one last question
and then we'll get the plugs in. What uh what
what do you see what's what's next for the film
festival? I mean right now you're super hyper
focused because it's coming up in October Yeah,
but you know in the next few years. Where do
you see this going or growing? Yeah. Well, we
want Kaz to be our home. You know, I think the
biggest complaint with a lot of larger film festivals
and what we're, you know, our goal to be one
day is that they didn't have that, you know,
homey feel and you had to go all the way here
to the hotel or all the way here for a restaurant
where Kaz, it's all right there, even with the
lake. It really is. So, you know, we're going
out there and building in the community. Like,
you know, one of my board members owns the Hillcross
-Jepsen, so she's already... And Kaz, obviously,
there's some people I won't mention that don't
want to be mentioned that live there. And so
there's a lot of people that live in that area.
And the new owners and the mayor, Kurt, is great.
So we're really going to be pushing it. We're
ordering flags just to be up and out of the street.
Yes. We want it to grow bigger. We just need
the audience to like really come on out and support
and realize that it's not just foreign films.
It's not just international. It's not just student
films. It's a variety for everybody. And, you
know, we bring a celebrity here every year. And
so, you know, this year is Stephen Baldwin. All
right. And we're going to give him his Sophia.
And then we also have added a new award this
year, the Lumen Award, which is going to be with
Tom Seeley from WCNY, which he actually wrote
some episodes to Murphy Brown. and even an episode
of Hannah Montana. Amazing. And he lives right
in Kaz. So people don't realize who's out there.
There are a bunch of people out there. Are you
familiar with Ben Fram? I'm not. Ben Fram is
a, he was an SU professor. He now, I believe,
I don't know, I live in Ithaca. He's down in
Ithaca. Our kids play together. But when I had
graduated from IC, I heard about his name and
I had reached out to him. He also, in Syracuse
was a writer on, I think, the Cars film. I'm
probably getting that wrong. It was a very popular
film, but you're right. There are so many people
in this area that have done so many things that
we don't even realize. And that's why I think
your festival's amazing, because you showcased
just that. And you reminded me, I thought I had
one last question, but let's talk about the Sophie
Award. I did see that on the site. What is that
all about? Yeah, so, well... Our logo is actually
Sophia runs eyes and somebody had got permission
like years ago. Yes. And so it's a lifetime achievement
award that we give every year. And last year
was Dorian Wilson. A year before was Alec Baldwin.
You know, Daniel's got it before Grace Jones,
Sally Kirkland, Jerry Miller, so many like amazing
people. And it's just a tradition that we carry
on that we bring amazing people. And honestly,
like If people knew the amount of work just going
into the Sophia like I was dealing with cruises
agents I was dealing with last Susan Lucci's
agents, you know, there's people that were very
flattered that just you know They're already
booked, you know, like they wanted to come like
to Syracuse But like I said, we're bringing people
here. We have somebody who's streaming on Netflix
currently, a director from Toronto. We have Sonja,
who's with CBS. Daniel Crocks, we're showing
his short film that was produced by Tyler Perry.
So we're showing the Christmas letter that was
filmed in Utica with Chevy. So there's some,
I see there's some celebrity films that really
people that follow those people. could definitely
connect with something that we're showing over
the weekend. It's very reasonable. And yeah.
That's amazing. You know, I don't know if you've
ever heard this, but not many people know. I
think I've talked about this on the show. Ithaca,
New York was actually going to be the original
Hollywood. It was like the beginning of silent
film and What happened was the weather they couldn't
shoot year -round so they went out to California
and Hollywood became Hollywood But actually Ithaca
was going to be the next Hollywood and I'm just
so glad that you're bringing you're shining so
much light on this area Because yes, the weather
sucks. But if you I mean As an actress yourself
and someone who's been involved in film, if you
drive around this state, I'm constantly driving
around thinking, my God, that you could shoot
a film here, you could shoot a film there. There's
something for everybody. You've got your urban
areas, the beautiful rolling hills. I just, I
feel as though American High and you, Syracuse
International Film Festival, are doing, you're
doing God's work in showing that films can be
shot here and it's a beautiful place to do that.
Oh, absolutely. Every day I'm talking with some
kind of filmmaker. Like I get pitch films every
day, literally from all over. And I'm always
trying to bring them here, you know, and whether
if they don't like Syracuse, I'm always going
for cash or, you know, Camillus or Pulaski or
Watertown or just. I'm okay with New York State,
as long as you're filming here. But I do try
always first, like, hey, we have that high tax
incentive, come on over, you know? Exactly. I
can find some people to hire. Just a couple weeks
ago, we were working on a very, very... Large
documentary that I'm sure people know about I'm
not gonna say who the three -letter streaming
is But I was working on it for months and they
were actually gonna film in LA the reason they
filmed here is because I said I can get the picture
cars, I can get this, I can get this, I can get
that. And it turned into we were supposed to
film in June and we filmed this past week. But
everything was beautiful and it was gorgeous
and there was a lot of people very excited to
be involved in the project and I saw people all
over TikTok like. These people documentary or
film and I'm like me. Yeah, that's us. You single
-handedly did that Are you still involved in
outside of the film festival? Are you still acting
or involved in production outside of that? Oh,
yeah. Oh, yeah. So like right now we're filming
a Bigfoot movie those who believe which Great
title. Yeah, I like that those who believe and
we filmed out by like Happy Valley Do you know
where that is? I don't not off the top my head.
Oh, well, it's like a ghost town like over. Yeah
in Pulaski, yeah. Okay, okay. Yeah, so we did
part of that in Cicero at the Cicero Police Department,
some out in Pulaski, some out in Watertown, and
we have like two more days of filming, but I'm
breaking it down because I'm... Personally, I'm
not gonna lie. I like to break it down because
I do so many things and plus I like edit and
all that fun stuff too. And then we have a double
feature that we premiered a couple weeks back
that's back in the edit room. So there's that
and then people call me for stuff. I can't say
no. Right now there's someone texting me about
another production and I'm like. Yeah, yeah,
you do you sleep ever I mean you are like round
the clock going I I love you. I love what you
do Michelle DiBernardo the Syracuse International
Film Festival actress Production, post -production,
she does it all. Give us the plugs. Dates, websites,
events, go for it. Yeah, okay, so syrfilm .com.
Go ahead and check the events. October 17th through
the 19th is our main festival, Catherine Cummings.
We have everything from panels to beautiful films
to some really, really amazing people that are
gonna be there. We might even have somebody from
General Hospital as well, so we have those soap
fans. He is in a couple films that are being
screened. So yeah, I didn't check his voice message,
but we'll see if he's coming. Yeah, check it
out. That's why our film D Bernardo productions
dot media social media I slack on but if you
go to any of the film pages escaped unraveled
the prelude to escape those who believe Syracuse
International Film Festival The Facebook page
at least will have like all of the dates times
for all of the films. The website will be updated
Michelle at syrfilm .com at my phone number is
very Accessible on the internet. So, you know,
it gets me. Well, Michelle DiBernardo It's been
so fun talking to you, and I could probably talk
to you for the two hours Syracuse International
Film Festival check it out We are so happy she
came on the show good news you are sponsored
by ads on the go We will be right back with more
interviews about film stay tuned Welcome back
to Good News York sponsored by ads on the go
get ads on the go calm We just had a great interview
with an international film festival connoisseur
and speaking of film We have another film connoisseur.
It's a film day. It's a film day. It's a film
day, of course my lovely, uh, host. Co -host?
I think that's the right word. Yeah, but I don't
feel right calling you the co -host. You're kind
of the guy in charge. We're each other's co -hosts.
Aw, buddy. Well, anyway, my co -host Matt Mazer
here. Back for this one. I sound like Anchorman.
I'm not Ron Burgundy. I'm Ron Burgundy? We're
back and we have Joe Cunningham with us. Joe,
welcome to the show. Thank you for having me.
We're very excited to have you guys. I got to
give you a little quick history here. Joe and
I go way back. And when I say way back, you've
heard me on this show probably a number of times
talk about the fact that I opened the first podcast
studio in Syracuse. Yes, you did. Joe was my
first. I don't know if I want to say customer
or partner or creator. But Joe worked for the
Syracuse New Times at the time. And shout out
to our buddy Bill Broad. And he came and made
some of the first podcasts that we made in our
studio. That's fantastic. I remember I always
tell the story. Was in a band at the time Matt
had me on as a guest and when we got done I remember
being like it was so new to me that I went so
we weren't on the radio and he's like No, that
was a podcast and what's a podcast? So you were
in on the ground floor is something great. I
think Mark Marin was starting around the same
time Yeah, we're all trying to figure it out.
But that was really cool. I remember being at
the Tech Garden over there and Being around a
table and talking about movies probably as well.
I probably diverted off into that. But yeah,
that was cool. It was great. And I'll tell you
what, you also at the time wrote an article for
the New Times about opening the podcast studio.
I have that framed still on my wall at home.
So thank you for that. It's great to see. I've
been watching the show from afar, and just how
far you guys have come. It's just very exciting.
Thanks, man. Appreciate that, man. Really appreciate
that. And honestly, the same can be said about
you. And I think we should dive into that. So
you just wrapped a full feature movie, right?
My first feature. Dude, congratulations. That's
a big deal. Yeah, we shot for five years. So
I thought we could do it in a year. But things
happened, and we just didn't give up. We just
wrapped on Sunday at American High, so very exciting.
That's incredible. Yes. What's the movie about?
It's called The Sentinel. It's about a combat
veteran with severe PTSD, and he has partial
custody of his son. And so he's just struggling
trying to take care of his son and deal with
the PTSD at the same time. Wow. Now, you had
many parts. with this production, right? Did
you write it? I wrote it. I produced it. I directed
it. And I star in it with my son. Harrison plays
my son in the movie. And we shot it in chronological
order for the most part. So he was like seven
or eight when we started shooting. And kind of
like Linklater's boyhood, he grows up. And the
last scene, he's 12 years old. So it's kind of
cool. Wow. That's pretty neat. Yeah, that's awesome.
That's really cool. That's a really heavy plot.
But it's one that unfortunately I personally
have heard too many times, you know, combat vets
with PTSD. So, I mean, I think you're tackling
just an amazing issue and shedding light on it.
What inspired you to come up? Was this just something
you had come up over the years or was there a
light bulb moment? How did you come up with this
idea to shoot a film about that? Sure. I have
PTSD myself, so it's autobiographical. I think
every artist creates autobiographical work all
the time, but I had a specific, you could say
panic attack while I was actually shooting a
film right before in 2019. And then I had a moment
outside my son's school listening to this song,
You Say by Lauren Dangle. And I guess in the
song... it's like she's talking to God. But I
felt like I was talking to like I felt like those
words were talking to my son. And she's like,
you say I'm strong when I think I'm weak and
all this stuff. Very powerful. And just the the
climax of the movie came to my head. And I was
working on a script called Midnight Rider. about
this drug runner and this whole neon noir type
movie that I've always wanted to do. And I knew
right then I had to pause that project and do
this movie with my son because he was seven,
six or seven years old, and do this father son
movie and based on my own PTSD. And I knew that
would be like self therapy. I threw myself into
it kind of. I try to method act as much as I
can without hurting anybody or losing my job.
But which almost happened a few times. But and
then I have a couple friends. Some of them are
in the movie. Lawrence Gabriel is a combat veteran
and he was the bouncer at McAvans Pub who got
shot up. Saving the the biggest shooting in Syracuse.
He got shot five or six times Saving everybody
there. So he's in the movie. He's actually my
friend and he plays himself a boxer in the movie
as he's he's a boxer and and my friend Adrian
McCraney her her husband Jimmy is a sniper, is
an ex -sniper who's in Afghanistan who trained
with Chris Kyle, the American sniper. So I kind
of like glammed a couple different things from
those people and just kind of smushed it into
this story. And then, you know, I wasn't a veteran,
but I have, you know, certain experiences. So
I was I figured I felt that the that story would
be a great vehicle to express those emotions
inside of me just because people are really,
there's so many great films, Deer Hunter, Leave
No Trace, American Sniper, that show veterans
out of the furnace is one of my favorites to
Casey Affleck and that. And there's so many great
like military PTSD movies. So it's like you're
not reinventing the wheel, but. Tarantino and
Scorsese said, you got to make it personal, you
know, and that's what makes it powerful and unique
and great. So I tried to do that as much as I
could. That's awesome. Amazing. And Joe, you,
as you mentioned there that you've made at least
a portion of this movie at American High, our
local movie studio that's made some fantastic
Hollywood films right here in central New York.
Yeah. How do you come to a place like that? And
do you pitch them your script? Or how does that
even work? That's a great question. So it was
very important that we got a school to film in.
And so as Christopher Nolan says, I write a script
not knowing how I'm going to do it. And then
the fun part is figuring out how to do it. Sure.
And sometimes when you write a script, you write
it kind of the other way, and you're like, well,
I know I have this location and these people,
and I can easily do this. But I really... ambitiously
wrote this script thinking that I need this this
location I need and I definitely need a school
which is really hard to get so I've I weight
tables as that's what I do and I used to be embarrassed
of that but my friend so and Quinn who's also
a filmmaker he's like Joe that's the job of an
actor so I was now I'm like pretty chill with
it but but until I get rich and famous of course
but but Jeremy comes to my restaurant a lot,
so I shook hands with him as soon as he came
to town. And he was like, oh, you're the first
actor that I've met in LA. Every waiter's an
actor, and everybody's trying to have their script
in their back pocket. And he's like, if you ever
need anything, let me know. And around that same
time, he got me into Sid Is Dead, which is one
of their... Hulu movies, I think it might be
Amazon or something. And so I got to know them
that way. But then, you know, trying to pitch
this thing. And I always wanted to create an
actor studio in Syracuse. I've been involved
in a couple of different networking groups. screenwriting
groups and playwriting groups. One of them was
called Help Words Come Alive, and Fulton, my
friend Peter Mahan, who directed a movie I'm
in called Under the Mercy, started that group,
which has since Changed into something else.
But these are the groups where I've met people
like James Marlowe my DP Who makes movies unlike
almost no budget and they win awards? He won
the second film festival and other festivals
and they're just fantastic If you ever get a
chance to check out I'm gonna plug them Trent
Lockwood adventures on YouTube They're kind of
like Indiana Jones meets Monty Python and they're
amazing. They're awesome. But anyway, he's great
and So I met these people who are all you know,
indie filmmakers like John Cassavetes and Syracuse
kind of thing. And so those are the people that
we all started to like create this cosmos of
volunteering on each other's movies, whether
it be as actors or crew. And then those people
come and work for me. And it's just a great friend
group and environment. And so through that, once
help was kind of. kind of stopped, I decided
to start the Syracuse Actors Studio with my friend
Laura Stisser, who's an incredible actress, and
she's actually in the Sentinel as well, and we
developed this character for her. She's got one
of the best performances in the whole movie.
I don't want to spoil too much, but... It's been
I was like always trying to cast you know the
film and going on Facebook trying to watch people's
reels and and and Figure out I put some casting
calls on backstage for different things But I
was like I wish there was like a cosmos of actors
here in Syracuse a group of actors that like
we could support each other and learn from each
other so Laura and I started the Syracuse actors
studio back about two years ago and we Tracy
Dando, who is on your show. She's amazing. She
hosted us for about a year at Safe Space. And
now we're at the McCarthy Mercantile. Michael
John Haggerty hosts us there. And we meet once
a month and we just teach each other different
skills and things. And it's fantastic. But more
than the skills, we have this great community
of actors that I cast from all the time and always.
Help and now I've lost track of the question
because that's what I know you listen you're
nailing it we This is it's incredible to hear
you know your story and to But first of all you're
always first you were the first guy that Jeremy
from American High met first podcast guy You
so you've been at this a while the edge How long
have you been making films all together? Shoot,
I made a film in college in 2011 and then it
was like the best day of my life. I wrote this
script and I got two of my brothers and just
bought them lunch and had this little DSLR and
we went around Destiny USA without permission
and just shot this little... movie and it was
just so fun and it was the I was like oh my god
I want to do this you know my whole life I've
always wanted to do it from when I was a kid
but that was like the first taste of it and then
you know I went into the marketing world and
kind of freelance writing And I thought that
was the way that I was going to make money off
of my creative writing degree. And that was it
wasn't a mistake because I met a lot of great
people and and, you know, had those experiences
and learned that wasn't what I wanted to do.
And then I met my friend Joe Connor. He's like
a life coach guy. Really? Shout out to Joe. Really
good dude. And I met him for coffee and I was
like, look, Joe, I'm I'm here. You know, I'm
like waiting tables and freelance writing and
stuff. And I want to make films and I need to
find like that thing in the middle that's going
to make me like a million dollars so I can make
films. And he said, take this take away that
thing in the middle and just like go make your
films. And that was like the best advice anybody
could have given me. And I remember where I was
going with the Actors Studio. We partnered with
American High early on because. I'm not very
good at like publicity or public relations, but
I've partnered with a couple people, Erin Williams,
Tracy Chamberlain is my publicist, and she's
probably the reason I'm sitting here today. But
they are really great at like. corporate connections
and stuff. So they reached out to Jeremy pretty
early on in the actor studio because we had always
envisioned creating a connection from the studio
to every major. theater company and film studio
in the area and so we've now we create a connection
between American High and Syracuse Actors Studio
because if they need actors sometimes they reach
out to us and we go there once or twice a year
to host some of our sessions and so they Through
that relationship, I waited until I was actually
ready to shoot the scene in the school. And then
I reached out to them. I was like, hey, remember
me? I'm the guy from the Actors Studio. Can I
shoot in your school? It's this, this, and this.
And they were like the nicest people. Sometimes
you go into a business. I've worked with like
25 local businesses. Sometimes they're like,
oh, please don't do this. Please don't do that.
But American High was like, oh, how can we help
you do this? How can we help you? And they're
like, so nice. All right, that was the end of
that. No, that was great. That's what we wanted
to hear about. A couple more minutes before we
let you go, Joe. But I just want to ask you kind
of, because I'm always the process guy, right?
I'm always thinking about how this works. So
obviously, you just finished shooting. You mentioned
you got to do a lot of editing. What is the step
beyond that, I guess? Do you have to then shop
it around? Do you self -release it? How does
that work? Yes. Well, after the edit, I give
it to my sound and composer, Dave Welsh. He was
a great composer. And then he'll mix everything
and everything. And then the last film I did...
Under the Mercy kind of was a crash course in
self -distribution, but we try to get into as
many film festivals as we possibly can. I see.
And that way we can get some sort of exposure
to producers, distributors, that kind of thing.
But I'm very new with all that stuff. That was
a short film, so I ended up just putting it on
YouTube and making DVDs that are in the Soundgarden
right now. Shout out to the Soundgarden. They're
amazing. But which is where the Sentinel will
go. If we don't get distribution, I'll just keep
self -distributing. But the ideal would be to
get the attention of someone who distributes
for Netflix or Hulu or something like that. And
then we could get just so more people can see
the movie. There's about 300 people. in the movie
or worked on the movie. Wow. Just and and probably
like 25 speaking roles and I just all the performances
are so great. I just want people to be able to
just see. Sure. So it's great. That's so cool,
man. It's amazing. That's so cool. I know this
might be a little a little in advance because
you still got a lot of work to do here. But just
curious if there's another project on deck or
something you're thinking about. Yes, that would
come next I have ten movies in my head of course
I have flashcards taped all over my house with
different film ideas I'm just kind of like always
putting stuff on the wall But the next one is
Midnight Rider, which is the story of it's based
on the Almond Brothers song I was driving my
car with the windows down at night I think I'm
like 13 curves in the middle of the night or
something. It's not a ghost story, but I just
finished freelance writing and I just had like
a clear head and I was like what would I write
if I wanted to write my own thing and I didn't
really have an idea and I was listening to Midnight
Rider and I just got this feeling that like I'm
this like drug runner guy in like I don't know
some sort of in the crime world at some point
so that the movies about this drug addict who's
also a drug runner and he works for this loan
shark and he's in love with the stripper, he
thinks he is anyway, and she goes missing and
nobody else cares so he goes to find her. That
sounds awesome. It's actually Danny's life story.
It is. That's phenomenal. Was there a moment,
because you seem, you're writing about some real
heavy things, was there ever a moment, because
you did talk about your PTSD in this film, The
Sentinel, did I say that correctly? Where you
had a moment where you really felt it, like a
scene where you were like, this is heavy, this
is a lot. Oh yeah, there's a very simple scene.
It might be my favorite scene in the whole movie.
But I'm getting emotional thinking about it.
But whenever I got home from bringing the groceries
home, I would always take, you know, my son would
be with me and I would try to get every single
bag in at the same time. And then that would
like somehow that would trigger me and I would
start yelling at my son and stuff like that.
Very not a good thing to do. So I wrote that
scene into the movie. And we shot it at my apartment.
And my A .D. is here, Sally Lamonaco, who's a
great filmmaker herself. And James Marlowe is
shooting it. And we shoot it in a big one shot.
We did it four times. And it was so real that
the neighbors started to come out to try to stop
us. And then it's like, oh, it's such a beautiful
scene. And then, you know, of course, spoiler,
the character apologizes and they hug in the...
Over on the side at the end and and I every time
I watch it I cry I can't not cry and every time
I bring the groceries home now I remember that
and so the movie has been really like self -therapy
for me and and Ironically, you know, I try to
method act and everything when the character
Started going back to therapy. I started going
back to therapy That's a that's method acting.
That's at its finest commitment is what that's
called. Yeah, I have a son too and Again and
Matt as well so I can imagine as a father. I'm
not your son Was this Maury Povich or not? No,
but I can understand how anything involving your
children, and you said your son was actually
in it, right? So that even made it. He's like
the best actor in it. He's 12 now, but we started
shooting when he was like six. And I've stopped
work on Midnight Rider because I was like, I
really only have one chance. He's like a kid.
Yeah. Yeah. But I can imagine how emotional that
would be, you know, reliving something that personally
happened between you and your son. And I mean,
man, I'm... Yeah. Emotional talking about it.
That's great. Joe, we are just about out of time.
But man, I really appreciate having you here.
Thank you so much for having me. You're welcome
to come back any time. Yeah, man. Tell us more
about the progress and, of course, anything new
that's going on. We'd love to hear you. And honestly,
your actors group is a phenomenal thing that
we'd love to hear more about. Syracuse Actors
Studio, any time you... You want to come back
and even bring a person or two? We'd love to
see Laura. She's my co -lead. Let's do it. That's
awesome. She's much more personable than I am.
So where can we find all the info on this movie
when it'll be released? I know there's a lot
that's still up in the air. Socials or anything
like that. So we have the Sentinel film on Facebook
and Instagram. My film company is called Amy
Luce, L -O -O -S Films. explanation there and
then if you want to learn more about the Syracuse
Actors Studio at Syracuse Actors Studio on Facebook
and Instagram as well. That's easy enough. Joe
Cunningham, thank you for joining Good News York,
buddy. It was a pleasure, man. Thank you so much.
Joe Cunningham, the Sentinel Film, Syracuse Actors
Studio. Yeah. Wow. What a film heavy episode.
Thank you. We got more good stuff coming tomorrow.
We've got some crazy interviews. We've got a
whole the schedule is booked. Yeah. With incredible
people like Joe and awesome people from around
New York. So which is solidified. Follow Good
News York. Sorry, buddy. It's solidifying what
you and I have talked about, but your whole brainchild,
this whole thing that there's so much good. And
so much talent in this area and guys like Joe
and everyone that we have on our perfect example
And it's not just here all the New York State,
but I mean there's so much great things going
on why we do it Yeah, man, and with that we will
see you tomorrow Good News York sponsored by
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peace out