XCU:TheViewfinder
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Movies ‘Til Dawn: An interview with Adell Aldrich by Raymond De Felitta
In this special-edition guest episode of XCU: The Viewfinder, Raymond De Felitta interviews Adell Aldrich — a pioneering filmmaker who was the first woman to direct a network movie of the week. The film, ‘Daddy I Don’t Like It Like This’ (1978) starred and was written by Burt Young (the actor most known for his role as Paulie in the ‘Rocky’ franchise). Adell explains how she met Burt on her father’s set, the remarkable story of her journey to the director’s chair, and her collaboration with Burt in fascinating detail.
“There weren’t women doing this yet...and you know, my own personal problems with it was always, ‘Oh it’s the director’s daughter...’ It was frustrating, but I was on my own path at the time and trying to break away from that...”
An interview with Iman Zawahry, Part II
Award-winning filmmaker Iman Zawahry joyfully reveals the challenges and nuances of the culture of submitting to film festivals that she worked to overcome when she began submitting her feature, Americanish, to festivals, the current state of hijabi female filmmaker representation, how her short films and the awards she won for them, including a Student Emmy and the Princess Grace Award, helped advance her career, and shares advice she has for being authentic in your writing and art.
“People want to hear your authentic story and your authentic voice...cliche as it is, stay true to yourself and tell your voice because it’s actually very hard to do in this industry.”
Iman Zawahry with her colleagues on set
An interview with Iman Zawahry, Part I
Filmmaker and educator Iman Zawahry, whose feature film, Americanish, won the 2021 CAAMFest Audience Award and was selected for several other film festivals, including the Bentonville Film Festival, the DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival, the New York Asian Film Festival, and the Over-the-Rhine International Film Festival, discusses her path through making short films to making Americanish, how social media has played a role in her career, and her thoughts on cancel culture.
“Laugh with me, talk with me, learn from me...Comedy kind of makes everybody feel better and open to things. And so I really feel the best way to address these issues are comedy.”
Iman Zawahry
A conversation with Scott Rosenfelt, Part II
Scott Rosenfelt, Robert Bruzio, and Raymond De Felitta discuss Scott and Robert’s work on their new screenplay about legendary jazz club owner Skinny D’Amato, how much freedom actors should be given with the script in their performance, and whether or not films and TV should be dialogue or visually-driven. They also discuss the possibility for their screenplay to be expanded into a limited series and how Scott enjoys working with up and coming talent in the entertainment industry.
“I think a good director is a writer, has at some level studied acting, knows about producing. I think a good producer knows about acting, knows about writing, or has experienced each one of those...The best things happen when there’s a great collaboration.”
Scott Rosenfelt
A conversation with Scott Rosenfelt
Scott Rosenfelt, Robert Bruzio, and Raymond De Felitta discuss the trend of remaking movies, Scott's experience switching between the roles of writer and producer, and Scott and Robert's work together on a screenplay about legendary jazz club owner Skinny D'Amato.
“There is an art to producing. And there is an art to producing and working with a director and helping the director make a better movie.”
Scott Rosenfelt
An interview with screenwriters Kristin Ilagan and Patrick Mediate, Part II
Award-winning screenwriting team Kristin Ilagan and Patrick Mediate discuss their screenplay Soul Passage and the universality they aimed for when writing it, how they wrote their characters, horror as a genre, and their advice to aspiring screenwriters.
“The first thing we did was sit down, and I said, ‘Look, we really have to develop these characters. We have to sit down. We have to figure out what their motivations are. We have to figure out what drives them. We have to figure out what their secret inner world is like.’”
Kristin Ilagan and Patrick Mediate
An interview with screenwriters Kristin Ilagan and Patrick Mediate
Screenwriting team Kristin Ilagan and Patrick Mediate discuss their award-winning screenplay Soul Passage and how their best friendship influences their writing process, the research they had to do to write Soul Passage, their inspiration for the screenplay, and how real-life stories of Haitian Voodoo and Zombification have shaped Soul Passage.
“I think we used universal emotion and universal feelings to really breathe life into that character and make him loving and have heart. I think all of those traits in a character transcend everything.”
Kristin Ilagan and Patrick Mediate
An interview with screenwriter Cristina Kotz Cornejo, Part II
Screenwriter, director and Chair of Emerson College's Department of Visual and Media Arts, Cristina Kotz Cornejo, discusses how identity, personal history and perspective influence her work and the projects she's compelled to create. She discusses her multi-cultural background and her past struggles in getting the stories of marginalized people and groups made for film. Part 2 of 2.
“What is setting your work apart? What is different? What is it that makes it worth having in the world? And that’s a huge question. And it can also be overwhelming. Sometimes I’m like, should I just stop making work myself? Everyone else is making work. But we’re here, and we’re moved to do something. And people are doing great work.”
Cristina Kotz Cornejo at work
An interview with screenwriter Cristina Kotz Cornejo
Screenwriter, filmmaker, Professor and Chair of the Visual and Media Arts Department at Emerson College in Boston, Cristina Kotz Cornejo reveals the creative advice she gives to her students at one of the leading Film programs in the U.S. She also discusses her experience at NYU’s graduate film program at Tisch School of the Arts and her personal writing process. Part 1 of 2.
“I always tell my students, practice shooting scenes at home with your friends, build your skills, develop a point of view. That can also apply to being a screenwriter. If you’re compelled to be a writer/director, there’s no reason why you can’t write stories.”
Filmmaker and Educator Cristina Kotz Cornejo
An interview with screenwriter Robert Bruzio, Part II
Screenwriter Robert Bruzio and director Raymond De Felitta discuss how Robert’s screenplay ultimately bounced back after the loss of the film’s original director, the late John Avildsen (Rocky), and how Joe Manganiello, Sofia Vergara and ultimately Raymond himself became attached to what would become the film Bottom of the Ninth. This is Part II of our two-part interview with Robert. You can catch Part I here on XCU: The Viewfinder.
“Keep at it, keep at it, keep pounding. Have that chutzpah, believe in your project, try and make it as best as you can... and just keep at it.”
Screenwriter Robert Bruzio with the stars of Bottom of the Ninth, Joe Manganiello and Sofia Vergara
An interview with screenwriter Robert Bruzio, Part 1
Screenwriter Robert Bruzio details his familial inspiration behind the film Bottom of the Ninth (starring Joe Mangienello and Sofia Vergara) with Raymond De Felitta, who directed the film. Robert and Raymond discuss a host of topics including how the script gained traction after submission to a renowned screenplay contest, agenting, and how Robert himself convinced the director of Rocky, John Avildsen, to work on the film with him. Part 1 of 2.
“ Sometimes it takes people a while to realize you don’t have to get an agent
and sit back and wait for things to happen, you have to do it yourself.”
Screenwriter Robert Bruzio and director Raymond De Felitta on the set of, “Bottom Of The Ninth”
An interview with Hangover Lounge co-founder Raymond De Felitta
Film director and co-founder of Hangover Lounge Raymond De Felitta and our Communications Coordinator and Contributor Lauren Taglienti met remotely for our very first posting of XCU: The Viewfinder. From the comfort of their respective social distances (both in their own homes), Lauren interviewed Raymond about Hangover Lounge, Screenplay Resurrection, the community of writers and entertainment industry professionals we’re building, and the future of entertainment, storytelling, and production in the age of Covid-19.
Lauren: Why did you decide to start Hangover Lounge?
Raymond: Hangover Lounge came into existence just by the fact that we started to make a film. And that was the documentary, ‘Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris. David Zellerford, my partner, and I, we started making it without any funding so it was very much what you could call a homemade film. And as a result, it was really a very freeing thing to do. I had directed a movie shortly before that that was the opposite. It was very difficult: a difficult shoot with difficult personalities, and I had to answer to a lot of people with warring opinions and conflicts.
Hangover Lounge became symbolic of freedom and doing something creative, something off the boards, and not following everyone else’s cookie cutter decisions. We made another documentary called Booker’s Place: A Mississippi Story, and we’ve developed other projects under the aegis of Hangover Lounge and came to the idea of podcasting. Again, it just seemed like a natural extension of the Hangover Lounge ethos that gave birth to the idea of Screenplay Resurrection, which is in effect saying, “Your script is not limited to just being read—” You know, most screenplays don’t get made into movies, so Screenplay Resurrection is another path that people could follow and say, “My script is not dead, and I can find another way of getting it out there.”
Lauren: That’s interesting to me as a writer and someone who’s read a lot of submission scripts and written coverage. It’s really exciting, from both the writer and the submission-reader standpoint, that Screenplay Resurrection is offering alternative production options to writers. What do you think that means to all of these writers who work so hard and don’t get the results or recognition that they want?
Raymond: Well, we are in the process of building a community as a result of podcasting and Screenplay Resurrection. And what we’re hoping for is that Hangover Lounge becomes an umbrella that other creators can join in and contribute their ideas and develop projects or podcasts or series- so we’re helping to facilitate people’s dreams and craft. That would be a really awesome way to continue and to develop the brand. Also, we’re entertainment-centric. And hopefully we’re amplifying voices that are not frequently heard and spotlighting corners of the entertainment world that might be considered more niche.
For instance, over the years, we’ve been working on a documentary about Cabaret. And we interviewed a lot of cool people, and those interviews are all available. It’s a Hangover Lounge production that could be something we potentially turn into a podcast. I don’t think there’s another podcast running with Shelley Berman, Carol Burnett, Phyllis Diller, Joan Rivers, and Jonathan Winters. We have great conversations with them. So again, it’s a corner of the entertainment business that I would love to see out there in the same way that potentially Screenplay Resurrection or Musical Theater Resurrection could work, which is that the podcasts could serve as a jumping off point for the documentary in this case. We don’t have to just think that there’s only one way to do it; podcasting is a way of putting our work out there that’s inventive, entertaining. I would summarize by saying that we would really like Hangover Lounge to be in the business of promoting dreams and building community.
“What we’re hoping for is that Hangover Lounge becomes an umbrella that other creators can join in and contribute their ideas and develop projects or podcasts or series - so we’re helping to facilitate people’s dreams and craft.”
~Raymond De Felitta
Lauren: And in discussing these different formats of storytelling, I’m curious what effect you think the pandemic will have on theatre, on movies and TV, and on podcasts.
Raymond: I mean I think in a way podcasts are the luckiest format on the block here because you know it’s still safe to do now. We recorded this before the pandemic so we were all in a room together. You certainly don’t need to be. You can do it just like we’re doing this. It’s probably the safest and the fact that— in popularity suggests to me that people are—
Raymond’s connection cuts out. After about a minute, we reconnect.
Lauren: I lost you for a sec. I don’t know what happened.
Raymond: It’s okay. The 21st century happened. We have more technology than we know how to perfect is all. So, I think that the podcast explosion has been about mobility. You can be exercising. You can be driving. You can be doing things. Anything solitary can be accompanied by a podcast. You don’t need your huge TV screen or sound bar. You know, everyone has different feelings about what’s going to happen to movies and TV. My sense is that we’re going to get used to seeing things in different ways. I hate when we hear people completely predict the abolishment of something. There was a time when TV was going to abolish movies in the 1950s, and it never did. Theatre has been written off through the entire 20th and early 21st century, and theater doesn’t go away. I think [the pandemic] it will probably force people to look at how to make things, and influence what gets made with what’s safe for production. Right now the p.g.a., the Producers Guild of America, has been working on guidelines on how to safely shoot a movie, and I won’t go into the whole thing ‘cause it’s kind of complicated. But clearly, there’s only certain kinds of movies that have limited casts and limited locations that fit this model. But then again, there are scripts that there’s just no way to do it without lots and lots of people, and I think that’s going to be tough, at least for a while.
Lauren: Do you see Covid-19 being a popular theme in Screenplay Resurrection submissions?
Raymond: I have a feeling a lot of them will be written prior to all this, but I know a lot of people are also addressing it right now in their writing. So there’s that. But you know, if you have work that you’re proud of, send it. Don’t be shy if your piece of writing hasn’t gotten you anywhere. That doesn’t necessarily reflect on its quality. Because we’re doing something with Screenplay Resurrection that we’re hoping is socially viable with well-crafted writing. Above all, we looking for scripts that we think are top notch that can be adapted to the audio medium. If they’re too visually reliant, they won’t make for a good podcast ‘cause there’ll be too much of having to describe what you’re saying. For instance, for our pilot, which was our own script, “Murdering Michael Malloy,” that’s a group of actors and a couple of locations. It’s not too complicated to adapt it for audio, so it actually worked quite well that way. The narrator basically had to bridge scenes and doesn’t really have to describe much of what’s happening. So that's another element we have to look at. You can have a great script, but some of them will be too visually weighted to make the transition to audio.
Lauren: What do you think differentiates Cinefone from Movies ‘Til Dawn from Screenplay Resurrection?
Raymond: Cinefone is a single episode of a feature-length script as opposed to a serialized dramatic presentation like Screenplay Resurrection. It’s more of an entertaining pitch, if you will: a telling of the story with narration, some dramatized scenes, and sound effects. It’s also a tool for writers to be able to use for scripts that— sorry to say— some people or companies don’t want to take the time to read. But if you send them this entertaining 15-20 minute audio file that they can listen to in the car and get the gist of what your script and story is, then that can encourage people to say, “Alright. I really do want to take this seriously and read it.” So that’s really what Cinefone is.
In terms of Movies ‘Til Dawn which I started doing about 6 months ago, my whole idea there is conversations between myself and other filmmakers. Specifically, what I wanted to do as a self-professed film history geek was talk to the people who have long lists of credits. And, in fact, if they’re not working anymore or working rarely, so much the better. I want to talk to veterans, I want to feel history, and I want to discuss craft with people who have seriously accomplished the top rank of filmmaking. So to that end, I’ve interviewed Peter Bogdanovich, the late John Avildsen who directed Rocky, and I’m about to post Harold Becker who directed Sea of Love and Malice. Also, people I’ve worked with like Andy Garcia. He’s very much still working as an actor and as a director, so it’s a combination of that. And I haven’t heard of another podcast quite doing that. It’s not an interview so much as us conversing. I always want to differentiate it as a conversation. An interview format of a filmmaker who’s working today can quickly turn into celebrity talk, and that’s not what I was looking to do with Movies ‘Til Dawn.
XCU: The Viewfinder is not only our blog, but it’s a community we’re building of industry professionals, a mix of emerging and veteran talent, and a place where you can contribute your point of view and ideas. We welcome guest contributors and would love to hear your thoughts about subjects from the entertainment industry that matter to you.
If you’re interested in writing or recording and posting your POV on XCU: The Viewfinder, please email us at hangoverlounge@gmail.com