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There’s no shortage of the “new grindhouse” these days. Sure, gone are the days of shithole grindhouse theaters on 42nd St. with floors that go stick, but it sure hasn’t stopped the resurgence these films have been having. Hell, I was walking down 42nd just a few weeks ago and found it hard to imagine that such a day even existed. Now it’s full of upscale restaurants packed with business executives drinking away their Wall Street worries. With Cold Hard Cash director/producer/cinematographer Mike Pecci brings back a little of that old time vintage sleaze in a way even Tarantino would be timid to touch.
Cold Hard Cash is a short 20 minute film following a couple of sexy tattooed chicks as they get nailed by some gangsters for ripping them off. The boss demands the girls make amends by finding him a certain briefcase containing $175,000. What ensues is several twists, a lot of raunchy sex, and some bloody fuckin’ carnage. Total grindhouse bitches.
One of the most enjoyable features of the film was the cinematography, and no wonder as Pecci is at the helm. Pecci is an award winning filmmaker from my virtual backyard of Boston MA and a regular photographer for the Suicide Girls. Pecci displays a great eye for excellent angles, and shot set-ups. The shots in the film are well thought out and cut skillfully on the editing table. This makes the film a visually pleasing experience. The intentionally distressed prints are reminiscent of the Rodriguez/Tarantino double billing that we’re all overly familiar with, but I think it would be fair not to credit Tarantino as an influence. This effort has a more pure vibe to it. The sound is mixed well, and overall this is a technically sound piece given the near non-existent budget.
On a small production, and a short film to boot, it falls upon the characters to advance the narrative. And this is where the key portion of my review lies. At times the film seemed to forget it had a story to tell and relegated itself to what could be called at best artistic smut, not that anyone here is complaining. I mean, after all this is “grindhouse”. But it would have been nice to have seen this plot structure brought together a bit more.
In terms of the acting we have to mention the loveable Tron. This guy was fuckin’ horrible and to a degree detracted from the action with his ridiculous acting and character who acted out of sorts. No self respecting tough guy is going to let some busty broad get the best of him, especially when he’s taking her to see “the boss”. Maybe in a club or out on the street, but not while he’s on the job. Somehow, through the low budget appeal of the film, there cut through a certain endearing touch to Tron’s lifeless performance that makes you feel for him. Kinda in the same way you wouldn’t want to see that special kid on the bus get picked on.
Enough of Tron. Let’s talk about the girls. I haven’t seen such a wonderful performance from a completely untrained actor as Odette Suicide who played the character of Deanne. This girl radiated badass to the boner. She was completely comfortable in her own skin, shot most of the film topless, appeared confident and in control throughout, delivered her dialogue with dead pan accuracy, and was just superb. Deanne, if you’re reading this know what we’re applauding. This girl needs to be featured in more stuff like this. The material was right up her alley.
As far as Eliska is concerned, I’m a huge fan of voluptuous curves and big boobies, but I found her character so reserved and weak it was difficult watch her and really get into what she was all about. Unlike Odette, Eliska wasn’t that great of an actress and so her lines came across as dry and unrehearsed. She would have been better with fewer lines. Thanks to her background as a Suicide Girl model she did a great job when she didn’t say anything. To her credit there was one particular scene late in the film where a violent struggle ensues and she physically delivered a great performance. She clearly has the ability to strike a pose at the drop of a bra, and that’s what she should stick to.
Extras for the DVD are quite impressive. You get the full unedited version of the film, then a shorter 10 minute festival version. This version cuts out much of the story and re-arranges the shots to tell a slightly different tale. There are multiple commentary tracks. By far the best is the “Mommentary” track where Pecci screens the film with his mother. This had me laughing out loud at several points. Additional extras include a music video for Chris Renna’s Suicide Love song, and finally wrapped out by The Ballad of Tron Howitzer, a homemade documentary about good ol’ Tron, struggling for acting jobs, and ultimately getting stood up for a gig that should have been his.
Listen, I could talk quite a bit further about this film but I don’t have the room or the time. The fact that I’ve shit out nearly 900 words thus far should tell you that this isn’t a film to miss. Cold Hard Cash makes an excellent lead in for a double billing of pure raunchiness, exploitation, and bloody goodness. We recommend that you find your way to the director’s website and pick this one up today. We promise you won’t regret it. - Marc Patterson Deadly DVD.com
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Funny how a largely unsuccessful film can still spawn a trend, isn’t it? I mean honestly, how many films – new releases and reissues alike – have been proclaimed “Grindhouse” by their creators and distributors despite the lackluster box-office performance of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s eponymous effort? It’s doubly unfortunate that so many of said films fail to deliver the grimy goods, but Mike Pecci’s new Grindhouse style collaboration with the Suicide Girls is a happy exception.
Clocking in at a lean, mean nineteen minutes, Cold Hard Cash unfolds thusly: Suicide Girl meets Suicide Girl, Suicide Girls run afoul of mobster who gives Suicide Girls a chance to redeem themselves by collecting a debt for him, Suicide Girls collect said debt, go home, have hot, passionate, rough, tongue intensive sex, decide to double cross/beat the crap out of/mutilate each other, then attempt to kill each other. Oh, and one other thing: BOOBIES! BOOBIES EVERYWHERE! Big bouncy ones, li’l wee perky ones, and all points in between! The Occasional vagina, even! (Okay, maybe you’re right, officer – I need some quiet time now.) – JWB RUE MORGUE MAGAZINE 2008
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This 19 minute film by Mike Pecci has a strong Quentin Tarentino characteristic to it. Featuring the Suicide Girls Odette and Eliska it contains tough attitudes: spit in your face violence, vulgar language, and sexual eroticism. – GASP Magazine
Rated 3.5 skulls (out of five)
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"Grindhouse done right" - Film Threat
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COLD HARD CASH is awesome! It is a perfect combination of violence, action and sexy girls! - 2008
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During the filming of the Agnostic Front video for "For My Family" MTV filmed a behind the scenes piece that was broadcast on Headbangers Ball in Norway! The clip talks about the New York hardcore scene and the idea behind the video. It's short and sweet. Watch Ian and I ham it up for the cameras with Roger Miret on Heandbangers ball!
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Meshuggah "Bleed" Video Interview with Directors Mike Pecci and Ian McFarland
By Dixon Christie
2008
PunkTV.ca: Hey guys. Why don't you introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about the work that you've done?
I: My name is Ian McFarland. I own a company called Killswitch Productions started back in 2004. I played in a hardcore band called Blood for Blood from 1997 on and I kind of just started doing music videos for friends of mine from the hardcore and punk world, and that rolled into what we do today. We do everything from stuff for PBS to local companies and all kinds of stuff, like multimedia editing to music videos, and that is kind of how Mike and I got wrapped up together. I had seen a bunch of Mike's work here in town and he is an awesome photographer and he was definitely into film. We kind of just teamed up and have been working on projects ever since.
M: I don't come from the music scene, I came from photography. Most of my stuff has been dark little short projects. Teaming up with Ian was a great way to enhance my visuals.
PunkTV.ca: Ian, can you give us a bit of background of some of your influences from musical directors, and Mike from music directors and photographers?
I: I have loved Marc Romanek and he is my favorite director. I get a lot of inspiration from a lot of my peers and I get a lot of crazy ideas then turn them into projects and videos like this. I really just get inspiration everywhere.
M: My inspirations usually change. I find when you are doing a bunch of different mediums you try to make your work as fresh as possible, so a lot of times for a project I would try to erase all of my inspirations. One of the guys that I fall back on through is Ridley Scott, and I can't imagine doing the amount of stuff that he has done. He definitely has his own style though, whether it's an epic battle scene or anything he does. I try to be influenced by something new and when I work on a project it's like, give me a couple days to erase my mind and get some ideas. Photography is the same deal. When it comes to composition, though, I have always been inspired by comic book art.
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An interview with "Cold Hard Cash" diretor Mike Pecci on www.wearemoviegeeks.com - 2008
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"There has been a recent influx of "Short" movies as of late, and honestly I love it. I first heard about this one late last year while visiting Eliska's MySpace page. It got me curious then, and I sort of forgot about it until a few weeks ago. I contact Mike Pecci and hooked up an interview with him and he was cool enough to throw a free DVD our way. I was stoked to come home and find it waiting for me …
I popped it in the DVD player and sat back for what was one of the most enjoyable cinema experiences I've had in a very long time. The movie clocks in at 20 minutes long(about 60 minutes to short) and things happen pretty quickly. We are initially introduced to Deane (played by Suicide Girl Odette), who is a bad ass chick and you find out right off the bat that this isn't your normal horror flick. As Mike puts it, this is 'Arty Smut'..and I would have to agree. Deane is topless through the opening of the movie, which I certainly will not complain about. Then you get introduced to Tanya (played by Eliska formerly of the Suicide Girls) who is a silky smooth big breasted vixen who always gets her way. They are tasked with a mission to retrieve an item, or face uncertain death. They team up and things quickly go awry..i wont give it away, but you NEED to see this flick.
Mike Pecci recreated 70's style badass cinema almost as good as Tarantino does it, and that's saying a lot because I am a HUGE Tarantino fanatic. The movie was made on such a small budget, I cant wait to see what he can do with a full budget.
Go buy this DVD, you wont be disappointed." 4 STARS - Hackslashdead.com - 2008
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MTV2 Headbangers Ball Interview - 2008
Headbangers Blog is proud to present the premiere of the new video from Agnostic Front for the song “For My Family.” The song, a celebration of family and a shout-out to New York City’s hardcore scene and the “Lower East Side Crew,” comes from the band’s new album, Warriors, which was released in November.
If this video seems like it has a lot of meaning, it was absolutely our intention,” frontman Roger Miret tells Headbangers Ball Blog. “This is a visual heirloom we’re passing on to the New York music scene about the history and future of hardcore. It’s a very personal letter for my family, acknowledging the love, respect, and honor we hold for NYHC and our families today, tomorrow, and forever. We personally felt a need to give back to our fans and followers with this video because they are the true funders of this video, which is truly made by us for them. This is their anthem and our dedication to their support.”
The “For My Family” video includes a cameo by Miret’s daughter, Havi, and features shots of various members of the New York hardcore community. The clip was directed and produced by Ian McFarland, who also coordinated all of the guest appearances.
“He gave our song a good listen,” says Miret. “It was his whole vision from listening to the lyrics and it came from his own involvement with the band and the scene. This is game recognizing game here at it’s best. My daughter Havi is a natural. Look at her. Give her an Oscar. She is a gem. I love her and my wife Emily and Nadia dearly. My family is my reason to live. I value family greatly, along with pride and honor. These are all strong elements in life and without family, pride, or honor, what is life worth living for? You can see the true love and bond our family holds.”
Breakdown of “For My Family” video by producers, Ian McFarland and Mike Pecci of Killswitch Productions:
On the live shots:
Ian McFarland: We shot the live performance stuff at Toad’s Place in Connecticut and then we shot the master shot of Roger, as well as a bunch of the portraits, in Brooklyn, New York at Hold Fast Tattoos. The rest of the portraits were shot in other parts of New York City and Los Angeles. As far as the crowd goes, they were amazing. There was a really cool vibe in the air all night that seemed to translate well on camera. It was a good mix of old fans, new fans, and people that had never heard of Agnostic Front.
Mike Pecci: We were adamant about capturing the raw energy and emotion and getting right into Roger’s face. The stage was extremely tight and with all of the band’s equipment on it, we had absolutely no room. I freaked out at first and told Roger that in order for us to do this right, we have to be on stage with them running around, throwing the camera in their face. Roger was totally cool with it. It was awesome! Ian and I became members of the band and our hand-held camera work became part of the performance. The audience that night was fantastic. As soon as Roger informed them that we were shooting a video, they exploded into an ocean of diehard fans. They literally became this raging sea of bodies that kept spilling on the stage. I had to try my best to avoid them and still get my shots. Roger was amazing with them. He really knows how to interact with his fans and get the most out of them. At one point I’m standing next to him filming a close-up and he says “Watch this,” and he walks to the edge of the stage and steps out onto the crowd. He starts walking on his fans as they hold him up, then turns around and waves at me to follow. I stood there watching him being tossed around by this sea of singing fans, then looked at my camera and yelled back, “I’ll get the shot from here.”
On tracking down the guests for the video:
Ian McFarland: Putting this together was not easy at all, due to the fact that I had to deal with musicians, and musicians usually have crazy schedules. It seemed like every person I wanted in the video was either heading out on tour, in the studio recording, or shooting a video of their own. Luckily I had a few guys I know and have worked with before (Neil Goss, Kevin Custer and Forest Love) shoot the stuff that Mike and I were unable to shoot. It was nuts and I can’t say that I was pumped during the whole process, but I’m glad that we stuck it out and kept pushing because the video and everyone in it mean a lot to the band and without them, it would not have the same depth.
On the art of shooting videos:
Mike Pecci: People in this business get caught up in the gear and forget the most important part of making a music video or a film. It’s all about what and who you put in front of the camera. The footage looks beautiful and emotional because we were filming emotional people. I spend a lot of time lighting my videos and that comes from my film and photography background. When we were shooting the portraits in New York, I worked closely with my electrician Aaron Tyburski to create a soft vignette type feeling that would serve as a heavy contrast to some of these hard-lived characters. One of the things I am most proud of in the entire video was the decision to have Roger [Miret] sitting during his singing part. He was really opposed to it at first but Ian talked him into it and I think that he understands why we wanted him sitting after he saw the video. I spent some time in prep watching all the old Agnostic Front videos, and in every single one Roger is always standing in front of the camera singing and jumping around. I thought that by controlling his movements and keeping him grounded on the couch, it made it more personal and gave you the feeling that Roger was actually singing to you at home in your living room.
Ian McFarland: I completely agree with Mike on this. Having Roger seated for most of the video seems like a small detail, but it really adds a tone of sovereignty that I feel does not come across in any of their other videos. Agnostic Front are the Godfathers of Hardcore and, in my eyes, always will be. Making this decision only underscores that.”
On why Killswitch Productions took the job:
Mike Pecci: When Ian first approached me about doing a live video for Agnostic Front, I was apprehensive. If we were going to do this, it had to be beautiful and different than all their other videos. This video is filled with emotional meaning and slight nods that only true hardcore fans will understand. I feel like each one of the videos that Ian and I do together are completely different than the one before it. Every time we get offered a video, our first thoughts are, “How can we make this different? How can we make this work for the band, appeal to the fans, but be completely new for the scene?” The music video market is so over-saturated today and most concepts are really weak. I take pride in the fact that every one of the videos that Ian and I have worked on has had concepts that come from completely original ideas.
Ian McFarland: Mike and I don’t pump out videos at the same rate that other directors do because we just don’t want to put out crap. We take pride in every video we do and love to do videos that not only the bands are proud of, but that we are proud of as well.
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“At long last! Everyone’s favorite Swedish tech-metalers, Meshuggah, have offered up a sneak peak at the first video from their critically-acclaimed new record, obZen. Fittingly, the Killswitch Productions-helmed clip gets a cinematic trailer, and Mike Pecci and Ian McFarland’s eerie horror flick aesthetic is immediately noticeable. The video stills are exceedingly creepy in a sort of Francis Bacon vs. The Cell sense. Who’s pumped? Keep an eye out for the official worldwide debut of the entire music video very, very soon. And in the meantime…Watch and Share The Trailer For Meshuggah’s “Bleed” - Metalmartur.com -2008
“A teaser for MESHUGGAH’s Bleed video has made its way online, and it looks very awesome. Check it out here with additional stills from the shoot. I had a chance to speak with Mårten Hagström during the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival about the video, and he clued me in that the band had no time to shoot any performance for the video, so its all just narrative (story). The directors of the video, Mike Pecci and Ian McFarland, came to the band with a concept and the band gave them full control to shoot it. Sounds like its going to be awesome! If you haven’t checked out our recent interview with drummer Tomas Haake.” – Metal Injection.net - 2008
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“Politics meets rock in duo's Internet video”
By STEPHANIE VOSK
STAFF WRITER
2007
BOSTON - Their video doesn't take a stand on abortion, but the short clip produced and filmed by Cape-connected pair Benjamin Oliver and Mike Pecci does take on the political hot potato.
The project is ''a pop video with a little bit of content," Oliver said of his accompaniment to the song, ''Buffer Zone."
It's not the first time the pair has teamed up. After spending a year at the Vancouver Film School in British Columbia, Oliver moved back to Sandwich in 2003, his home town, looking for work.
Pecci, then living in Mashpee, was working on a short film and needed a set designer.
Oliver took on the job, a film detailing a woman's journey to the morgue was produced and shown at the Woods Hole Film Festival, and a team was born.
When Oliver, 26, landed the job of directing and producing a music video for the Boston-based band, the Sterns, this year, he looked to his old friend Pecci, 28, to do the filming.
The song's title references the line that protesters in front of abortion clinics aren't allowed to cross. The video focuses on a woman who will eventually cross the line to enter the clinic, and the protesters who surround her as she walks in.
''No matter what, it's a political statement to a certain extent, but we didn't want to say which side is really right," Oliver said.
The video starts with the woman drinking her coffee and getting ready to go out for the day. The early scenes were shot in Oliver's Brighton apartment.
When she finally does make it to Planned Parenthood, it is still unclear what she is doing there. She could be going for an abortion, or she could be working as a temp in the office, Oliver said.
The filmmakers wanted it that way.
''We kind of wanted to leave it open to people," Oliver said.
Oliver and Pecci both made it clear they feel protesting in front of clinics is not the best way to get one's point across.
''It's not necessarily effective," Pecci said. ''You're hassling people who are going there with a crisis in their life already."
One part of the song particularly inspired Oliver's plans for the video: ''Leave these kids alone. We can fight it out in court."
While they've submitted the video to MTV, that was never really its intent, the two said. The Internet is a better place to market videos right now, they feel, and their film has already received about 28,000 hits on YouTube.
''When I finished this thing two weeks ago, it didn't exist," Oliver said. ''Now it's on the Internet and anyone in the world can watch it. It can be that quick."
Stephanie Vosk can be reached at svosk@capecodonline.com.
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“Subway Stalker,” by Michael Pecci and starring Tim Downey, takes a mere five minutes of your time, but leaves you a bit stunned for a spell. It’s about a creep who inappropriately touches a plump-ish girl – as he describes her – in the metro. He hopes that if he follows her at her stop, he'll get some serious action. This rather gross episode, as recalled by its narrating anti-hero, fascinates like a lurid version of “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” - written by Mike Fink MOTIF MAGAZINE 2007
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The guys from Filmmakerspod.com came down to the studio and interviewed Mike, Louis, & Seth about how they make “Starvin with Louis”. The first part can be heard at the end of Episode #12 check it out. - 2007
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Starvin with Louis was voted the “The Absolute Podcast” by Absolute Vodka. -2007
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WIRED MAGAZINES PODCASTS TO WATCH
2006
Starvin' With Louis
No money for rack of lamb? Lacking mad skillz in the kitchen? Punk gourmand Lou Scheele whips up Ramen Hot-Dog Chop Suey and other delicious low-rent dishes.
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Best Local Podcast/Vlog
2006
StarvinwithLouis.com, Louis Scheele’s cross between a cooking and comedy show, came in a strong second. Lou is undoubtedly a cool guy — he cooked lunch for Phoenix reporter Camille Dodero, who interviewed him. We like Lou’s attitude. He saw a tag line by a TV chef that there was “more to cook than ramen noodles,” and that “ticked me off. The point of my show is simple, there is more to cook than ramen noodles, but some of us are stuck with that shit. Starvin’ with Louis is about living on a budget and keeping a sense of humor.’’ Louis’s tag: “Louis shows you there is more to cooking than spending a shitload of money.”
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ID CHECK
Ghetto chef
BY CAMILLE DODERO
2006
Screw the Food Network. I’d rather eat chocolate-covered ramen-noodle bars whipped up by the host of white-trash Internet cooking show Starvin’ With Louis. The low-rent creation of Mike Pecci and Louis Scheele, two penniless filmmakers who share a Brighton apartment, Starvin’ With Louis is Viva la Bam overthrowing The Naked Chef, a comic masterpiece for anyone who’s ever had to scrape together a meal out of leftovers and whatever else is lurking in near-bare kitchen cabinets.
"We were sitting around on a Tuesday, like really bored," recalls director/producer/editor Pecci. "Lou came in and made ramen-hot-dog chop suey. I was like, ‘That is the most repugnant shit I’ve ever seen.’ Lou ... sat down and ate it, and was like, ‘It’s pretty good.’ And so I said, ‘Well, the next time you do that, I want to film you doing it.’"
Pecci uploaded the edited footage to his personal site (www.mikepecci.com) and sent the address to friends. The hot-dog-and-ramen video lit up enough in-boxes last May that Collegehumor.com then posted a link and the video got 70,000 hits in three days. That one-off became the first of three and a half episodes of Starvin’ With Louis (and led to projects like producing/filming the Unseen video for "You Can Never Go Home.")
A burly "hardcore kid" (Pecci’s words) with a parched wit, braided beard, and deep-abiding love for PBR, Scheele is actually something of an amateur chef, having once worked in the kitchen of a steak restaurant — a job he credits with teaching him "what flavors go together." But Scheele’s cooking style is entirely his own. Tablespoons are trumped by instinct. A wok is his hearth. Booze and hot sauce are his culinary cure-alls. White speckles of indeterminate origin found on the cutting board are "flavor."
But that’s the point of Starvin’ With Louis, inasmuch as there is one: Scheele prepares dishes that sound completely gross, but actually taste pretty good — and for cheap. On the show, he invents trailer-trash delicacies like ramen Chex Mix and ranch-flavored French-toast fries. In one episode, Scheele invites a SuicideGirl named Sid over to hang out with him and his roommate Aaron, drink "poor-man mimosas" (Steel Reserve 40s mixed with OJ), and help Scheele bake Spam cupcakes with instant-mashed-potato frosting. In another, he goes fishing in the Atlantic Ocean with a two-person crew, catches no fish, and feeds his boatmates a prepared "lunch-fast" of egg salad and ramen party mix. The only one on the trip who gets seasick is Pecci — also the only one who doesn’t eat Scheele’s food.
The afternoon I’m at the apartment to interview Scheele (and guest-star on his show; see www.starvinwithlouis.com/starvinepisode_phoenix.html), he’s spent $16 on ingredients for a four-person-plus-leftovers meal christened the "Luau Extravaganza Burrito with Lava Tortillas." It’s a Hawaiian-style brown-rice-filled sundried-tomato wrap of canned pineapple chunks, pepper-jack cheese, ginger-flavored sweet-and-sour sauce, sprouts, carrots (none for me), cilantro, and Treet (Armour Star’s 99-cent version of Spam). (There will be no more Spam on Starvin’ With Louis: Scheele says Hormel saw him use rival-product Treet for sandwich meat and sent him a free case of Spam, but once the Spam-cupcake episode went online, the company saw how hammered Louis and his co-stars got and reneged on their sponsorship.)
Today, roommate Aaron and I are the burrito guinea pigs, so we plop down at the kitchen table, underneath a poster of toilet-cam stills. On the show, cameraman Pecci is an invisible voice, but here he can be a puppeteer. Like when he challenges Scheele to eat a stray pineapple lump that’s fallen on the floor. Or when he, ah, baits me into saying on camera that I was molested by an onion. Don’t ask.
At one point during a cooking lapse, I ask Scheele about his four months working as a strip-club bouncer in New York State; he tells a story about how he was once jumped by guys he’d kicked out and who later recognized him — at the supermarket in the toilet-paper aisle. I also discover that the online-cooking-show star doesn’t have a strong sense of taste — a childhood prank left him with chemical burns in his nostrils and he has no sense of smell. The show hits a minor catastrophe that involves paper towels sticking to most of the tortillas (mine luckily escape unscathed), so when Scheele sits down to eat, there’s actually paper-towel skin clinging to his burrito. He eats it anyway.
"I actually have some trouble coming up with some recipes because I want them to appear horrible and then turn out to be good," admits Scheele, having already explained that he’d originally wanted to make Treet-filled lasagna with sauerkraut today, but Pecci told him no.
"Lou’s biggest problem is that he’s a really good cook," Pecci adds, pacing around the kitchen, the camera finally at rest. "He’s stuck now in a show where he has to make food that sounds fuckin’ terrible. He wants to make these fancy things. And I’m like, ‘Dude, sounds too good. Gotta be crappier.’"
Watch Starvin’ With Louis at www.starvinwithlouis.com.
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News columnist gets whacked in indie film being shot in Framingham
By Chris Bergeron/News Staff Writer
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Lights. Cameras. Kill Lenny Megliola.
An unshaven man in a knit cap shot the veteran sportswriter through the heart with a .45 caliber pistol Friday morning in a dingy hall in the Bancroft Building in south Framingham.
Revenge for unflattering columns in the MetroWest Daily News? A hit man who does not like the avuncular sweaters he wears on New England Cable News?
In fact, Megliola was whacked on the set of “Street Players,” an independent feature film being made by three guys with deep Framingham roots...
... Director of Photography Mike Pecci of Framingham peered into a video monitor, viewing earlier takes of Megliola’s cinematic murder. In a drafty hall, sound technician Brian Courchine checked his recording equipment.
A Wayland resident, Courchine said his biggest technical challenge was keeping “extraneous noise” from businesses in the building and trains running on the nearby tracks from blotting out dialogue.
His assistant, boom operator Camden Pollio, a Boston College English major, rehearsed his graphic lines for a small role as a mobster in the film.
Production manager Rudy Hypolite returned to the scene of the crime to say he wanted another take of Megliola getting shot.
Thomas Pimentel, who provides the film’s artificial weapons, passed out ear plugs to protect crewmembers’ears when the mock gun went off. Colon taped a bag of artificial blood to Megliola’s chest.
Pimentel ordered quiet on the set.
Elwood, as the vengeance-crazed hero, walked down the dim hall. He sees Megliola standing against the wall and brings up a heavy black gun.
Boom.
Megliola, sportswriter and thespian, meets another deadline.
( For more information about “Street Players,” visit the Web site, www.roadramblerfilms.com )
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“HOLE IN THE WALL”:
8/16/04
Film Review
Mike Pecci’s "Autumn," a mini-Mamet drama with tangy slang dialogue in which several suspicious-looking oddballs prepare for a secret operation in the night. Two twist endings, one twist too many.
GERALD PEARY
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ANOTHER "AUTUMN":
8/01/04
Boston filmmaker Mike Pecci's short film "Autumn" makes its debut Thursday at 7 p.m. at this year's Woods Hole Film Festival. The cast and crew will be in attendance.
Pecci is calling this version of his film, which stars Pete Giovine, local director/actor Garth Donovan, and Boston comic Tom Morin, a "director's cut" because "Autumn" was originally created as part of the 2003 48-Hour Film Project. Shot in Chinatown, at the Ritz Hotel, and at Pine Manor College, Pecci's film went on to win awards for acting, sound design, visual effects, and an audience award in the competition. Pecci and editor Benjamin Oliver later went back into the studio and edited the footage, adding special effects and music from composer Angus Moncrieff. "Autumn" was then handed over to David Schwartz and Greg Lutton at Drag1 Studios for new sound design and dialog remastering, said the director whose first short, "Torpor" played the Woods Hole Film Festival and the Boston Underground Film Festival in 2002.
For more information on the screening, visit www.woodsholefilmfestival.com.
Loren King
© Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.
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"AT WORK"
Mike Pecci
12/7/2003
Framingham native and Boston resident Mike Pecci directed the short film "Autumn" as part of the recent "48 Hour Film Project," in which teams were required to shoot and edit a 10-minute film within 48 hours. At a Nov. 21 reception and screening for the films, "Autumn" earned the audience award as well as honors for acting, sound design, and visual effects.
The film stars Garth Donovan and Pete Giovine and was shot in Chinatown, at the Ritz-Carlton, and at Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill. Pecci and his team -- producers Louis Scheele and Amy Loeber, editor Benjamin Oliver, and sound designer David Schwartz -- have polished the short film and are readying it for submission to film festivals. Pecci's first short, "Torpor," played the Woods Hole Film Festival and the Boston Underground Film Festival in 2002.
LOREN KING
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
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"AT WORK"
Garth Donovan
12/14/2003
Needham resident Garth Donovan's first feature, "Everyone's Got One," the tale of a desperate scriptwriter that screened at the 2002 Wood's Hole Film Festival and at the Coolidge Corner Theatre this year, was just accepted into the TromaDance Film Festival, which takes place concurrently in Salt Lake City and Park City, Utah, next month.
Donovan, who attended Stonehill College, just finished his second film, a coming-of-age drama with the working title "Samantha," about a female hockey player. It stars his sister, Savann Donovan, and local actor Michael Judge. The filmmaker says his sophomore effort is a departure from the light comedy of "Everyone's Got One." "It's a strong, serious film in the tradition of Ken Loach and Mike Leigh," he says.
Donovan plans an area screening in the coming months. Meanwhile, he keeps busy as a freelance film editor and actor. He recently appeared in local filmmaker Mike Pecci's "Autumn" and a short film by WHFF founder Judy Laster.
LOREN KING
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.