WEBVTT

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Welcome to Good News York, sponsored by Ads on

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the Go. Get ads on the go dot com. Again, Mike

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Bernissi flying solo. No Matt today, but that's

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OK because I'm joined by a very special guest

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from the Syracuse International Film Festival

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right here in Syracuse, New York. Michelle DiBernardo.

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I know it's not as. I am the only one clapping.

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I try to, you know. How are you? Good. How are

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you? I'm good. I'm glad to have you. The Syracuse

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International Film Festival. This is fantastic.

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So obviously we know about it, but we I was on

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the website looking around. You guys have been

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around since 2003. Why don't you tell us a little

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bit about yourself and about how the festival

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kind of started? Okay. Yeah. So I'm Michelle

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DiBernardo. I've been in the industry for a long

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time. I'm not telling you how many years. You

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don't have to. I started as an actress and then

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I moved on to like running Barbizon USA and teaching

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at Syracuse University until like just growing

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into different positions and realizing like I

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just wanted to be involved in the film industry

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somehow. And Syracuse International was actually

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created by Owen and Christine Shapiro. Owen Shapiro

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was the one who started Syracuse University.

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visual performing arts. Wow. So, really, really

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big in the film, like here, and they, you know,

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are a little bit older now, and kind of stepped

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down, and I took over a couple years ago. With

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a different vision maybe per se and adding different

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things with the community rather than You know,

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they were really big on foreign films and some

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other things where we've added like LGBTQ and

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prison reform and just many different You know

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things that really need awareness like homelessness

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and addiction and just all sorts of like cool

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different Things that are creative that you would

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never realize like really it's like really cool

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on on a screen Yeah, that's wonderful. And you

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know, those are all things that that um It's

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just very selfless of you guys to you know To

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also include everybody like that and and to try

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and make a difference through film. Um Did you

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start in were you part of? Circus International

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Film Festival in 2003 or you joined you just

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you look join later. Yeah. Yeah, no, it was like

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way later 2003 I was you know still a baby in

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the industry like I had done, you know as an

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actress, but it wasn't like changing the realm

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of behind the scenes, you know, until further

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on. Definitely came as, like, I used to do press

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and celebrity interviews and those kind of things,

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like, so I would go with my old business partner

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and Giancarlo Esposito and Daniel Baldwin and

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those kind of people. We interviewed, we put

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together a little press thing and, you know,

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Owen obviously was someone who I looked up to

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for many years. And eventually I got a call,

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like, two and a half years ago, the president

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was, like, stepping down. I had no clue what

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the heck I was getting into. I own like a for

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-profit film festival, but that was just like,

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we started it during COVID, so it was online.

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It was really easy. But yeah, so like with Syracuse

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International, they kind of gave me a logo and

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it was like, oh yeah, a festival of like 20 years.

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Like, ah, what do I do? So, you know, there's

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definitely been some learning curves throughout,

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and you know, it's almost like rebuilding a business.

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takes like five years and it's getting bigger

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and better and just you know things are running

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more smooth and efficient and this year is definitely

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gonna be really big. I'm sure now when I I went

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back to college a few years back and I was in

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charge of putting together a film festival now

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this was a college film festival so not at the

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level that you're doing and I was ready to pull

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my hair out because there are so many It's not

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just like picking films setting the place and

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then go. I mean there are so many Look, there's

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just so much in logistics that that that goes

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through the That that's part of all that is this

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a year -long process for you in planning like

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the film festival ends and then you're just like

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rocking and rolling for the next year. Yeah,

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like yesterday I was on a zoom with some new

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advisory board members and literally the one

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guy wasn't on the panel for this year. And I

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was like, oh, so I don't want to add anybody

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to this year. But hey, you want to be on the

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panel next year? Sure. And they're looking at

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me like I'm crazy. And I'm like, no, like this

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is how it takes. Yeah. And we don't just do like

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the one main event. We introduced honoring outstanding

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black filmmakers. So that's in February. And,

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you know, we have our new filmmaker showcase

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and there's other things we do and there's definitely

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going to be some like day events because you

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know we've had at war and so we'd love to like

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do things with like Clear Path Veterans. Last

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year we did something within My Father's Kitchen.

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We love that. So there's like different Things

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like brewing that wonderful. So let's talk about

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that. So there's the actual film festival itself,

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which is what when is that? Yeah, October 17th

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through the 19th October 17th through the 19th.

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How many submission? How many submissions do

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you have? Well, it was like over a thousand,

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but it is all a hundred percent programmed as

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of right now we're trying to You know make things

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pretty now because everything's just like in

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a Google spreadsheet Sure times and get things

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over to the website and like really like it's

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it's time right now Now it's really prime time.

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And where will this be? So it's actually going

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to be at the Catherine Cummings Theater in Casanovia.

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Nice. Yes. So we've kind of been looking for

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a home. You know, like, obviously it used to

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be like here and there. And it's just really

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confusing when it's like, hey, they're at the

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Marriott and then they're at Rathaus and they're

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at, you know, like we need a home. And we also

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needed a home that had really a homey vibe around

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it. And Casanovia, it's got the boutique so they

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can go shopping. The lake is right there for

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tourism. There's, you know, Lincoln and Brewster

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and Hampton, and there's just so many different

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walking hotels. You know, there's nine, which

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is a restaurant there. So, you know, and there's

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other restaurants in the area. It's beautiful.

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It's perfect. So in addition to everything that

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you're doing, you're also bringing some some

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money to Casanovia, which is always awesome.

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Yeah. Now, I do agree with you. You know, I've

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seen, you know. The word film festival gets thrown

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pretty loosely these days, and I've seen and

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been a part of film festivals in the past where,

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you're right, there's actually not a location

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and it's all online, or there's five different

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locations, so having a central location I think

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is key. How many people do you expect coming

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out to this? Is there a way for you to gauge

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numbers ahead of time? Okay, so we're talking

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with the new owners and stuff like that, and

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this year we're... We're packing the house, period.

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We're going next level, just like with the selections

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and what we're doing. I mean, we have two panels

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on Friday. And it's like, I don't know, probably

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about 16 people, OK? And so anybody that works

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in the film industry, if you're an actor, you

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go to New York, you pay $149 for one little class.

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It's with one casting director. you know like

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insane amount of people all in one place one

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house right there students free and and it's

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like a $15 ticket and you get to see a movie

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afterwards a great phenomenal film so like where

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are you going to see a film and get all these

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panelists and like even if you're not in the

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industry and you just want to know like okay

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we have like an education panel we have like

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catering people that are there so maybe you're

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just you have a wedding and you want to you know

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see yeah catering or just want to know more about

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it it's it's Like, come on, no, it's not happening.

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So we're back in the house, and the crazy films

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that we have, we have everything from Celebrity

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and Invitational. We have a three -time Emmy

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winner who's a current director from CBS, Beyond

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the Gates coming out, and she's screening her

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film with her husband. And they got some upcoming

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projects that you never know might be here. That's

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phenomenal. So let's talk about that a little

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bit. What are some of the categories? And how

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are the films judged? Yeah, I'm assuming the

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panel, but I'll let you explain. Yeah, yeah.

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So we have judges that judge throughout the year.

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Like I'm like on them from like right now. Like,

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hey, like we they're like, yeah, there's like

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10 films right now. I'm like, no, like we got

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to cycle through. Yeah. Because at the end, you

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know, it was rush still watching like 50 to 100

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films because we still needed those judged. But

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so basically, you know, the judges will go through

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and there's like a whole system on film freeway.

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from creativity to lighting to sound to all that

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kind of fun stuff. And you got to get a certain

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score for me to even like look at it at the end.

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And this year was really hard because there was

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like a lot of like nines that it was like, I

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can't even look at you because they were like

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so high and there was so many great pieces and

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you know, you got people emailing you afterwards

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and you know, you hurt some feelings. It's unfortunate,

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but like. It's a judging system. Like I can't

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just be like hey Yeah, that's it's an Invitational

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then like yeah, then it's okay. We looked at

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this sure ever so sometimes I'll go back through

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and just see like what the judges are doing and

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we have people from the community as Well as

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industry people so it's not just you know one

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one set of eyes But yeah, so these these films

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are submitted and judged before the festival

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even starts kind of like a preliminary Is that

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what you meant? That's awesome. I think that's

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actually from someone who went through the hell

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of trying to organize a festival. I think that's

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great. And I don't want to say it weeds anything

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out because I'm sure every submission is fantastic

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in its own right. But it just makes it easier

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to dwindle down. Oh, absolutely. And what are

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what are some of the categories that you guys

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have for the festival? Yeah, so the first night

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is beautiful, psychological, and everything will

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be up on the website in the next couple of weeks

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at syrfilm .com. The second day, we're starting

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with a block of short films that is anything

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from war to, you know, it's a variety. It really

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is a variety. Prison reform, the LGBTQ, there's

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just... There's like 14 films on Saturday alone.

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I love that because when you think of film festivals,

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like traditionally you think of like best picture,

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best soundtrack, you know, best, all the normal

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category. I love that you're getting into LGBTQ,

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you're getting into, what was it, prison? Prison

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reform. Prison reform? That's big enough for

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a whole category? Oh heck yeah. I mean, we have

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so many prison reform documentaries or shorts

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that we got submitted. We're actually showing

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inmates with talent, which is with iced tea.

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No way. I used to tease the man. Yeah. Have you

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noticed, because you've been involved for a bit,

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and even when you weren't involved in the festival,

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I mean, you're an actress as well, you've always

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been involved in film. What are some of the trends

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you're noticing, like the difference in submissions

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now, or just in the industry in general, as to

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when you started? The types of films? Things

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have changed. There's a lot more diversity, which

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is great. It's great. You know, there's definitely

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some things that I've seen that I never think

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I would see on film. So I have to be careful

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because obviously we do have like students that

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come and I don't want someone to bring like a

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kid in. Right. Yeah. Life is changing rapidly

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especially with technology, but I you know, every

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industry seems to also be evolving, you know

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the music industry I mean decades ago you saw

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this shift and now you're really within the last

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few years seeing the shift in the film industry

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with streaming and everybody's kind of scrambling

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trying to figure out how does everybody make

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money and make this a career and But but creatively

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there's also been a shift and like you said there's

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diversity and other things like that So I was

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just curious from from your point of view so

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You mentioned that you guys, in addition to just

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the Syracuse International Film Festival, you're

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also doing events throughout the year as well.

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Let's talk about some of those. What else you

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guys got going on? Yeah. This is amazing. Yeah.

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So this year, we don't have any more dates locked

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in. You know, like, obviously, the holidays are

00:12:44.490 --> 00:12:46.830
coming. But our honoring outstanding black filmmakers

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will be in February. It will be our third annual

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event. Our first one, we had a filmmaker come

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from Cameroon, Africa. Wow. So yeah. we're definitely

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like I mean we're international so we have people

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that are like involved and and exciting and have

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followers in different areas that you would never

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never know so last year we honored a local Who

00:13:09.470 --> 00:13:11.049
knows who it will be this year, you know, we

00:13:11.049 --> 00:13:12.950
might be bringing someone in, you know, we're

00:13:12.950 --> 00:13:14.809
getting a little more attention with it, you

00:13:14.809 --> 00:13:18.529
know, slowly rising. But I think it's something

00:13:18.529 --> 00:13:21.490
that was like much needed for attention. And

00:13:21.490 --> 00:13:23.330
then, you know, there's other people that are

00:13:23.330 --> 00:13:25.669
like, hey, you're a white girl doing this. Why?

00:13:26.149 --> 00:13:28.710
You know, you got haters everywhere. Of course.

00:13:28.870 --> 00:13:30.769
It's like, you know, if you bring a certain celebrity

00:13:30.769 --> 00:13:32.450
and, you know, you're getting hate mail. But

00:13:32.450 --> 00:13:34.789
it's like, you know, it's a great event. And,

00:13:34.789 --> 00:13:36.950
you know, there's people that are, you know,

00:13:37.470 --> 00:13:41.470
on I don't know how to say, like, the proper

00:13:41.470 --> 00:13:43.669
terminology, because I'm not trying to, like,

00:13:43.909 --> 00:13:46.169
you know, say anything wrong. No, you're fine.

00:13:46.710 --> 00:13:49.049
But, you know, there's just some people that

00:13:49.049 --> 00:13:51.750
don't get recognition that need to. 100%. Yeah.

00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:54.120
Well said yeah, I could not agree more and you

00:13:54.120 --> 00:13:56.860
guys do such a good job of that of of just spreading

00:13:56.860 --> 00:13:59.679
the wealth of You know within the actual film

00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:01.759
festival itself all the different niche categories

00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:03.700
like that But as you mentioned all these extra

00:14:03.700 --> 00:14:05.659
events that you're doing Throughout the year

00:14:05.659 --> 00:14:08.500
and you guys are very involved with the community

00:14:08.500 --> 00:14:10.320
as well if you want to talk about that I mean,

00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:12.059
it's really impressive when you go to the website

00:14:12.059 --> 00:14:14.200
to see this isn't just a film festival I mean,

00:14:14.200 --> 00:14:17.419
this is a community involvement and that is amazing.

00:14:17.659 --> 00:14:20.480
Yeah. Yeah, so obviously, you know most film

00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:22.669
festivals you just think like film, but we're

00:14:22.669 --> 00:14:26.840
like art. fashion, film, music, all of it goes

00:14:26.840 --> 00:14:28.799
together and people don't really realize. Even

00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:31.860
like the catering side of it or the boring producing

00:14:31.860 --> 00:14:34.559
side of it or the location management or whatever.

00:14:34.840 --> 00:14:37.460
Like it's a community thing and people don't

00:14:37.460 --> 00:14:40.019
realize how much money like it brings to the

00:14:40.019 --> 00:14:43.100
community. We do a lot of community events. You

00:14:43.100 --> 00:14:44.639
know, the students are free. The students are

00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:47.299
always free, always, always free. Student submissions

00:14:47.299 --> 00:14:49.980
are free. So it's not like we're trying to make

00:14:49.980 --> 00:14:52.200
money off the students. We have interns from

00:14:52.200 --> 00:14:55.070
different, you know, universities. and we really

00:14:55.070 --> 00:14:57.129
kind of take them under our wing, and there's

00:14:57.129 --> 00:15:00.929
a lot of them that will... When you... For instance,

00:15:00.950 --> 00:15:02.429
when you go to film school, you normally make

00:15:02.429 --> 00:15:04.049
like your senior thesis or you make all these

00:15:04.049 --> 00:15:06.490
short films. A lot of times we take them and

00:15:06.490 --> 00:15:08.230
we bring them on feature films that are actually

00:15:08.230 --> 00:15:10.129
going to be streaming on things. So it's like,

00:15:10.129 --> 00:15:13.169
oh, hey, like on my resume, I did this for like

00:15:13.169 --> 00:15:15.269
an actual feature film before they were ever

00:15:15.269 --> 00:15:18.490
even like in their senior year. Wow. So yeah.

00:15:18.669 --> 00:15:22.769
That's a huge deal for somebody at that age who's,

00:15:22.769 --> 00:15:25.169
you know, just learning the ropes. It's the next

00:15:25.169 --> 00:15:27.710
generation. And without them, we couldn't have

00:15:27.710 --> 00:15:29.250
awesome festivals like yours. So I just think

00:15:29.250 --> 00:15:33.309
it's. wonderful that you're doing that. So I

00:15:33.309 --> 00:15:35.269
wanted to ask you this question. You know, when

00:15:35.269 --> 00:15:37.440
I was coming, when I was growing up, You know,

00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:39.399
I had started, I was like, I want to be an actor.

00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:40.759
And then I was like, I want to be a musician

00:15:40.759 --> 00:15:43.240
and a comedian. And it was just, you know, I

00:15:43.240 --> 00:15:45.620
like to perform. But it was you really had like

00:15:45.620 --> 00:15:47.379
two choices back. It was like you moved to L

00:15:47.379 --> 00:15:50.460
.A. or you moved to New York. American High is

00:15:50.460 --> 00:15:53.659
here now. We're seeing a trend. We've seen a

00:15:53.659 --> 00:15:56.000
trend over the last decade or more that, you

00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:58.220
know, Hollywood, still Hollywood. But people

00:15:58.220 --> 00:16:01.059
are filming movies and TV everywhere. Do you

00:16:01.059 --> 00:16:03.580
think that that's true at this point, that you

00:16:03.580 --> 00:16:05.440
don't have to be in New York and L .A. anymore?

00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:09.080
to be like a working actor or working production?

00:16:09.620 --> 00:16:11.299
I mean, I've worked in the film industry and

00:16:11.299 --> 00:16:14.240
only the film industry for like... five years.

00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:17.000
You know, it's my life. I eat, sleep, breathe

00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:19.539
and I own a home here. So I love that. You know,

00:16:19.620 --> 00:16:22.700
good for you. That's fantastic. And American

00:16:22.700 --> 00:16:25.200
High obviously has been on the map for a while

00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:28.299
with what they're doing. Are you guys do you

00:16:28.299 --> 00:16:31.100
work with them at all? Really? Yeah, absolutely.

00:16:31.320 --> 00:16:33.720
Jeremy and Will are great over there. We did

00:16:33.720 --> 00:16:36.320
show a film from American High last year. We've

00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:38.460
talked about, you know, maybe getting some classes

00:16:38.460 --> 00:16:42.360
donated as prizes for them. So, you know, obviously

00:16:42.570 --> 00:16:45.470
they're a big studio here and they're doing great

00:16:45.470 --> 00:16:48.470
amazing things and employing people and so you

00:16:48.470 --> 00:16:51.350
know obviously we as a film festival want to

00:16:51.350 --> 00:16:54.990
work with everybody in the entertainment industry

00:16:54.990 --> 00:16:58.509
and there's no all love from us. Yeah of course.

00:16:59.029 --> 00:17:01.509
I mean what a perfect marriage American High

00:17:01.509 --> 00:17:03.269
and Syracuse International Film Festival and

00:17:03.269 --> 00:17:06.289
it just makes complete sense. So one last question

00:17:06.289 --> 00:17:10.039
and then we'll get the plugs in. What uh what

00:17:10.039 --> 00:17:12.220
what do you see what's what's next for the film

00:17:12.220 --> 00:17:14.420
festival? I mean right now you're super hyper

00:17:14.420 --> 00:17:16.420
focused because it's coming up in October Yeah,

00:17:16.460 --> 00:17:18.680
but you know in the next few years. Where do

00:17:18.680 --> 00:17:23.099
you see this going or growing? Yeah. Well, we

00:17:23.099 --> 00:17:25.599
want Kaz to be our home. You know, I think the

00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:28.059
biggest complaint with a lot of larger film festivals

00:17:28.059 --> 00:17:30.920
and what we're, you know, our goal to be one

00:17:30.920 --> 00:17:33.779
day is that they didn't have that, you know,

00:17:33.940 --> 00:17:36.140
homey feel and you had to go all the way here

00:17:36.140 --> 00:17:38.220
to the hotel or all the way here for a restaurant

00:17:38.220 --> 00:17:40.819
where Kaz, it's all right there, even with the

00:17:40.819 --> 00:17:43.759
lake. It really is. So, you know, we're going

00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:46.019
out there and building in the community. Like,

00:17:46.019 --> 00:17:48.779
you know, one of my board members owns the Hillcross

00:17:48.779 --> 00:17:52.839
-Jepsen, so she's already... And Kaz, obviously,

00:17:54.980 --> 00:17:56.859
there's some people I won't mention that don't

00:17:56.859 --> 00:17:59.819
want to be mentioned that live there. And so

00:17:59.819 --> 00:18:01.799
there's a lot of people that live in that area.

00:18:02.359 --> 00:18:06.640
And the new owners and the mayor, Kurt, is great.

00:18:06.900 --> 00:18:09.180
So we're really going to be pushing it. We're

00:18:09.180 --> 00:18:11.720
ordering flags just to be up and out of the street.

00:18:12.200 --> 00:18:16.099
Yes. We want it to grow bigger. We just need

00:18:16.099 --> 00:18:18.700
the audience to like really come on out and support

00:18:18.700 --> 00:18:21.220
and realize that it's not just foreign films.

00:18:21.339 --> 00:18:23.480
It's not just international. It's not just student

00:18:23.480 --> 00:18:27.039
films. It's a variety for everybody. And, you

00:18:27.039 --> 00:18:29.500
know, we bring a celebrity here every year. And

00:18:29.500 --> 00:18:31.779
so, you know, this year is Stephen Baldwin. All

00:18:31.779 --> 00:18:34.039
right. And we're going to give him his Sophia.

00:18:34.359 --> 00:18:36.539
And then we also have added a new award this

00:18:36.539 --> 00:18:38.619
year, the Lumen Award, which is going to be with

00:18:38.619 --> 00:18:41.559
Tom Seeley from WCNY, which he actually wrote

00:18:41.559 --> 00:18:44.029
some episodes to Murphy Brown. and even an episode

00:18:44.029 --> 00:18:46.190
of Hannah Montana. Amazing. And he lives right

00:18:46.190 --> 00:18:48.269
in Kaz. So people don't realize who's out there.

00:18:48.549 --> 00:18:51.910
There are a bunch of people out there. Are you

00:18:51.910 --> 00:18:54.730
familiar with Ben Fram? I'm not. Ben Fram is

00:18:54.730 --> 00:18:58.769
a, he was an SU professor. He now, I believe,

00:18:58.869 --> 00:19:01.250
I don't know, I live in Ithaca. He's down in

00:19:01.250 --> 00:19:03.670
Ithaca. Our kids play together. But when I had

00:19:03.670 --> 00:19:07.609
graduated from IC, I heard about his name and

00:19:07.609 --> 00:19:11.380
I had reached out to him. He also, in Syracuse

00:19:11.380 --> 00:19:14.680
was a writer on, I think, the Cars film. I'm

00:19:14.680 --> 00:19:16.779
probably getting that wrong. It was a very popular

00:19:16.779 --> 00:19:18.980
film, but you're right. There are so many people

00:19:18.980 --> 00:19:21.079
in this area that have done so many things that

00:19:21.079 --> 00:19:23.900
we don't even realize. And that's why I think

00:19:23.900 --> 00:19:25.900
your festival's amazing, because you showcased

00:19:25.900 --> 00:19:28.000
just that. And you reminded me, I thought I had

00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:30.240
one last question, but let's talk about the Sophie

00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:32.940
Award. I did see that on the site. What is that

00:19:32.940 --> 00:19:37.640
all about? Yeah, so, well... Our logo is actually

00:19:37.640 --> 00:19:40.880
Sophia runs eyes and somebody had got permission

00:19:40.880 --> 00:19:45.980
like years ago. Yes. And so it's a lifetime achievement

00:19:45.980 --> 00:19:48.279
award that we give every year. And last year

00:19:48.279 --> 00:19:51.960
was Dorian Wilson. A year before was Alec Baldwin.

00:19:52.599 --> 00:19:54.740
You know, Daniel's got it before Grace Jones,

00:19:54.960 --> 00:19:57.960
Sally Kirkland, Jerry Miller, so many like amazing

00:19:57.960 --> 00:20:00.099
people. And it's just a tradition that we carry

00:20:00.099 --> 00:20:03.480
on that we bring amazing people. And honestly,

00:20:04.019 --> 00:20:07.200
like If people knew the amount of work just going

00:20:07.200 --> 00:20:10.660
into the Sophia like I was dealing with cruises

00:20:10.660 --> 00:20:14.640
agents I was dealing with last Susan Lucci's

00:20:14.640 --> 00:20:16.720
agents, you know, there's people that were very

00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:18.559
flattered that just you know They're already

00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:21.779
booked, you know, like they wanted to come like

00:20:21.779 --> 00:20:25.609
to Syracuse But like I said, we're bringing people

00:20:25.609 --> 00:20:28.930
here. We have somebody who's streaming on Netflix

00:20:28.930 --> 00:20:32.390
currently, a director from Toronto. We have Sonja,

00:20:32.589 --> 00:20:36.789
who's with CBS. Daniel Crocks, we're showing

00:20:36.789 --> 00:20:39.049
his short film that was produced by Tyler Perry.

00:20:40.069 --> 00:20:42.589
So we're showing the Christmas letter that was

00:20:42.589 --> 00:20:47.430
filmed in Utica with Chevy. So there's some,

00:20:47.430 --> 00:20:50.329
I see there's some celebrity films that really

00:20:50.329 --> 00:20:53.900
people that follow those people. could definitely

00:20:53.900 --> 00:20:57.000
connect with something that we're showing over

00:20:57.000 --> 00:21:00.000
the weekend. It's very reasonable. And yeah.

00:21:00.420 --> 00:21:02.759
That's amazing. You know, I don't know if you've

00:21:02.759 --> 00:21:04.539
ever heard this, but not many people know. I

00:21:04.539 --> 00:21:07.160
think I've talked about this on the show. Ithaca,

00:21:07.220 --> 00:21:09.039
New York was actually going to be the original

00:21:09.039 --> 00:21:11.640
Hollywood. It was like the beginning of silent

00:21:11.640 --> 00:21:15.539
film and What happened was the weather they couldn't

00:21:15.539 --> 00:21:18.000
shoot year -round so they went out to California

00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:20.480
and Hollywood became Hollywood But actually Ithaca

00:21:20.480 --> 00:21:24.559
was going to be the next Hollywood and I'm just

00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:26.480
so glad that you're bringing you're shining so

00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:28.920
much light on this area Because yes, the weather

00:21:28.920 --> 00:21:32.539
sucks. But if you I mean As an actress yourself

00:21:32.539 --> 00:21:34.220
and someone who's been involved in film, if you

00:21:34.220 --> 00:21:37.380
drive around this state, I'm constantly driving

00:21:37.380 --> 00:21:39.599
around thinking, my God, that you could shoot

00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:41.339
a film here, you could shoot a film there. There's

00:21:41.339 --> 00:21:42.819
something for everybody. You've got your urban

00:21:42.819 --> 00:21:45.920
areas, the beautiful rolling hills. I just, I

00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:49.140
feel as though American High and you, Syracuse

00:21:49.140 --> 00:21:51.700
International Film Festival, are doing, you're

00:21:51.700 --> 00:21:54.440
doing God's work in showing that films can be

00:21:54.440 --> 00:21:57.140
shot here and it's a beautiful place to do that.

00:21:57.230 --> 00:21:59.890
Oh, absolutely. Every day I'm talking with some

00:21:59.890 --> 00:22:03.029
kind of filmmaker. Like I get pitch films every

00:22:03.029 --> 00:22:05.730
day, literally from all over. And I'm always

00:22:05.730 --> 00:22:07.650
trying to bring them here, you know, and whether

00:22:07.650 --> 00:22:10.349
if they don't like Syracuse, I'm always going

00:22:10.349 --> 00:22:15.289
for cash or, you know, Camillus or Pulaski or

00:22:15.289 --> 00:22:18.490
Watertown or just. I'm okay with New York State,

00:22:18.910 --> 00:22:21.730
as long as you're filming here. But I do try

00:22:21.730 --> 00:22:24.490
always first, like, hey, we have that high tax

00:22:24.490 --> 00:22:27.690
incentive, come on over, you know? Exactly. I

00:22:27.690 --> 00:22:30.730
can find some people to hire. Just a couple weeks

00:22:30.730 --> 00:22:34.740
ago, we were working on a very, very... Large

00:22:34.740 --> 00:22:36.740
documentary that I'm sure people know about I'm

00:22:36.740 --> 00:22:39.579
not gonna say who the three -letter streaming

00:22:39.579 --> 00:22:43.940
is But I was working on it for months and they

00:22:43.940 --> 00:22:45.720
were actually gonna film in LA the reason they

00:22:45.720 --> 00:22:48.910
filmed here is because I said I can get the picture

00:22:48.910 --> 00:22:51.049
cars, I can get this, I can get this, I can get

00:22:51.049 --> 00:22:53.150
that. And it turned into we were supposed to

00:22:53.150 --> 00:22:56.349
film in June and we filmed this past week. But

00:22:56.349 --> 00:22:58.890
everything was beautiful and it was gorgeous

00:22:58.890 --> 00:23:00.809
and there was a lot of people very excited to

00:23:00.809 --> 00:23:02.730
be involved in the project and I saw people all

00:23:02.730 --> 00:23:06.509
over TikTok like. These people documentary or

00:23:06.509 --> 00:23:09.089
film and I'm like me. Yeah, that's us. You single

00:23:09.089 --> 00:23:11.390
-handedly did that Are you still involved in

00:23:11.390 --> 00:23:13.349
outside of the film festival? Are you still acting

00:23:13.349 --> 00:23:15.849
or involved in production outside of that? Oh,

00:23:15.849 --> 00:23:17.990
yeah. Oh, yeah. So like right now we're filming

00:23:17.990 --> 00:23:22.329
a Bigfoot movie those who believe which Great

00:23:22.329 --> 00:23:26.109
title. Yeah, I like that those who believe and

00:23:26.109 --> 00:23:28.089
we filmed out by like Happy Valley Do you know

00:23:28.089 --> 00:23:30.410
where that is? I don't not off the top my head.

00:23:30.410 --> 00:23:33.569
Oh, well, it's like a ghost town like over. Yeah

00:23:33.710 --> 00:23:36.890
in Pulaski, yeah. Okay, okay. Yeah, so we did

00:23:36.890 --> 00:23:39.930
part of that in Cicero at the Cicero Police Department,

00:23:40.829 --> 00:23:42.890
some out in Pulaski, some out in Watertown, and

00:23:42.890 --> 00:23:45.329
we have like two more days of filming, but I'm

00:23:45.329 --> 00:23:48.130
breaking it down because I'm... Personally, I'm

00:23:48.130 --> 00:23:50.089
not gonna lie. I like to break it down because

00:23:50.089 --> 00:23:52.509
I do so many things and plus I like edit and

00:23:52.509 --> 00:23:54.950
all that fun stuff too. And then we have a double

00:23:54.950 --> 00:23:58.349
feature that we premiered a couple weeks back

00:23:58.349 --> 00:24:00.710
that's back in the edit room. So there's that

00:24:00.710 --> 00:24:03.029
and then people call me for stuff. I can't say

00:24:03.029 --> 00:24:04.950
no. Right now there's someone texting me about

00:24:04.950 --> 00:24:08.269
another production and I'm like. Yeah, yeah,

00:24:08.390 --> 00:24:11.730
you do you sleep ever I mean you are like round

00:24:11.730 --> 00:24:14.369
the clock going I I love you. I love what you

00:24:14.369 --> 00:24:18.210
do Michelle DiBernardo the Syracuse International

00:24:18.210 --> 00:24:22.349
Film Festival actress Production, post -production,

00:24:22.430 --> 00:24:26.210
she does it all. Give us the plugs. Dates, websites,

00:24:26.549 --> 00:24:30.109
events, go for it. Yeah, okay, so syrfilm .com.

00:24:30.210 --> 00:24:32.309
Go ahead and check the events. October 17th through

00:24:32.309 --> 00:24:34.789
the 19th is our main festival, Catherine Cummings.

00:24:35.309 --> 00:24:38.130
We have everything from panels to beautiful films

00:24:38.130 --> 00:24:41.190
to some really, really amazing people that are

00:24:41.190 --> 00:24:43.509
gonna be there. We might even have somebody from

00:24:43.509 --> 00:24:45.950
General Hospital as well, so we have those soap

00:24:45.950 --> 00:24:49.390
fans. He is in a couple films that are being

00:24:49.390 --> 00:24:52.200
screened. So yeah, I didn't check his voice message,

00:24:52.299 --> 00:24:55.670
but we'll see if he's coming. Yeah, check it

00:24:55.670 --> 00:24:57.349
out. That's why our film D Bernardo productions

00:24:57.349 --> 00:25:00.789
dot media social media I slack on but if you

00:25:00.789 --> 00:25:03.630
go to any of the film pages escaped unraveled

00:25:03.630 --> 00:25:06.029
the prelude to escape those who believe Syracuse

00:25:06.029 --> 00:25:09.410
International Film Festival The Facebook page

00:25:09.410 --> 00:25:11.769
at least will have like all of the dates times

00:25:11.769 --> 00:25:15.089
for all of the films. The website will be updated

00:25:15.089 --> 00:25:18.809
Michelle at syrfilm .com at my phone number is

00:25:18.809 --> 00:25:21.730
very Accessible on the internet. So, you know,

00:25:21.730 --> 00:25:24.789
it gets me. Well, Michelle DiBernardo It's been

00:25:24.789 --> 00:25:26.549
so fun talking to you, and I could probably talk

00:25:26.549 --> 00:25:29.170
to you for the two hours Syracuse International

00:25:29.170 --> 00:25:32.210
Film Festival check it out We are so happy she

00:25:32.210 --> 00:25:34.329
came on the show good news you are sponsored

00:25:34.329 --> 00:25:36.450
by ads on the go We will be right back with more

00:25:36.450 --> 00:25:42.769
interviews about film stay tuned Welcome back

00:25:42.769 --> 00:25:44.789
to Good News York sponsored by ads on the go

00:25:44.789 --> 00:25:48.990
get ads on the go calm We just had a great interview

00:25:48.990 --> 00:25:52.450
with an international film festival connoisseur

00:25:52.450 --> 00:25:55.930
and speaking of film We have another film connoisseur.

00:25:55.930 --> 00:25:58.589
It's a film day. It's a film day. It's a film

00:25:58.589 --> 00:26:03.299
day, of course my lovely, uh, host. Co -host?

00:26:03.500 --> 00:26:05.119
I think that's the right word. Yeah, but I don't

00:26:05.119 --> 00:26:06.559
feel right calling you the co -host. You're kind

00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:08.720
of the guy in charge. We're each other's co -hosts.

00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:11.900
Aw, buddy. Well, anyway, my co -host Matt Mazer

00:26:11.900 --> 00:26:13.779
here. Back for this one. I sound like Anchorman.

00:26:13.920 --> 00:26:17.549
I'm not Ron Burgundy. I'm Ron Burgundy? We're

00:26:17.549 --> 00:26:21.190
back and we have Joe Cunningham with us. Joe,

00:26:21.190 --> 00:26:23.289
welcome to the show. Thank you for having me.

00:26:23.349 --> 00:26:24.970
We're very excited to have you guys. I got to

00:26:24.970 --> 00:26:27.150
give you a little quick history here. Joe and

00:26:27.150 --> 00:26:30.289
I go way back. And when I say way back, you've

00:26:30.289 --> 00:26:32.109
heard me on this show probably a number of times

00:26:32.109 --> 00:26:34.049
talk about the fact that I opened the first podcast

00:26:34.049 --> 00:26:36.789
studio in Syracuse. Yes, you did. Joe was my

00:26:36.789 --> 00:26:38.859
first. I don't know if I want to say customer

00:26:38.859 --> 00:26:42.920
or partner or creator. But Joe worked for the

00:26:42.920 --> 00:26:46.039
Syracuse New Times at the time. And shout out

00:26:46.039 --> 00:26:49.900
to our buddy Bill Broad. And he came and made

00:26:49.900 --> 00:26:51.440
some of the first podcasts that we made in our

00:26:51.440 --> 00:26:54.339
studio. That's fantastic. I remember I always

00:26:54.339 --> 00:26:56.660
tell the story. Was in a band at the time Matt

00:26:56.660 --> 00:26:59.420
had me on as a guest and when we got done I remember

00:26:59.420 --> 00:27:01.900
being like it was so new to me that I went so

00:27:01.900 --> 00:27:04.180
we weren't on the radio and he's like No, that

00:27:04.180 --> 00:27:06.980
was a podcast and what's a podcast? So you were

00:27:06.980 --> 00:27:09.000
in on the ground floor is something great. I

00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:11.160
think Mark Marin was starting around the same

00:27:11.160 --> 00:27:13.319
time Yeah, we're all trying to figure it out.

00:27:13.539 --> 00:27:15.839
But that was really cool. I remember being at

00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:19.140
the Tech Garden over there and Being around a

00:27:19.140 --> 00:27:22.769
table and talking about movies probably as well.

00:27:22.970 --> 00:27:25.130
I probably diverted off into that. But yeah,

00:27:25.269 --> 00:27:27.150
that was cool. It was great. And I'll tell you

00:27:27.150 --> 00:27:30.250
what, you also at the time wrote an article for

00:27:30.250 --> 00:27:32.450
the New Times about opening the podcast studio.

00:27:32.490 --> 00:27:35.410
I have that framed still on my wall at home.

00:27:35.690 --> 00:27:40.130
So thank you for that. It's great to see. I've

00:27:40.130 --> 00:27:43.069
been watching the show from afar, and just how

00:27:43.069 --> 00:27:45.190
far you guys have come. It's just very exciting.

00:27:45.569 --> 00:27:47.190
Thanks, man. Appreciate that, man. Really appreciate

00:27:47.190 --> 00:27:49.769
that. And honestly, the same can be said about

00:27:49.769 --> 00:27:52.589
you. And I think we should dive into that. So

00:27:52.589 --> 00:27:57.490
you just wrapped a full feature movie, right?

00:27:57.650 --> 00:28:00.109
My first feature. Dude, congratulations. That's

00:28:00.109 --> 00:28:02.789
a big deal. Yeah, we shot for five years. So

00:28:02.789 --> 00:28:05.930
I thought we could do it in a year. But things

00:28:05.930 --> 00:28:09.009
happened, and we just didn't give up. We just

00:28:09.009 --> 00:28:12.390
wrapped on Sunday at American High, so very exciting.

00:28:12.690 --> 00:28:15.650
That's incredible. Yes. What's the movie about?

00:28:16.130 --> 00:28:18.589
It's called The Sentinel. It's about a combat

00:28:18.589 --> 00:28:21.750
veteran with severe PTSD, and he has partial

00:28:21.750 --> 00:28:24.029
custody of his son. And so he's just struggling

00:28:24.029 --> 00:28:27.269
trying to take care of his son and deal with

00:28:27.269 --> 00:28:32.029
the PTSD at the same time. Wow. Now, you had

00:28:32.029 --> 00:28:35.529
many parts. with this production, right? Did

00:28:35.529 --> 00:28:38.730
you write it? I wrote it. I produced it. I directed

00:28:38.730 --> 00:28:41.849
it. And I star in it with my son. Harrison plays

00:28:41.849 --> 00:28:45.470
my son in the movie. And we shot it in chronological

00:28:45.470 --> 00:28:48.190
order for the most part. So he was like seven

00:28:48.190 --> 00:28:50.829
or eight when we started shooting. And kind of

00:28:50.829 --> 00:28:54.549
like Linklater's boyhood, he grows up. And the

00:28:54.549 --> 00:28:56.769
last scene, he's 12 years old. So it's kind of

00:28:56.769 --> 00:28:58.650
cool. Wow. That's pretty neat. Yeah, that's awesome.

00:28:59.289 --> 00:29:02.690
That's really cool. That's a really heavy plot.

00:29:02.890 --> 00:29:05.670
But it's one that unfortunately I personally

00:29:05.670 --> 00:29:09.589
have heard too many times, you know, combat vets

00:29:09.589 --> 00:29:11.809
with PTSD. So, I mean, I think you're tackling

00:29:11.809 --> 00:29:15.269
just an amazing issue and shedding light on it.

00:29:15.269 --> 00:29:19.549
What inspired you to come up? Was this just something

00:29:19.549 --> 00:29:22.569
you had come up over the years or was there a

00:29:22.569 --> 00:29:24.210
light bulb moment? How did you come up with this

00:29:24.210 --> 00:29:28.390
idea to shoot a film about that? Sure. I have

00:29:28.390 --> 00:29:31.450
PTSD myself, so it's autobiographical. I think

00:29:31.450 --> 00:29:34.690
every artist creates autobiographical work all

00:29:34.690 --> 00:29:39.890
the time, but I had a specific, you could say

00:29:39.890 --> 00:29:43.170
panic attack while I was actually shooting a

00:29:43.170 --> 00:29:50.089
film right before in 2019. And then I had a moment

00:29:50.089 --> 00:29:54.369
outside my son's school listening to this song,

00:29:54.589 --> 00:29:57.730
You Say by Lauren Dangle. And I guess in the

00:29:57.730 --> 00:30:00.759
song... it's like she's talking to God. But I

00:30:00.759 --> 00:30:04.059
felt like I was talking to like I felt like those

00:30:04.059 --> 00:30:05.759
words were talking to my son. And she's like,

00:30:05.920 --> 00:30:07.920
you say I'm strong when I think I'm weak and

00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:11.559
all this stuff. Very powerful. And just the the

00:30:11.559 --> 00:30:14.519
climax of the movie came to my head. And I was

00:30:14.519 --> 00:30:18.079
working on a script called Midnight Rider. about

00:30:18.079 --> 00:30:20.839
this drug runner and this whole neon noir type

00:30:20.839 --> 00:30:23.880
movie that I've always wanted to do. And I knew

00:30:23.880 --> 00:30:26.660
right then I had to pause that project and do

00:30:26.660 --> 00:30:29.240
this movie with my son because he was seven,

00:30:29.380 --> 00:30:32.579
six or seven years old, and do this father son

00:30:32.579 --> 00:30:37.259
movie and based on my own PTSD. And I knew that

00:30:37.259 --> 00:30:40.400
would be like self therapy. I threw myself into

00:30:40.400 --> 00:30:43.690
it kind of. I try to method act as much as I

00:30:43.690 --> 00:30:46.150
can without hurting anybody or losing my job.

00:30:46.849 --> 00:30:50.329
But which almost happened a few times. But and

00:30:50.329 --> 00:30:52.829
then I have a couple friends. Some of them are

00:30:52.829 --> 00:30:56.130
in the movie. Lawrence Gabriel is a combat veteran

00:30:56.130 --> 00:31:00.150
and he was the bouncer at McAvans Pub who got

00:31:00.150 --> 00:31:03.140
shot up. Saving the the biggest shooting in Syracuse.

00:31:03.140 --> 00:31:06.859
He got shot five or six times Saving everybody

00:31:06.859 --> 00:31:08.839
there. So he's in the movie. He's actually my

00:31:08.839 --> 00:31:12.400
friend and he plays himself a boxer in the movie

00:31:12.400 --> 00:31:18.180
as he's he's a boxer and and my friend Adrian

00:31:18.180 --> 00:31:22.509
McCraney her her husband Jimmy is a sniper, is

00:31:22.509 --> 00:31:25.369
an ex -sniper who's in Afghanistan who trained

00:31:25.369 --> 00:31:29.690
with Chris Kyle, the American sniper. So I kind

00:31:29.690 --> 00:31:32.970
of like glammed a couple different things from

00:31:32.970 --> 00:31:36.289
those people and just kind of smushed it into

00:31:36.289 --> 00:31:41.009
this story. And then, you know, I wasn't a veteran,

00:31:41.430 --> 00:31:44.289
but I have, you know, certain experiences. So

00:31:44.289 --> 00:31:47.119
I was I figured I felt that the that story would

00:31:47.119 --> 00:31:50.220
be a great vehicle to express those emotions

00:31:50.220 --> 00:31:52.400
inside of me just because people are really,

00:31:52.940 --> 00:31:58.039
there's so many great films, Deer Hunter, Leave

00:31:58.039 --> 00:32:02.220
No Trace, American Sniper, that show veterans

00:32:02.220 --> 00:32:05.519
out of the furnace is one of my favorites to

00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:09.359
Casey Affleck and that. And there's so many great

00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:13.539
like military PTSD movies. So it's like you're

00:32:13.539 --> 00:32:16.839
not reinventing the wheel, but. Tarantino and

00:32:16.839 --> 00:32:19.000
Scorsese said, you got to make it personal, you

00:32:19.000 --> 00:32:22.779
know, and that's what makes it powerful and unique

00:32:22.779 --> 00:32:25.740
and great. So I tried to do that as much as I

00:32:25.740 --> 00:32:29.019
could. That's awesome. Amazing. And Joe, you,

00:32:29.240 --> 00:32:32.259
as you mentioned there that you've made at least

00:32:32.259 --> 00:32:34.680
a portion of this movie at American High, our

00:32:34.680 --> 00:32:38.359
local movie studio that's made some fantastic

00:32:38.359 --> 00:32:40.559
Hollywood films right here in central New York.

00:32:40.700 --> 00:32:43.119
Yeah. How do you come to a place like that? And

00:32:43.119 --> 00:32:46.839
do you pitch them your script? Or how does that

00:32:46.839 --> 00:32:50.079
even work? That's a great question. So it was

00:32:50.079 --> 00:32:53.079
very important that we got a school to film in.

00:32:53.740 --> 00:32:57.119
And so as Christopher Nolan says, I write a script

00:32:57.119 --> 00:32:59.599
not knowing how I'm going to do it. And then

00:32:59.599 --> 00:33:01.680
the fun part is figuring out how to do it. Sure.

00:33:02.009 --> 00:33:04.630
And sometimes when you write a script, you write

00:33:04.630 --> 00:33:06.289
it kind of the other way, and you're like, well,

00:33:06.470 --> 00:33:08.710
I know I have this location and these people,

00:33:08.950 --> 00:33:13.549
and I can easily do this. But I really... ambitiously

00:33:13.549 --> 00:33:16.710
wrote this script thinking that I need this this

00:33:16.710 --> 00:33:18.690
location I need and I definitely need a school

00:33:18.690 --> 00:33:22.410
which is really hard to get so I've I weight

00:33:22.410 --> 00:33:25.690
tables as that's what I do and I used to be embarrassed

00:33:25.690 --> 00:33:28.230
of that but my friend so and Quinn who's also

00:33:28.230 --> 00:33:31.109
a filmmaker he's like Joe that's the job of an

00:33:31.109 --> 00:33:33.930
actor so I was now I'm like pretty chill with

00:33:33.930 --> 00:33:38.210
it but but until I get rich and famous of course

00:33:38.210 --> 00:33:43.339
but but Jeremy comes to my restaurant a lot,

00:33:43.380 --> 00:33:45.700
so I shook hands with him as soon as he came

00:33:45.700 --> 00:33:47.539
to town. And he was like, oh, you're the first

00:33:47.539 --> 00:33:51.599
actor that I've met in LA. Every waiter's an

00:33:51.599 --> 00:33:53.859
actor, and everybody's trying to have their script

00:33:53.859 --> 00:33:56.980
in their back pocket. And he's like, if you ever

00:33:56.980 --> 00:34:00.380
need anything, let me know. And around that same

00:34:00.380 --> 00:34:04.039
time, he got me into Sid Is Dead, which is one

00:34:04.039 --> 00:34:07.440
of their... Hulu movies, I think it might be

00:34:07.440 --> 00:34:10.400
Amazon or something. And so I got to know them

00:34:10.400 --> 00:34:13.639
that way. But then, you know, trying to pitch

00:34:13.639 --> 00:34:18.340
this thing. And I always wanted to create an

00:34:18.340 --> 00:34:20.260
actor studio in Syracuse. I've been involved

00:34:20.260 --> 00:34:23.610
in a couple of different networking groups. screenwriting

00:34:23.610 --> 00:34:27.949
groups and playwriting groups. One of them was

00:34:27.949 --> 00:34:30.250
called Help Words Come Alive, and Fulton, my

00:34:30.250 --> 00:34:33.710
friend Peter Mahan, who directed a movie I'm

00:34:33.710 --> 00:34:37.210
in called Under the Mercy, started that group,

00:34:37.349 --> 00:34:39.650
which has since Changed into something else.

00:34:39.650 --> 00:34:42.409
But these are the groups where I've met people

00:34:42.409 --> 00:34:47.230
like James Marlowe my DP Who makes movies unlike

00:34:47.230 --> 00:34:50.090
almost no budget and they win awards? He won

00:34:50.090 --> 00:34:52.070
the second film festival and other festivals

00:34:52.070 --> 00:34:54.670
and they're just fantastic If you ever get a

00:34:54.670 --> 00:34:56.590
chance to check out I'm gonna plug them Trent

00:34:56.590 --> 00:34:59.250
Lockwood adventures on YouTube They're kind of

00:34:59.250 --> 00:35:01.889
like Indiana Jones meets Monty Python and they're

00:35:01.889 --> 00:35:04.929
amazing. They're awesome. But anyway, he's great

00:35:04.929 --> 00:35:08.769
and So I met these people who are all you know,

00:35:08.929 --> 00:35:11.670
indie filmmakers like John Cassavetes and Syracuse

00:35:11.670 --> 00:35:15.369
kind of thing. And so those are the people that

00:35:15.369 --> 00:35:19.329
we all started to like create this cosmos of

00:35:19.329 --> 00:35:21.190
volunteering on each other's movies, whether

00:35:21.190 --> 00:35:24.210
it be as actors or crew. And then those people

00:35:24.210 --> 00:35:28.409
come and work for me. And it's just a great friend

00:35:28.409 --> 00:35:33.590
group and environment. And so through that, once

00:35:33.590 --> 00:35:37.070
help was kind of. kind of stopped, I decided

00:35:37.070 --> 00:35:40.269
to start the Syracuse Actors Studio with my friend

00:35:40.269 --> 00:35:43.389
Laura Stisser, who's an incredible actress, and

00:35:43.389 --> 00:35:46.309
she's actually in the Sentinel as well, and we

00:35:46.309 --> 00:35:48.030
developed this character for her. She's got one

00:35:48.030 --> 00:35:50.530
of the best performances in the whole movie.

00:35:50.949 --> 00:35:55.559
I don't want to spoil too much, but... It's been

00:35:55.559 --> 00:35:58.559
I was like always trying to cast you know the

00:35:58.559 --> 00:36:01.320
film and going on Facebook trying to watch people's

00:36:01.320 --> 00:36:04.659
reels and and and Figure out I put some casting

00:36:04.659 --> 00:36:07.280
calls on backstage for different things But I

00:36:07.280 --> 00:36:09.960
was like I wish there was like a cosmos of actors

00:36:09.960 --> 00:36:12.159
here in Syracuse a group of actors that like

00:36:12.159 --> 00:36:14.139
we could support each other and learn from each

00:36:14.139 --> 00:36:16.679
other so Laura and I started the Syracuse actors

00:36:16.679 --> 00:36:22.300
studio back about two years ago and we Tracy

00:36:22.300 --> 00:36:24.619
Dando, who is on your show. She's amazing. She

00:36:24.619 --> 00:36:27.400
hosted us for about a year at Safe Space. And

00:36:27.400 --> 00:36:29.440
now we're at the McCarthy Mercantile. Michael

00:36:29.440 --> 00:36:32.880
John Haggerty hosts us there. And we meet once

00:36:32.880 --> 00:36:35.219
a month and we just teach each other different

00:36:35.219 --> 00:36:38.019
skills and things. And it's fantastic. But more

00:36:38.019 --> 00:36:40.880
than the skills, we have this great community

00:36:40.880 --> 00:36:43.780
of actors that I cast from all the time and always.

00:36:44.329 --> 00:36:46.409
Help and now I've lost track of the question

00:36:46.409 --> 00:36:50.289
because that's what I know you listen you're

00:36:50.289 --> 00:36:54.750
nailing it we This is it's incredible to hear

00:36:54.750 --> 00:36:59.170
you know your story and to But first of all you're

00:36:59.170 --> 00:37:01.329
always first you were the first guy that Jeremy

00:37:01.329 --> 00:37:05.750
from American High met first podcast guy You

00:37:05.750 --> 00:37:09.690
so you've been at this a while the edge How long

00:37:09.690 --> 00:37:12.989
have you been making films all together? Shoot,

00:37:13.190 --> 00:37:16.750
I made a film in college in 2011 and then it

00:37:16.750 --> 00:37:19.090
was like the best day of my life. I wrote this

00:37:19.090 --> 00:37:22.070
script and I got two of my brothers and just

00:37:22.070 --> 00:37:24.750
bought them lunch and had this little DSLR and

00:37:24.750 --> 00:37:27.349
we went around Destiny USA without permission

00:37:27.349 --> 00:37:30.250
and just shot this little... movie and it was

00:37:30.250 --> 00:37:32.650
just so fun and it was the I was like oh my god

00:37:32.650 --> 00:37:34.710
I want to do this you know my whole life I've

00:37:34.710 --> 00:37:36.250
always wanted to do it from when I was a kid

00:37:36.250 --> 00:37:39.409
but that was like the first taste of it and then

00:37:39.409 --> 00:37:41.929
you know I went into the marketing world and

00:37:41.929 --> 00:37:44.809
kind of freelance writing And I thought that

00:37:44.809 --> 00:37:46.849
was the way that I was going to make money off

00:37:46.849 --> 00:37:49.969
of my creative writing degree. And that was it

00:37:49.969 --> 00:37:51.789
wasn't a mistake because I met a lot of great

00:37:51.789 --> 00:37:55.010
people and and, you know, had those experiences

00:37:55.010 --> 00:37:57.510
and learned that wasn't what I wanted to do.

00:37:57.690 --> 00:38:02.789
And then I met my friend Joe Connor. He's like

00:38:02.789 --> 00:38:05.690
a life coach guy. Really? Shout out to Joe. Really

00:38:05.690 --> 00:38:08.329
good dude. And I met him for coffee and I was

00:38:08.329 --> 00:38:11.079
like, look, Joe, I'm I'm here. You know, I'm

00:38:11.079 --> 00:38:13.980
like waiting tables and freelance writing and

00:38:13.980 --> 00:38:16.380
stuff. And I want to make films and I need to

00:38:16.380 --> 00:38:17.940
find like that thing in the middle that's going

00:38:17.940 --> 00:38:19.840
to make me like a million dollars so I can make

00:38:19.840 --> 00:38:22.159
films. And he said, take this take away that

00:38:22.159 --> 00:38:24.800
thing in the middle and just like go make your

00:38:24.800 --> 00:38:27.539
films. And that was like the best advice anybody

00:38:27.539 --> 00:38:29.940
could have given me. And I remember where I was

00:38:29.940 --> 00:38:33.800
going with the Actors Studio. We partnered with

00:38:33.800 --> 00:38:36.610
American High early on because. I'm not very

00:38:36.610 --> 00:38:41.570
good at like publicity or public relations, but

00:38:41.570 --> 00:38:44.730
I've partnered with a couple people, Erin Williams,

00:38:45.429 --> 00:38:49.329
Tracy Chamberlain is my publicist, and she's

00:38:49.329 --> 00:38:51.369
probably the reason I'm sitting here today. But

00:38:51.369 --> 00:38:56.519
they are really great at like. corporate connections

00:38:56.519 --> 00:38:59.699
and stuff. So they reached out to Jeremy pretty

00:38:59.699 --> 00:39:02.199
early on in the actor studio because we had always

00:39:02.199 --> 00:39:05.219
envisioned creating a connection from the studio

00:39:05.219 --> 00:39:10.280
to every major. theater company and film studio

00:39:10.280 --> 00:39:14.500
in the area and so we've now we create a connection

00:39:14.500 --> 00:39:16.960
between American High and Syracuse Actors Studio

00:39:16.960 --> 00:39:19.639
because if they need actors sometimes they reach

00:39:19.639 --> 00:39:23.880
out to us and we go there once or twice a year

00:39:23.880 --> 00:39:28.250
to host some of our sessions and so they Through

00:39:28.250 --> 00:39:31.690
that relationship, I waited until I was actually

00:39:31.690 --> 00:39:34.849
ready to shoot the scene in the school. And then

00:39:34.849 --> 00:39:36.650
I reached out to them. I was like, hey, remember

00:39:36.650 --> 00:39:39.989
me? I'm the guy from the Actors Studio. Can I

00:39:39.989 --> 00:39:41.929
shoot in your school? It's this, this, and this.

00:39:41.989 --> 00:39:44.710
And they were like the nicest people. Sometimes

00:39:44.710 --> 00:39:47.130
you go into a business. I've worked with like

00:39:47.130 --> 00:39:53.340
25 local businesses. Sometimes they're like,

00:39:53.360 --> 00:39:54.980
oh, please don't do this. Please don't do that.

00:39:55.079 --> 00:39:56.840
But American High was like, oh, how can we help

00:39:56.840 --> 00:39:59.019
you do this? How can we help you? And they're

00:39:59.019 --> 00:40:01.039
like, so nice. All right, that was the end of

00:40:01.039 --> 00:40:04.619
that. No, that was great. That's what we wanted

00:40:04.619 --> 00:40:08.519
to hear about. A couple more minutes before we

00:40:08.519 --> 00:40:10.760
let you go, Joe. But I just want to ask you kind

00:40:10.760 --> 00:40:13.639
of, because I'm always the process guy, right?

00:40:13.639 --> 00:40:16.139
I'm always thinking about how this works. So

00:40:16.139 --> 00:40:18.519
obviously, you just finished shooting. You mentioned

00:40:18.519 --> 00:40:22.019
you got to do a lot of editing. What is the step

00:40:22.019 --> 00:40:25.019
beyond that, I guess? Do you have to then shop

00:40:25.019 --> 00:40:27.800
it around? Do you self -release it? How does

00:40:27.800 --> 00:40:31.539
that work? Yes. Well, after the edit, I give

00:40:31.539 --> 00:40:35.780
it to my sound and composer, Dave Welsh. He was

00:40:35.780 --> 00:40:38.059
a great composer. And then he'll mix everything

00:40:38.059 --> 00:40:41.480
and everything. And then the last film I did...

00:40:41.469 --> 00:40:46.070
Under the Mercy kind of was a crash course in

00:40:46.070 --> 00:40:49.150
self -distribution, but we try to get into as

00:40:49.150 --> 00:40:51.230
many film festivals as we possibly can. I see.

00:40:51.670 --> 00:40:54.309
And that way we can get some sort of exposure

00:40:54.309 --> 00:40:56.730
to producers, distributors, that kind of thing.

00:40:57.150 --> 00:40:59.369
But I'm very new with all that stuff. That was

00:40:59.369 --> 00:41:02.369
a short film, so I ended up just putting it on

00:41:02.369 --> 00:41:04.869
YouTube and making DVDs that are in the Soundgarden

00:41:04.869 --> 00:41:07.329
right now. Shout out to the Soundgarden. They're

00:41:07.329 --> 00:41:10.690
amazing. But which is where the Sentinel will

00:41:10.690 --> 00:41:12.949
go. If we don't get distribution, I'll just keep

00:41:12.949 --> 00:41:16.150
self -distributing. But the ideal would be to

00:41:16.150 --> 00:41:20.690
get the attention of someone who distributes

00:41:20.690 --> 00:41:24.409
for Netflix or Hulu or something like that. And

00:41:24.409 --> 00:41:26.570
then we could get just so more people can see

00:41:26.570 --> 00:41:30.119
the movie. There's about 300 people. in the movie

00:41:30.119 --> 00:41:33.360
or worked on the movie. Wow. Just and and probably

00:41:33.360 --> 00:41:37.400
like 25 speaking roles and I just all the performances

00:41:37.400 --> 00:41:40.159
are so great. I just want people to be able to

00:41:40.159 --> 00:41:43.239
just see. Sure. So it's great. That's so cool,

00:41:43.340 --> 00:41:46.440
man. It's amazing. That's so cool. I know this

00:41:46.440 --> 00:41:49.059
might be a little a little in advance because

00:41:49.059 --> 00:41:51.480
you still got a lot of work to do here. But just

00:41:51.480 --> 00:41:53.699
curious if there's another project on deck or

00:41:53.699 --> 00:41:56.199
something you're thinking about. Yes, that would

00:41:56.199 --> 00:41:59.300
come next I have ten movies in my head of course

00:41:59.300 --> 00:42:02.280
I have flashcards taped all over my house with

00:42:02.280 --> 00:42:05.099
different film ideas I'm just kind of like always

00:42:05.099 --> 00:42:07.280
putting stuff on the wall But the next one is

00:42:07.280 --> 00:42:10.840
Midnight Rider, which is the story of it's based

00:42:10.840 --> 00:42:12.920
on the Almond Brothers song I was driving my

00:42:12.920 --> 00:42:15.320
car with the windows down at night I think I'm

00:42:15.320 --> 00:42:17.239
like 13 curves in the middle of the night or

00:42:17.239 --> 00:42:20.780
something. It's not a ghost story, but I just

00:42:20.780 --> 00:42:24.969
finished freelance writing and I just had like

00:42:24.969 --> 00:42:26.590
a clear head and I was like what would I write

00:42:26.590 --> 00:42:29.050
if I wanted to write my own thing and I didn't

00:42:29.050 --> 00:42:31.250
really have an idea and I was listening to Midnight

00:42:31.250 --> 00:42:34.329
Rider and I just got this feeling that like I'm

00:42:34.329 --> 00:42:36.929
this like drug runner guy in like I don't know

00:42:36.929 --> 00:42:40.269
some sort of in the crime world at some point

00:42:40.269 --> 00:42:45.280
so that the movies about this drug addict who's

00:42:45.280 --> 00:42:47.579
also a drug runner and he works for this loan

00:42:47.579 --> 00:42:50.179
shark and he's in love with the stripper, he

00:42:50.179 --> 00:42:52.739
thinks he is anyway, and she goes missing and

00:42:52.739 --> 00:42:55.360
nobody else cares so he goes to find her. That

00:42:55.360 --> 00:42:57.760
sounds awesome. It's actually Danny's life story.

00:42:57.760 --> 00:43:04.210
It is. That's phenomenal. Was there a moment,

00:43:04.329 --> 00:43:07.789
because you seem, you're writing about some real

00:43:07.789 --> 00:43:10.750
heavy things, was there ever a moment, because

00:43:10.750 --> 00:43:13.630
you did talk about your PTSD in this film, The

00:43:13.630 --> 00:43:17.289
Sentinel, did I say that correctly? Where you

00:43:17.289 --> 00:43:20.949
had a moment where you really felt it, like a

00:43:20.949 --> 00:43:24.510
scene where you were like, this is heavy, this

00:43:24.510 --> 00:43:27.829
is a lot. Oh yeah, there's a very simple scene.

00:43:28.250 --> 00:43:30.510
It might be my favorite scene in the whole movie.

00:43:30.909 --> 00:43:36.590
But I'm getting emotional thinking about it.

00:43:38.130 --> 00:43:42.130
But whenever I got home from bringing the groceries

00:43:42.130 --> 00:43:45.530
home, I would always take, you know, my son would

00:43:45.530 --> 00:43:48.030
be with me and I would try to get every single

00:43:48.030 --> 00:43:50.989
bag in at the same time. And then that would

00:43:50.989 --> 00:43:53.849
like somehow that would trigger me and I would

00:43:53.849 --> 00:43:56.050
start yelling at my son and stuff like that.

00:43:56.289 --> 00:43:59.090
Very not a good thing to do. So I wrote that

00:43:59.090 --> 00:44:02.960
scene into the movie. And we shot it at my apartment.

00:44:03.780 --> 00:44:07.400
And my A .D. is here, Sally Lamonaco, who's a

00:44:07.400 --> 00:44:10.079
great filmmaker herself. And James Marlowe is

00:44:10.079 --> 00:44:11.880
shooting it. And we shoot it in a big one shot.

00:44:12.000 --> 00:44:16.119
We did it four times. And it was so real that

00:44:16.119 --> 00:44:18.300
the neighbors started to come out to try to stop

00:44:18.300 --> 00:44:23.320
us. And then it's like, oh, it's such a beautiful

00:44:23.320 --> 00:44:26.119
scene. And then, you know, of course, spoiler,

00:44:26.539 --> 00:44:30.360
the character apologizes and they hug in the...

00:44:30.380 --> 00:44:34.139
Over on the side at the end and and I every time

00:44:34.139 --> 00:44:37.280
I watch it I cry I can't not cry and every time

00:44:37.280 --> 00:44:39.500
I bring the groceries home now I remember that

00:44:39.500 --> 00:44:42.099
and so the movie has been really like self -therapy

00:44:42.099 --> 00:44:45.400
for me and and Ironically, you know, I try to

00:44:45.400 --> 00:44:48.179
method act and everything when the character

00:44:48.179 --> 00:44:50.440
Started going back to therapy. I started going

00:44:50.440 --> 00:44:53.840
back to therapy That's a that's method acting.

00:44:53.940 --> 00:44:56.239
That's at its finest commitment is what that's

00:44:56.239 --> 00:44:59.460
called. Yeah, I have a son too and Again and

00:44:59.460 --> 00:45:02.260
Matt as well so I can imagine as a father. I'm

00:45:02.260 --> 00:45:06.780
not your son Was this Maury Povich or not? No,

00:45:06.960 --> 00:45:11.400
but I can understand how anything involving your

00:45:11.400 --> 00:45:12.739
children, and you said your son was actually

00:45:12.739 --> 00:45:14.940
in it, right? So that even made it. He's like

00:45:14.940 --> 00:45:18.219
the best actor in it. He's 12 now, but we started

00:45:18.219 --> 00:45:20.980
shooting when he was like six. And I've stopped

00:45:20.980 --> 00:45:22.980
work on Midnight Rider because I was like, I

00:45:22.980 --> 00:45:25.440
really only have one chance. He's like a kid.

00:45:25.440 --> 00:45:27.679
Yeah. Yeah. But I can imagine how emotional that

00:45:27.679 --> 00:45:31.019
would be, you know, reliving something that personally

00:45:31.019 --> 00:45:32.900
happened between you and your son. And I mean,

00:45:33.039 --> 00:45:35.369
man, I'm... Yeah. Emotional talking about it.

00:45:35.510 --> 00:45:38.949
That's great. Joe, we are just about out of time.

00:45:39.050 --> 00:45:41.210
But man, I really appreciate having you here.

00:45:41.230 --> 00:45:41.809
Thank you so much for having me. You're welcome

00:45:41.809 --> 00:45:45.030
to come back any time. Yeah, man. Tell us more

00:45:45.030 --> 00:45:48.150
about the progress and, of course, anything new

00:45:48.150 --> 00:45:50.090
that's going on. We'd love to hear you. And honestly,

00:45:51.190 --> 00:45:52.989
your actors group is a phenomenal thing that

00:45:52.989 --> 00:45:54.829
we'd love to hear more about. Syracuse Actors

00:45:54.829 --> 00:45:57.969
Studio, any time you... You want to come back

00:45:57.969 --> 00:46:00.389
and even bring a person or two? We'd love to

00:46:00.389 --> 00:46:03.809
see Laura. She's my co -lead. Let's do it. That's

00:46:03.809 --> 00:46:06.389
awesome. She's much more personable than I am.

00:46:06.469 --> 00:46:09.010
So where can we find all the info on this movie

00:46:09.010 --> 00:46:10.769
when it'll be released? I know there's a lot

00:46:10.769 --> 00:46:12.150
that's still up in the air. Socials or anything

00:46:12.150 --> 00:46:15.050
like that. So we have the Sentinel film on Facebook

00:46:15.050 --> 00:46:18.369
and Instagram. My film company is called Amy

00:46:18.369 --> 00:46:25.530
Luce, L -O -O -S Films. explanation there and

00:46:25.530 --> 00:46:27.449
then if you want to learn more about the Syracuse

00:46:27.449 --> 00:46:30.250
Actors Studio at Syracuse Actors Studio on Facebook

00:46:30.250 --> 00:46:33.710
and Instagram as well. That's easy enough. Joe

00:46:33.710 --> 00:46:36.630
Cunningham, thank you for joining Good News York,

00:46:36.929 --> 00:46:39.210
buddy. It was a pleasure, man. Thank you so much.

00:46:39.409 --> 00:46:42.989
Joe Cunningham, the Sentinel Film, Syracuse Actors

00:46:42.989 --> 00:46:48.469
Studio. Yeah. Wow. What a film heavy episode.

00:46:48.670 --> 00:46:51.789
Thank you. We got more good stuff coming tomorrow.

00:46:51.909 --> 00:46:54.789
We've got some crazy interviews. We've got a

00:46:54.789 --> 00:46:57.570
whole the schedule is booked. Yeah. With incredible

00:46:57.570 --> 00:46:59.670
people like Joe and awesome people from around

00:46:59.670 --> 00:47:02.590
New York. So which is solidified. Follow Good

00:47:02.590 --> 00:47:05.730
News York. Sorry, buddy. It's solidifying what

00:47:05.730 --> 00:47:08.389
you and I have talked about, but your whole brainchild,

00:47:08.510 --> 00:47:11.519
this whole thing that there's so much good. And

00:47:11.519 --> 00:47:14.559
so much talent in this area and guys like Joe

00:47:14.559 --> 00:47:16.840
and everyone that we have on our perfect example

00:47:16.840 --> 00:47:18.699
And it's not just here all the New York State,

00:47:18.739 --> 00:47:20.900
but I mean there's so much great things going

00:47:20.900 --> 00:47:24.059
on why we do it Yeah, man, and with that we will

00:47:24.059 --> 00:47:26.139
see you tomorrow Good News York sponsored by

00:47:26.139 --> 00:47:28.159
ads on the go get ads on the go comm follow me

00:47:28.159 --> 00:47:31.079
on all socials at Mike B TV See you tomorrow

00:47:31.079 --> 00:47:31.880
peace out