SleatherMovie.com - news

October 21, 2007

Photo by Kristen Pierson

Special Guest Writer: Jeff Hodge

Prologue:

Waking up on Sunday the twenty-first was a strange sensation. I was told that it was to be the last Sleather shoot. I knew that in order to do this, we had to shoot three different scenes. Three scenes, something never before done by the Sleather team. (I don’t think we’ve ever even attempted it.) I need a coffee. [Editor's Note: We did indeed attempt it ... on Day 1. All three scenes were not completed.]

Act I - “The Phone Booth”

I got my coffee ... mmmmhhh ... that's warm ... “What is that!?!” I still don’t know. But it's big, and it seems to block the light. And I’m glad that I don’t have to hold it. As I stood in the phone booth while they set up the shot, I made quiet noises and fart sounds until Fred on sound realized it was me, then I just sang to him. Anne, playing a bystander at the phone booth, was great fun working with.

At the end of this shoot, Anthony needed a shot of Anne from my point of view. He wanted someone my height to shoot it. I explained to him that I, believe it or not, am exactly my height. So he handed me the camera and let me shoot my own “POV.” Eric Weindel later said that my shot was “useable.”

Act II - “The Tank” (AKA “ha ha holy sh$#^t, I get to play in a tank!”)

Right around lunch time we arrived at a dead end road in Coventry, RI. It has been my experience that if we are going to shoot in Coventry, it’s going to be on a dead end. In the credits, we should thank Dead Ends ... yeah, and capitalize it... they deserve it. When I arrived on set, there was a great deal of camouflage. It was at this moment that I think we all were starting to realize that we were really doing something special. Everyone on set seemed to have this glow about them. The sheer magnitude of four military vehicles and all of us was a bit much. So Mike Fetta and I dug deep for a Star Wars quote, and then I got to play in a tank.

As I was getting into the tank for the first time, I introduced myself to the driver. “Hi, I’m Jeff.” I shook his hand. “You can call me Dick,” he told me. The problem was, I didn’t want to call him Dick. I wanted to call him “Sarge,” or, “Commander,” or “Lieutenant.” I didn’t have the gumption to ask him which of those he might have been (thats right gumption!), so I had to make it up for myself. Commander Dick and I got along swingingly. Then Fred scared me with the boom mic at my crotch.

In this scene JB talks to Linus on the phone. We had a good laugh. When we filmed Linus’ side of the conversation, it was October 2005. A two year phone call. Well worth the wait.

Will the Sleather team complete their quest to shoot three scenes in one day and wrap Sleather??? Stay tuned for the conclusion in Act III: “The DMV!”

Act III - “The DMV”

Going into the DMV, I already felt so good about all that we had done in one day, and all of the fun that we had already had. And now, here we were, for the last shoot of principal photography. You could see in everyone’s eyes that they were trying not to think about it, we still had one scene. With about thirty extras waiting at the DMV I had the pleasure of acting with Anthony’s mother. And we both laughed a lot. With the full crew, parents, family, brothers, and sisters, Nick Prymak held up the original Sleather slate for the final take, and some of us sang “The Final Countdown.” When action was called, the room was silent. I walked up to deliver my last line, and messed up.

Final take, take two.

And then we wrapped Sleather.

Special Guest Writer: Abby Treglia

That's right! Sleather offically wrapped production this past Sunday, October 21, 2007, a full two years after production first began. The last three locations in one day ... I was a little leary, but determined to get things done. Saturday was spent preparing for the elusive "Last Shoot." Everything was going along fine and getting done, then Mr. Murphy and his silly little law showed up. Anthony got the call. "We got the DMV, we don't have to use the back-up location." Then it happened, my most dreaded task as a producer. "Hey Abby, I need 40 extras ... for tomorrow." That's right, 40. After a long sigh, I grabbed the folder and began the calls. A few hours rolled by. I had 12. I needed sleep. I went home. The next morning started with a few seconds of quiet and 3 hours of sleep. Suddenly, the phone rang. It was Nick, giving me updates and asking how we were looking on extras. Off to the first shoot.

It was a great one. The phone booth. Phone constructed by our amazing Art Department. Things went swimmingly. I went ahead to our next location, by far one of the coolest locations we have ever had. The tank. It was unreal. Jeff was a natural. JB's cup in one hand, field radio in the other (old 80's cell phone), and a cigar to boot. It was definitely a sight to see.

On to the DMV. I was a little stressed. I didn't know how many extras were going to be there. I had 17 confirmed. No worries. They came in droves ... like ants. They were everywhere. Final count: 37. Very exciting, indeed. Everyone was fired up. I had an odd mix of happiness, hyperness, and sentimentiality all hit me at the same time. Tears were the result. The last take ever ... Anthony saying, "That's perfect ..." and no other words after, it was a little strange. That's when it set in. The champagne was popped, cheers, hugs, and a few tears were shed. "That's a wrap!" On to the bar.

And just like that, Sleather, the first feature length movie of my career, was done.

October 14, 2007

Special Guest Writer: Michael A. LoCicero

It was a beautiful October morning. A surprisingly happy awakening for Mike on his day of WRAP for the epic feature ... known as Sleather.

No rain delay, no calls from Anthony telling me he has no crew, no worry that we may get arrested for shooting on property that we're apparently trespassing on. So far, so good ... however, this being the 47th (okay 3rd?) [Editor's Note: fourth.] attempt at shooting a scene that is MAYBE a page long in the script, it's hard not to have a little doubt.

And actually, it was one of the smoothest shooting days we've had. Crew was on point (aside from when half the crew and Pat went on a bathroom run without telling the director ... uhh, anyone wanna play cards?), actors were obviously, sorry Jeff, Odd-viously on point ;), Eric, aka "Lerch," couldn't breathe but looked fantastic, AND the house looked great too! Good job Art Dept! A big thank you to the owners, Dr. and Mrs. Stephen Jarrow, who were so nice! They hung out and watched with excitement even though shooting a movie isn't exciting at all. It really makes such a difference when we feel as welcome on a location as they made us feel ... I think their son even helped out on crew!

This was definitely the best Spooky House out of all 47 Spooky Houses we tried our hand at. Which has happened quite a bit on our journey through the Sleather mountains ... despite all the hiccups we've encountered these past two years, most of them have all been for good reason; this was the final and BEST Spooky House location, Sham Rock's was the BEST out of numerous Patch locations we went through, CONTEMPLATIVE SPOT ... nuff said, any re-shoots we did (commercial audition!) were for the better, just the all around patience that everyone displayed throughout this process in order to GET IT RIGHT ... I'm so very proud of you all for that. That's "movie magic" right there. Now let's see some editing magic!

Oh yeah ... pizza and other food Fat Mike doesn't eat were served. And I did a cartwheel when they wrapped me. Thank you.

August 31, 2007

[Editor's Note: No pictures were taken on this day. {Sob!}]

Special Guest Writer: Susan T. Travers

So this was my last day ever behind the camera on Sleather. I had already had my wrap day, this was the only pick up that I had to do.

Nick, Anthony and I were shooting at Nick’s parent’s house. It was really funny because Nick’s pops was working from home and Nick kept yelling at him to shut up – not realizing he was on the phone with a client. So we were working around his pops on the phone.

I think the worst part of the day was putting on a costume that I hadn’t worn in a year or so and have it feel a bit snug. When I mentioned this to the boys, Anthony said, “Tell me about it,” referring to how his clothes from a year ago were also snug as a bug on him.

It was funny having to look at Anthony and pretend he was Mike {aka Linus}. But somehow it was easier because Mike makes me turn into McGiggles. He does this weird expression that cracks me up and keeps cracking me up – like that head roll he did while shooting the Mail Box.

At one point there was this weird blue liquid coming out of a crate on the kitchen floor, come to realize it was a bottle of Windex that came untwisted. Thank goodness it didn’t soak any of the equipment.

All in all it was a very quick and quiet day on {sob} Sleather!

August 23, 2007

Day 82 News Coming Soon!

August 1, 2007

48 Hour Film Project News Coming Soon!

July 27-29, 2007

48 Hour Film Project News Coming Soon!

July 16, 2007

Day 81 News Coming Soon!

July 15, 2007

Day 80 News Coming Soon!

July 14, 2007

Special Guest Writer: Chris Magdalenski

I am a Fashionable Person.

Or at least I am now that Anthony has finally been able to convince me to come and help out for a day on what he has dubbed the "Fashionable People" shoot. Actually, it didn’t take much in the way of convincing. Around 11 PM the previous night I picked up the phone, only to hear my friend’s dejected voice on the other end. It was an important shoot tomorrow and Anthony wasn’t sure that he’d have enough crew to get the job done. I had already planned a trip up to Lowell, MA, to begin research on my own project, a documentary on the great Jack Kerouac, but for the sake of friendship and film I shifted some plans and told him that I could give him about a half-day’s worth of work.

I made it to the location in downtown Pawtucket around 9 AM. People (some of whom I knew, some I didn’t) were already there pulling equipment from cars, and I quickly joined in. Anthony wasn’t on set yet, dealing with a transportation issue of some sort, but would arrive shortly. [Editor's Note: TJ's car broke down on Route 2, stranding both him and Anthony in Warwick.] In the meantime, I surveyed the scene, impressed with the focus of the crew members as they prepped the location: the shop window of a salon (the so-called "Fashionable People" salon in the script) which had to be dressed up a bit. After the work was done I could remember hearing the owner of the establishment excitedly remark at how nice it looked, and ask if there were anyway she could keep it like that once the day was done.

A short time later the captain of the ship arrived looking slightly haggard, but still focused. As each weekend passed, Sleather came closer and closer to wrapping, but there was still plenty of work to be done, a fact that I couldn’t help but think was somewhat wearing, not only on Anthony, but also his trusted co-producer and friend Nick.

All of that aside, it was a hot, but beautiful blue-sky summer day, and Anthony got the shots he needed, with only a few issues: the most prominent being a troublesome jib set-up due to a missing bolt. By the time I had to leave around 3 PM, the crew was well on it’s way to wrapping another successful day of shooting what looked to be a very entertaining scene involving one of the lead actors chasing his dreams. On the way home the experience got me thinking ...

The six or so hours I spent on set were fruitful, not only for the production I was helping out, but also for myself, who took the opportunity to observe and learn a little more about the workings of a larger set. Though it was by no means Hollywood, it was something else, something far more important. I was watching friends of mine chase their own filmmaking dreams ... Which to me is about as fashionable as it gets.

June 27, 2007

Day 78 News Coming Soon!

June 20, 2007

Day 77 News Coming Soon!

June 18, 2007

Special Guest Writer: Nicholas Delmenico

After a wrecking ball was taken to the footage of the night before, the Sleather cast and crew reconvened at Sham Rock’s with a slew of costumed day players and background actors. It was suggested at a closed-door meeting that by changing the shooting order, some people might not realize that everything from the prior night was being reshot. Unfortunately for science, that theory wasn’t actually tested, as everyone was told ahead of time that everything had to be reshot.

Even though it was officially closed, the bar came alive as John “Chach” Dziadosz performed with his comedy and his acoustic guitar for parts of scene 43 – The Patch. Following a free-form shoot of some much needed and very nice looking b-roll, the well oiled machine that is Sleather began chugging away.

Learning from the mistakes of the previous night, the crew made Sham Rock’s, an honest to goodness bar, actually look like a bar when captured on film*. Several rounds of applause to the art department for decorating the bar to represent Halloween night in Sleather –land.

Shooting until the sun made it no longer possible to go on, the crew was going full steam ahead into Wednesday night’s shoot. When these dailies were viewed, the smiles never left their faces.

Special thanks to Mike and Kate Smith and Will Pryor of Sham Rock’s for making this perfect location available to us, and even more so for being patient with our ever-lengthening shooting schedule.

I never made it into the back room. If someone knows what was served, please let me know.

June 17, 2007

Day 75 - The Patch
Special Guest Writer: Nick Prymak

Tumbling ever further forward into unknown territories was the first day at The Patch. Being experts on tumbling forward (usually upon ourselves) we would not be intimidated by a bar shoot. This would take a lot of finesse on our parts to make sure this was put together properly so we had planned well in advance. We had spent the week prior being more prepared than we had ever been for a shoot. Lists were organized, people were notified, and most shocking of all, storyboards were boarded! Yes, folks, well in advance.

Sham Rock’s in Wakefield provided us with an excellent backdrop to one of our most pivotal scenes yet and we were going to do them proud. We started the night off with our shooting schedule in order (which was done well in advance by the way) and bustling at top speed. We worked feverishly as we had only so many days available to shoot at Sham Rock’s and every shot was just as important to get done correctly as it was quickly. These were going to be some rough overnights.

Our lights cascaded beautifully off the rich woodwork and glass, the neon lights of the bar allowed for a playful glow across our color palette, adding highlights and depth to the film*.

Additionally, I would like it to be known that it were real pretty.

So, with our extras, storyboards, lists, contacts, shooting orders, shot lists, setups, actors, crew all prepared well in advance, one would figure we would finish the first night well in advance.

We instead finished on time.

A Sleather first.

So with that feather in our cap we took a look at the footage we had so tediously prepared for. A smug smile of satisfaction crept upon our tired faces as we pushed play.

It was promptly removed when we saw our first shot.

We would have to reshoot the entire night.

Yes, that is correct, the entire night’s worth of work would have to be scrapped and done again. Take another look at that sentence I have asterisked for you. The camera had failed to pick up anything described in that wonderful and completely heterosexual sentence. Well, maybe a few things, like glow and woodwork. Anthony can be quoted as saying, “We shot in a bar, and despite shooting in a bar, it doesn’t look like bar.” While Anthony was indeed tired and liked very much to say the word bar, that didn’t stop him from being right.

On the plus side, at least we were well prepared to shoot what we already shot.

Dreaded irony was served.

June 10, 2007

Contemplative Spot: The End of an Error

Say the words “Prospect Park” to someone in the Providence area and you might be delighted to hear them go on about picturesque views of the capital city, children playing, and couples walking hand in hand. Say these same words to someone on the Sleather crew and run … away … fast. The words Prospect Park have been known to cause sudden outbursts of such vulgarity by our crew that no one is allowed to mention it on set. It’s become the “Macbeth curse” of filmmaking. There have been so many unsuccessful attempts to shoot there that the Sleather news blog cannot contain them all. From the sun not ever cooperating to house parties letting out at 7 am (yes, 7 am) and their inhabitants spilling out into the park just after we’d set up to shoot. “No, I would not like a beer.”

That all changed today.

Thank you, Central Falls. Thank you for your picturesque views over looking a quaint town. Thank you for greeting us with children playing in the park below, alongside couples walking hand in hand (it made for great B-roll). Thank you, Central Falls, for approving our permit and welcoming us with open arms, for today we stood above the city, our heads held high, brimming with great accomplishment. We had shot scene 11. We had shot Contemplative Spot … for the last time …

… although we did show up without tapes … and the jib …

Special thanks to Nick Delmenico for bringing us the jib and to some unnamed hero for going to get DV tapes.

Satisfaction was served and "Sleather" was defined.

In a sad bit of subtext, Mia borrowed Fire Fly, the complete and only season, on DVD from Prymak. Sadly he has yet to see it returned.

Spooky House 4! The Nightmare Continues.

Note: Please see earlier episodes of Sleather News for the complete spooky house story.

Why not slay two dragons in a single day, right?

Wrong. How very wrong we were.

It’s amazing how the gods of cinema giveth and then immediately taketh away. Hot on the heels of our success at Contemplative Spot, our bellies full of pizza, and our hearts full of gusto we set forth to tame the beast that is Spooky House (scene 32 if you’re playing at home). This was our fourth attempt. It took weeks to lock this location. It took Anthony at his absolute kitchen sink smoothest to lock this location. We had to convince a priest AND a nursing home to let us shoot on their property. Not just any property but a retirement home for nuns. And we weren’t shooting just any movie, we were shooting a movie, mind you, that had no money to offer, no celebrity star as a character reference and a scene that featured the home of a headless butler and an Evil Magician. We had only a handful of shots and were given only one day to get them. No second chance if things went awry. Things started off with a bang when no one could find the place. The crew trickling in minute by minute, we began to set up feverishly for our doorway shot. We were determined. The sun, now obviously in cahoots with Murphy, laughed and continued to position itself it the worst possible spot. It was fading fast and so were we. Our afternoon shoot left short on time by this mornings triumphs and some bad directions. Foiled again.

Pizza was served. And humility, a heaping helping of humility.

Special thanks to Mike Shawver for stepping in at the last minute and being our mailman.

May 27, 2007

Special Guest Writer: Nicholas Delmenico

Day 73 of Sleather was a warm, sunny day. That’s all I know for sure, since I wasn’t at the Sleather shoot. However, I can tell you that Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt celebrated her first birthday, and it was a wonderful occasion.

Based on seeing footage for this day, I know what was shot. I am unsure of the order of the day’s events, so I’ll relate them to you as I would have planned it had I been there to do so. The crew started off by going back to Hunter’s Crossing in beautiful Coventry, RI, for two pickup shots with Linus. Kudos to production designer Keri Dillard for creating a great front page of a newspaper and for ever so carefully placing the fall-colored leaves on the lush green lawn for the mailbox pickup shot.

Upon finishing, the crew traveled to The Bagel Factory in Warwick, RI, to prep Linus, JB, Charlie, and Charlie’s car at the drive-thru window of a second Shake in a Bag location.

I think it might be appropriate to point out here that things don’t always go smoothly when I’m not at a shoot (see Day 74, June 10, 2007 – Contemplative Spot). In fairness, things don’t always go right when I am there, either (see Day 32, April 30, 2006). It was on this day, the seventy-third shooting day of the feature called Sleather, that Anthony made the fateful decision to have the Shake in a Bag employee walk away from the dumpster and toward the building with a full trash can. Critics immediately knocked Sleather down a half-star.

Undeterred, the crew successfully made the day by filming a pickup shot of JB’s wrist.

Special thanks to The Bagel Factory for providing the location for the drive-thru scene, and also to the girls who were working there for participating in the scene.

Snacks from The Bagel Factory were served.

April 28, 2007

Special Guest Writer: Nick Prymak

April 28 would be forever remembered by a Mr. Dennis Tito for reasons completely unrelated to Sleather. Yet still, with a Dennis Tito-like joy in our hearts, we set out for a Sleather overnight shoot at Bernie’s in Warwick, RI.

This day marked a unique situation for the Sleather crew as we were left without either of our usual ADs. Both Mark Leonard and Jamie Carreiro were unavailable. If it weren’t for the efforts of two stout-hearted men, the immaculate, eccentric, and angularly-jointed Eric Weindel, as well as the lesser adjectived but dashing Todd LeComte, the weekend would have been a complete wash.

I embarked on this all-night journey fueled mainly by room temperature chai and an eager gleam in my eye. Today we would get to try out a new dolly with technology far more advanced than our usual fare.

"What’s that noise?" Anthony asked, discovering the wheels of the dolly were far more audible than desirable. Still, we pressed forward not knowing the solution to our problem would have been a simple bicycle pump. Besides the noise, it worked perfectly. As soon as we figured out which end was the front, the dolly careened long into the night.

The shoot lasted well into the morning, leaving sanity at an all time low with energy still skyrocketing. "Avast ye camera bildrats, ye call this a medium close-up?!" I shouted from the mizzen-mast, thinking myself a swarthy brigand at the time.

The morning continued to the afternoon as the dailies were watched immediately after the wrap by Anthony, Nick Delmenico, Nick Prymak (the cool one), Danielle, Mike, Keri, and Weindel. We all basked in the warm glow of a night of shooting huddled around Anthony’s widescreen TV and then set out to fall unconscious as soon as possible.

Cosmic Pizza was served, which while absolutely delicious, lacked the awe inspiring majesty of the cosmos. Dennis Tito has one-upped us again.

April 22, 2007

Day 71 - Costume Shop Reshoot
Special Guest Writer: Nick Prymak

‘Twas the night before reshoot, and we were all groans
“The first was a horror,” Anthony bemoans
He stood up tall and proud and wise like a wizard
“This time won’t be stopped by some big stupid blizzard!”

Then Nick (The Cool One) leapt out of his seat
“If I see Prymacuhkuh you know he’s dead meat!”
This time when we shoot it, we’ll take much more care
Correct the white balance, give JB more hair!”

Then Nick D. tut tutting said, “Dreads? He’s got plenty
I’m gonna need at least one hundred and twenty!”
Tony stepped in, “Enough, beauty queen!
Let’s get down to business, let’s map out the scene!”

So they worked and they toiled and then went to bed
While visions of Dunkaroos floated in Tony’s head
And in bed he stayed all throughout the night
He awoke the next morning in a terrible fright!

“I’ve overslept!” He exclaimed groggily
How could this happen? Oh how could it be?

He dashed to the shower and threw on some clothes
Applied some Speed Stick and some legging hose
He arrived on the scene, an unshaven mess
But he blended right in with the crew’s shabby dress

The DP was there already and oh so surly
“Why is it now that we get up so damn early?”
Anthony started the event with a jig,
“Let’s get this ball rolling, and makeup this pig!”

“This shot is fantastic! By gosh and by golly!”
The shot coasted along upon the rigged dolly
“But wait, what is this? Something’s the matter!”
At one point in the shot the dolly did clatter!

“Have you put something under it?” cried Nick (TCO)
“Is it straight? Did it bend? Is it fixed? Do you know?”
The shot was then fixed, by Nick, yes, (TCO)
And immortalized Nick D. in his ninth cameo

It had all worked out well, being reshot and rewritten
Anthony, Nick D and Nick (TCO) were all smitten!
Not with each other, you do understand
But with the shots and the dialogue being so grand!

“The dialogue’s perfect! Much smoother transitions!
Now let’s get those cameras to their final positions!”
“But before we do that, let’s stop for a break,”
Said Tony aloud, laying waste to the take

So they opened the area and moved the stand-ups
There was PB and J, and salad in cups!
“A meal fit for a king” said Nick D., quite aloud
Perched nimbly upon his ninth cameo cloud

The sandwiches had brought back his childhood dreams
Of school packed lunches and trucks with ice creams
But it would soon stop short, as Nick D. did worry
Anthony could be back soon, I’ll eat in a hurry!

But it was already too late, Tony back, cup in hand
“This PB’s disgusting and my salad is bland!”
Then Nick (TCO) said with a wink and a smirk
“The slave driver’s back and he says get to work!”

The crew’s labors continued, the PA’s at ready
The actors were acting, the camera was steady!
They tore through their lines like a hot knife through butter
With barely a giggle or an improv or stutter

And then, with applause, and a wondrous clap
Tony, with a tear, had said “That’s a wrap!”
The day had been won! Gotten what was deserved
With Tony still sad, no Dunkaroos were served.

March 11, 2007

Special Guest Writer: Alec Keating

After a couple of weeks off for one reason or another, I was back on the set of Sleather for Day 70, once again shooting at Sound FX in West Warwick (it seems like I say that a lot ... oh well). Technical Wizard Eric Weindel made me a little late, though, since I was giving him a ride to set and the second half of the day was pickups of the scene he was in, and therefore we needed to buzz his hair to look the part again. We thought we would have some fun with Anthony and Nick, and showed up on set with Eric’s hair in a mohawk instead. "What’s all this?!" Anthony proclaimed seeing Eric’s hair as he entered Sound FX with a half gallon cup of soda. "I hope you brought the clippers to finish the job!!" We did, don’t worry.

There were some SLIGHT lighting issues, and the crew worked long and furiously trying to set up the first shot. The sun was not being our friend, so the first shot would have to wait, and a new first shot was chosen. So, finally after quite a while the new and actual first shot was ready.

We shot for a while, and then realized that the original first shot that had to be delayed for the new first shot was again in jeopardy not because of too much sun, but because of not enough (I hope that made sense). So, we rushed to set up the old first shot to get it before the sun left us helpless. Don’t worry, we made it. We always do.

Sound FX was wrapped! Forever! Thanks to all the guys there for all the great help!

Part two of the day found the Sleather crew at the Columbus Theatre in Providence. Pickups for the scene shot on day 2 of Sleather! Things went much more smoothly and we finished in a timely fashion (even though we were late from the problems the first half of the day ... jeez this was a complicated day).

"AHHHH!" - {I don’t know her name} screamed after seeing a picture Anthony showed her of a "ghost" in the theatre. It was just Jason.

Noisy theatre sounds made me have to do three different takes of room tone! It’s not easy being the sound guy.

You guessed it, pizza was served.

March 4, 2007

Death Bed Confession of a Sleather Crew Member:

I can only imagine that on the morning of March 5, 2007, behind an old mill in Pawtucket … or was it Central Falls? … my memory fails me at this late age, that a gruesome discovery was made. I’ve kept it inside these oh so many years but can keep the secret no more … perhaps we had better start at the beginning …

It was Day 69 and the Sleather crew found themselves at the local Curves fitness center in Lincoln, RI. No, it was not due to all of the days where “Pizza was served,” but to once again continue our theme of reshooting a scene. This time it was the commercial audition scene. The newly revamped Sleather crew was more than primed after a long week’s prep and excited to continue to blaze our path to glory after a successful shoot the week before. We had emptied Curves of all its exercise equipment and dressed it for our scene. I say dressed, but on this particularly light set dressing day all we needed was a folding table and an old couch. Little did we know that our old friend Murphy lurked around every corner. He started off by confusing us about our screen direction, dividing us into two factions and costing us an hour to create a new shot list. When we blew a fuse he made sure it was from the fuse box locked in an office to which we hadn’t a key. He whispered in the ear of Eric Krangel that we were too busy for him to tell us he was leaving for his study group, despite the fact we had shot only half his scene. With everything Murphy was throwing at us we decided to take a break to clear our heads. While waiting for Eric to return we began Sleather’s first parking lot Olympiad. Our first event, “The Sleather Long Jump,” was won by Mike LoCicero, who jumped past seven cracks in the blacktop. But before our second event started, Krangel returned, a bit weary from his round trip, but ready to finish his scene. Our energy stimulated from the hotly contested games, we burst back into action and finished our days shoot.

The sun had gone to bed by the time we had wrapped out and many of us had hoped to do the same. Our equipment packed up and Curves restored to its previous state, we found ourselves standing outside our set staring at “the couch.” The couch was a piece of our set donated to us by PA Alyson in lieu of throwing it out. Being done with our scene we had inherited “the couch” and the problem of what to do with it. Anthony, sensing the complexity of the issue and already aware of the late hour, bid us adieu and snuck away using the smoke and mirrors of his producer trickery.

I’m forced to change the names from here on out to protect the identities of the rag tag group of mercenaries left behind to finish a dirty job that not even the devil himself had the courage to do (yes Anthony, I’m talking about you).

It was me … Nick D., Bob L., and Jon S. left with the task of disposing of “the couch.” After loading “the couch” into Bob L’s Volkswagen van and driving around for what seemed like hours we decided to do the old drop n’ run next to a dumpster and let someone of more intelligent means figure a way out from under its curse. The drive home was silent as we sat with remorse in our hearts and a tear in our eyes for the poor soul whose morning was spent complaining about “the damn kids in this neighborhood” while wearing his back brace and lifting “the couch.”

May god forgive us.

February 11, 2007

Photo by Jamie Hawkins.

Photo by Mia Hall.

Photo by Jamie Hawkins.

Special Guest Writer: Nicholas Delmenico

After a long winter's break, the Sleather crew was back in action on a sunny but cold day 68, joined by some new and returning crew members. Luckily for everyone involved, shooting took place indoors in the comfort of the Mixed Magic Theatre in Pawtucket, RI. Since most of the set was already put together from the previous night's work, shooting got off to a fast start, and the team was ready and waiting when the fifty children required for the scene began to arrive. A good time was had by all as children cheered for the "Kids TV Show" scene. The children and the crew were joined by cameramen from NBC 10 and ABC 6, shooting some footage which we hoped would air on the six o'clock news. Our wishes came true when NBC 10 ran us on both the six and eleven o'clock broadcasts.

"Hurry up, Brandon!" - fifty waiting kids as key grip Brandon Meadows adjusted a light.

Special thanks to Ricardo and Bernadet Pitts-Wiley for welcoming us into the Mixed Magic Theatre for the shoot, to Herb Weiss and the City of Pawtucket for providing use of the Visitor Center as the holding area for children and parents, to Wendy Jencks of the Visitor Center for making everything there possible, and to David Alexis from the Providence Black Repertory Company for lending us a set of red stage curtains for the shoot.

Extra special thanks to RJ Heim for getting channel 10 to air the right clip at the end of the news!

In keeping with Sleather tradition, pizza was served.

Photo by Jamie Hawkins.

December 2, 2006

Day 67 requires a little back story and is Chapter Three in the Spooky House Quintilogy. Sorry to ruin the surprise of the forthcoming Spooky House episodes. After another exhaustive search for a spooky house, we finally got in touch with the folks at a house we'd had our eyes on for a while. We duct taped Nick's mouth so he couldn't ruin our chances at this one and set everything up with the "caretakers." The promise of free pizza at lunch never fails to secure a location.

"We cleared everything with our uncle out of state," we were told and showed up the next day (excited to shoot and finally put our long quest for a spooky house behind us). We should have realized our old friend Murphy was in cahoots with the caretakers when we spent the first two hours of our day waiting in the parking lot across the street for them to show up. But they did, and we began setting up and shooting. We had started to shoot the mailman scene when a car pulled up and a woman got out. "What are you doing here?" she asked us a bit angrily. We explained that we were shooting a movie and had gotten permission from the caretakers who were currently chopping wood in the yard. She headed over to investigate. After speaking with the caretakers and questioning the rest of the crew she shouted something and drove off. After finishing the mailman scene we moved toward the house and began shooting there. A few hours passed and we were moving right along with intermittent folks arriving and asking questions about what was going on. It was apparent we had landed smack dab in the middle of a family feud. We decided to speed things up and get out of there. As we neared the end of the shoot, things had quieted down and were looking good when suddenly the caretakers came running up the hill. "You gotta go! The cops are on their way! We never got permission for you guys to shoot here!" Anthony kept the cameras rolling, hoping to get what we needed and went to discuss the situation with the panic stricken men. But it was no use and we were forced to pack it in before we had the coverage we needed. Back to the drawing board, I guess.

That night while sitting at the dining room table sulking about the lost shooting day and the prospect of finding another house to shoot at, the phone rang. It was one of the caretakers. Did they straighten everything out? Was this call an apology? No, they wanted to know if they could still get that pizza they were promised for lunch.

The entire crew went to CHOP after making a Dukes of Hazzard style exit from the latest shooting fiasco.

Additionally, Anthony taught Dana the difference between black and navy blue.

November 19, 2006

Special Guest Writer: Nicholas Delmenico

It was brisk and overcast on Day 66, perfect for shooting the Folk Rap scene outside the Store 24 on Thayer Street in Providence, RI. Music was in the air as Mark Leonard began the day by serenading the Sleather cast and crew with the accompaniment of an acoustic guitar. Nick Delmenico, as "Harry's Amazing Pans," passed the time in between takes by performing a dance routine to the techno music blaring from a nearby Volkswagen Beatle stuck in traffic on Thayer Street, much to the amusement of the vehicle's driver. The day was going smoothly, but while the crew was setting up for a different shot, Nick Prymak wondered why the gaffer, Brian "Doc" O'Connor, was across the street instead of doing his job. He then realized that Doc WAS doing his job, and the crew discovered the existence of the Docleganger. While waiting for his parts of the scene to be shot, John Raso, playing "Well Dressed Man," handed "Harry" a squeegee and a bottle of Windex. Doing his best to act the part, "Harry" approached the cars stuck in traffic, and motioned as if he was going to clean their windshields for them. Several drivers shooed him away from their cars until he approached a vehicle that was directly followed by one of Providence's finest. The officer quickly sounded his siren and scared "Harry" away. The squeegee did not make an appearance for the rest of day.

Special thanks to Beau, the most helpful walk-on extra that Sleather has ever seen. Also, special thanks to Jenny Peek of the Providence Film Squad and Tina Sherman, manager of Store 24, for making the shoot possible.

"Take that to New York, we don't do that stuff here." - The police officer's gruff remarks to poor Harry.

Pizza was served, this time from Antonio's just across the way on Thayer Street.

November 18, 2006

Special Guest Writer: Alec Keating

Day 65 of Sleather started far, far away, in the furthest corner of Rhode Island. The drive was long, and a little complicated, but I arrived only SLIGHTLY late (honest). However, when I did arrive, I couldn’t find the driveway of the location, and ended up driving around the block a few times before some friendly fellow Sleather crew members pointed the way in. The long winding dirt driveway led me up to a large and impressive house. Anthony was nowhere to be found when I got out of my car, and the rest of the crew was just kind of standing around, not sure what was happening.

Anthony eventually came around the corner of the house, looking defeated. "We can’t shoot here. It’s all wrong," Anthony proclaimed. Apparently, the pictures he had seen of the location didn’t show it properly, and it turned out to be not what he had envisioned. As any true artist would, he wouldn’t let his vision of the scene and the film be compromised, so we left the location, with apologies to the owners.

The crew took a short break. I came home had some lunch and played video games.

Then, the second half of the day got back in action! Pickups at Sound FX in West Warwick were on, and the crew all arrived rested and ready to go! Then the kids showed up ... again. Luckily, the scene called for them to knock over displays and kick poor Mike LoCicero in the shins repeatedly, so they had plenty of troublemaking to keep themselves occupied with. Shooting went smoothly and fun for the rest of the day, and once again the guys at Sound FX were extremely welcoming and helpful.

So, after a rocky start, the day turned out successful after all. Thanks to the kids for making me laugh when Mike screamed from getting kicked.

You know what was served.

November 12, 2006

On day 64 the Sleather crew returned to the Bulgin family home in Johnston, RI, armed with a cauldron, Fruity Pebbles, Groucho Marx glasses, and a laser pointer to shoot the scenes "JB Calls" and "Measuring Trajectories." Unfortunately Mark Leonard did not have these items on his person and they had to be supplied by the Sleather art department.

Special thanks to the Bulgin family for once again allowing us the use of their home and extra special thanks for not killing Paul when he gouged the hardwood floor last time.

Fruity Pebbles were served.

November 5, 2006

After a forgettable Sunday the week prior the Sleather crew returned with a vengeance to finish the "Lost After Party" scene. Worrying that our troubles from last week would follow us we decided we would selflessly and valiantly work through lunch to ensure that we'd finish the scene. But a funny thing happened on the way to finishing that scene as more and more of us ended up in the Shaffers' kitchen eating pasta as we were "working through lunch." Needless to say we got the scene, made our day, and went to watch the Colts defeat the Patriots, 27-20. Except for Anthony, Keri, and Nick who went to see Borat.

"Very nice." - Alec Keating doing his world famous Borat impression.

October 29, 2006

A frigid day 62 found the Sleather crew just a stones throw away from the Shaffers' to shoot the "Lost After Party" scene. The day was running fine as smoke filled the air from our trusty smoke machine until it was time for lunch. That's when Danielle broke the news to Nick that while she was out running the many Sleather missions she'd been sent on, she "lost" the lunch money. It was all downhill from there as the trouble piled up and we didn't make our day. If not for this entry in Sleather news, it's a day we'd all like to forget.

Special thanks to the Shaffers for allowing us to make their home Sleather Headquarters again for the day, and to Larry for again giving us his hearse for the day.

Danielle's empty apologies about the lost lunch money were served.

Any quotes from this day are not appropriate.

October 25, 2006

What do you get when you put a doctor, an actor, a director, and a producer in a silver Ford Taurus?

Day 61 of the Sleather shoot commenced as Doc, Mike, Anthony, and Nick set off in Linus' car to shoot some more exciting scenes of Linus driving. Followed by lunch at Applebees with Eric Weindel.

"I found a key in the rocks!" - Nick.

A few items from the new Tyler Florence menu at Applebees were served. Anthony recommends the bruchetta burger.

October 22, 2006

The charming Guy Shaffer.

Day 60 ... that's right, 60! And the Sleather crew gathered once again at the Shaffer residence to finish off "Evel Arrives" and "Picking Up Linus," but all of the excitement lies around the fact that our latest picture car is a 1984 Cadillac hearse, complete with casket. The kind of car that'll give you the creeps just looking at it. Of course this didn't stop the cast and crew from lining up for coffin rides at the end of the shoot. Imagine being locked in the casket in the back of a hearse taking a ride to a mystery destination. *Gets chills.*

Special thanks to Eric Weindel for getting into his costume and waiting around all day as we never got to his scene.

Extra special thanks to Larry Pesce for allowing us the use of his remarkable hearse for the scene, and also to the Shaffers for putting on their chef hats and cooking us a damn fine lunch.

"Anthony, I think you guys should have a little wine with lunch. It's a Sunday." - Guy Shaffer being his charming self.

Assorted pasta dishes with chicken and turkey (and a little vino) was served.

October 21, 2006

The Shaffer family awoke this fine Saturday morning to find the Sleather crew back in action filming scenes for "Evel Arrives" and "The Birthday Party" on day 59.

Special thanks to Manny Gomes for not only allowing us the use of his replica A-Team van in this scene, but for also playing the mailman.

Quote of the Day: Everybody humming the A-Team theme song all day.

Burgers and dogs were served.

October 15, 2006

Day 58 found the Sleather crew back in action at some familiar locales. First stop was Tom's Market in beautiful Coventry, RI, to finish the "Linus picking up Sally" scene. With a bit of Goo Gone and Tire Wet Linus's car was shining in the mid-morning sun and we got the shots to complete the scene. Anthony signed his first autograph.

"It looks tropical."- Anthony complaining the shot didn't look enough like Halloween.

Special thanks to Glenn Place and the folks at Tom's for accomodating our shoot.

The afternoon re-shoot took us once again to East Greenwich Town Hall to shoot some scenes that didnt have Abby, Keri, and our dolly tracks in the background.

Special thanks to Bill Sequino and the Town of East Greenwich.

Extra special thanks to Jen Wong for skipping her trip to King Richard's Fair to come reshoot this scene.

"I'm a sound ninja."- Alec Keating clearly exaggerating his prowess with a boom pole.

You guessed it: CHOP was served.

October 14, 2006

Day 57 saw most of the crew get a much deserved day off while the team of Doc, Jamie, Alicia, Keri, Dana, Anthony and of course "Fat Mike" LoCicero headed off to the reservoir in Scituate, RI, to shoot some foliage driving scenes.

Special thanks to Nick for forgetting to charge the camera batteries.

Extra special thanks to Keri for bringing the battery chargers to us.

"I'm in a movie right now." - Dana explaining to a complete stranger why she was jogging.

October 8, 2006

Day 56 saw us back at the Shaffers' the next day to continue with the birthday party scene. As always scheduling problems forced a mad dash to get through the morning's shoot, but after lunch the afternoon was a bit more relaxed.

Special thanks to Lisa Cancelliere for stepping in to play Denise at the last minute.

Extra special thanks to Guy for putting on his grill apron and cooking us a fine lunch.

"Where's the soda?" - Everybody.

Burgers, dogs, chips, and water (thanks to Nick, who forgot the soda) was served.

October 7, 2006

Because we enjoyed shooting the birthday party scene so much the first time (see November 20, 2005), we decided to do it again on day 55 as the Sleather crew gathered with 25 kids and their parents at the Shaffer residence in Johnston, RI, on a sunny Saturday morning. Nick Prymak was of course barred from the house's only bathroom (see November 20, 2005). As usual we battled the sun, whereas the children were forced to battle Prymak and his propensity for five dollar words. (see Sleather news written by Nick Prymak for September 30, 2006).

Special thanks to Susan Travers, who came down to help out as a "kid wrangler" after she did so well protecting the wolf-man from being bitten (see September 30, 2006).

Extra special thanks to Guy and Patty Shaffer for opening their home to the Sleather family, not knowing quite what they had gotten themselves into.

"Ok, I'm going to need you all to get into a convex circle." - Prymak addressing a group of kids that had no idea what he was talking about.

Delicious CHOP was served. Hand delivered by Mommy McGrouch.

September 30, 2006

Special Guest Writer: Nick Prymak

The cast and crew waited with bated breath for what was to be the most amorous scene in Sleather to date. The "kissing" scene was placed in the romantic atmosphere of Nick Delmenico's backyard, cleverly disguised as a festival fairgrounds. Where most might be daunted at the thought of placing scores of extras on their lush green lawn, Nick stood up to the challenge, much to the chagrin of Daddy McGrouch. As the night pressed onward, the extras were apparently too zealous in their applause for the scene, as it drew the attention of the local police department of beautiful Coventry, RI. Anthony had explained the situation and single handedly allowed the shoot to continue while dashing the hopes and dreams of Daddy McGrouch getting everyone off his lawn.

"Stop biting the wolf-man!" - Susan Travers in an ironic turn of phrase.

Amore was served.

September 24, 2006

Day 53 will forever be known as Paul Bulgin and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day (enough said). On an overcast morning with a forecast of intermittent showers, the Sleather crew set out to shoot another driving scene. Fighting off the inconvenience of occasional raindrops and the sheer terror of being on the road with Rhode Island drivers, we crisscrossed the East Greenwich and North Kingstown borders for the better part of the day while only getting pulled over twice.

"Is every thing alright?" - North Kingstown police officer.

"We're just fixing focus." - Anthony, thinking he was talking to the East Greenwich police officer who had just pulled them over minutes before.

Justice was served ... and pizza.

September 17, 2006

Special Guest Writer: Nicholas Delmenico

Upon completion of its largest, most complex shoot to date, Sleather took to the streets of downtown Providence for a more laid back day of shooting on day 52. The crew rendezvoused at the familiar Viola building before circling Westminster and Weybosset Streets for the next five hours, except for Alicia and Dana, who waited with the cars and equipment back at the Viola parking lot. Surviving a close call with the camera nearly being clipped off the car by a passing truck, actor / stunt driver Brad Morrissey ("Charlie") successfully navigated the busy downtown streets while remaining in character.

"Gasp!" - a car full of filmmakers as they nearly lost their camera to the approaching truck.

Special thanks to the guys at Sound FX for providing us with enough window tint for two months' worth of driving scenes.

Pizza was served. Again.

September 9, 2006

Two weeks had passed and all seemed well in Sleatherland as we prepared for our fifth and last day of the festival. "Cake," Anthony exclaimed when aked how he thought the night's shoot would go. Little did he know that the newest fairgoers were to be Murphy and his Law as everything fell apart two hours before the shoot. What started with the loss of our entire stage lighting setup quickly became a flurry of cancelling and no-show extras, missing equipment, and to top it all off no one could find JB's cup. With the world predicting rain at our outdoor venue and the shoot virtually up in flames, Anthony and Dave G. set off on a mad man's quest to replace a missing audio cable which led them to every business in Richmond with no luck. When all hope seemed lost, they were lucky to meet a gentleman working at the Dollar Store who was incredibly kind enough to leave work, drive to his home, and meet them with the cord they so desperately needed. This was the start of the Sleather crew pulling the shoot from the fire as the pieces started falling into place for the team to pull off another fantastic night of shooting.

Heart attacks were served, plenty of them. Oh yeah, and once again a delicious feast from our friends at CHOP.

"You know what? It doesn't matter because Jim's coming with the stage lights." - Nick and Anthony to each other every time something else went wrong.

Special thanks to Pete Fish and the Washington County Fair committee and staff, the Dollar Store guy, Jim the Light Man, and our extras, cast, and crew.

Extra special thanks to Murphy for making things interesting.

August 26, 2006

Excitement filled the air as the Sleather crew began to arrive at the Washington County Fairgrounds in preparation for that night's shoot. By nightfall, scores of extras gathered by the stage wearing full Halloween costumes in anticipaton of Jeff Hodge's (as "JB") performance of "Without a Care." Little did they know how many times they were about to hear it. As the audience danced into the night the Sleather crew breathed a sigh of relief that the shoot went off without a hitch. As the sun was about to rise the remaining extras were treated to a mini concert by School For Robots as their scene was shot for the film.

Pasta, salad, and Italian bread was served.

Special thanks to Mark Fogarty, Catherine Rogers, Michelle Carsten, and Mike LoCicero, who helped us run the show as additional crew.

"Without a care ..." - Jeff Hodge (several thousand times).

August 23, 2006

Inexplicably, Anthony and Nick wore the same outift.

This past Wednesday was the 48 Hour Film Project Best of Providence screening and awards night. An anxious crowd bustled into Paff Auditorium at the University of Rhode Island Shephard Building for the 7:30 PM start time. All of the films selected to be on the Best of Providence DVD were screened. This included our film, Heirloom, which took home the awards for Best Production Design and Best Use of Prop. Congratulations to all of the other winners and we'll see you next year.

August 20, 2006

Another Sunday and another day of preparation for the Festival scene. With the art department off preparing the stage backdrop and Nick feverously working the phones and the web trying to secure over 100 extras, Anthony set off with the writing team of Ronci/Hodge to begin producing an original song to be performed at the festival by JB (Jeff Hodge). After 40 hours of production time in the studio over five days, "Without a Care" was born. Featuring Jeff on lead vocals and John playing literally every instrument heard on multiple tracks, this catchy number seems destined to be a hit not only with our Festival audience but with the Sleather audience as well.

August 16-18, 2006

On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, shooting days 47, 48, and 49, respectively, the Sleather crew and a dozen extras arrived at the Washington County Fairgrounds during the opening nights of the fair, and were separated into three crack teams. Their mission was to initially shoot the opening festival sequence amidst a crowd of thousands and then secure some much needed b-roll.

These teams consisted of:

Alpha Team
Anthony Ambrosino
Brandon Meadows
TJ Frail
Keri Dillard

Beta Team
Jamie Carreiro
Dave Trodella
Brian "Doc" O'Connor
Dana Goodman

Gamma Team
Nicholas Delmenico
Bryan Rinebolt
Nicholas Prymak
Mia Shaffer

Despite some angry carnival workers and some confused fairgoers, the mission was a success and we all enjoyed some doughboys (especially Anthony).

Special thanks to the Charleston-Richmond Volunteer Fire Association, Rockwell Amusements, Cowboy Crush, and of course the Washington County Fair committee for allowing us access to the grounds.

Doughboys were served, yummy ones.

August 13, 2006

This past Sunday was spent preparing for the Everest of Sleather shoots, the town Halloween Festival.

August 6, 2006

This is me.

It makes sense in the film ... I think.

Laugh it up, Prymak. Your cup ruined the shot!

Rugrats.

Proof I wasn't exaggerating.

Around 3 AM ...

Special Guest Writer: Alec Keating

"I’m available for a couple of hours this Sunday if you need some help on set." This is what I said to Anthony earlier in the week. Remember this quote.

My name is Alec, and this was my first day on Sleather. I was available for a couple of hours, and I was even looking forward to helping out. Things started out shaky, though, when no one ever told me when and where the shoot was. "Didn’t you get the info on your Sleather mail?" No ... no I did not. I didn’t have a Sleather email then, and in fact, only have been given one TODAY (Sept. 15, 2006 - thanks Nick). So after the initial confused phone call from Nick wondering where I was, and me showing up an hour late, I was ready to help out. "Hey Alec, how do you feel about doing sound?" Anthony said as soon as I arrived with his patented grin. Sure, I can do sound. I have the ability. I was handed the boom pole and a pair of headphones and got to work. I really had no idea what was going on in the movie, since, like I said, this was my first day, but even out of context, the jokes and the actors’ performances made me almost ruin a couple of shots by laughing. So, besides the slight miscommunication, the day was off to a good start.

Prymak knocked over a cup during a take. I heard it. I told Anthony we needed to do another take because of it. He could have killed me with his glare when I said this. But, he knew I was right, and we did another take. Sound man extraordinaire.

Then the kids showed up. I didn’t sign up for kids. I don’t deal well with kids. I kept my mouth shut and did my job, but I was freaked out a little. A true professional must keep working, though, and so I did.

Then Mark Fogarty showed up wearing Daisy Duke jean shorts and a fanny pack to play a customer of Audio Hut. I never thought I would miss working with kids. Scary! (Seriously, though, Mark was a great sport and did an amazing job. Too funny for words.)

The day continued on as Anthony got more and more concerned about the light quickly disappearing outside and how it was going to affect the shots. I thought maybe that meant that when the light was gone, we would be done for the day. I was wrong. I’m not so sure why he was so worried about it. We had plenty of time to get the two outdoor shots we needed before the sun set, but in the heat of the moment everything seems more stressful than it should be.

So we continued in the dark, lighting the space to make it look like it was still daylight outside. (Nice job lighting team.) "Maybe we’ll be done by 10," I thought to myself, "good solid twelve hour work day. I can handle that."

The next few hours were a bit of a blur as we did set up after set up. Shot after shot. Take after take.

I got an orange soda out of the vending machine. It was delicious.

Around 4:00 AM we finally finished the last shot of the night (that’s right ... I said 4 AM!!) and we started packing up and putting the store back in order. This took a while due to the amount of re-arranging we had to do, and the fact that, needless to say, we were all quite tired at this point, and were all moving rather slowly. But, around 5:00 AM we were ready to go ... or were we?? "Guys, have you seen my keys?" the always shoe-less Brandon asked the room. No one had seen them. This is because they were locked in the trunk of his car. So, another half an hour of us trying to break into his car with a slimjim, and failing, and it’s 5:30 AM and finally time to go.

"I’m available for a couple of hours this Sunday if you need some help on set."

I’m not exactly sure how "a couple of hours" turned into 19 hours, but it did, and let me tell you, that’s a long time to hold a boom pole. Add in the extra hour of shooting I missed, and that adds up to a RECORD BREAKING 20 hour day of shooting Sleather!!

All in all, even after being suckered into a 19 hour work day with one break, even after the kids, and even after Mark’s thighs, my first Sleather experience was really great fun. Certainly not a day I will soon forget. I was welcomed in by everyone immediately and really felt like I was part of the team. I now am an actual part of the Sleather team, and have been to all the shoots since, and plan on being on the rest until photography is wrapped. Keep up the good work guys.

Special thanks goes out to the awesome hosts we had at Sound FX, and to Brandon for making us stay an extra half an hour at 5 AM. That was cool.

Pizza and teriyaki wings were served from CHOP. Delicious!!

August 5, 2006

It was a Sleather Saturday at Sound FX as a small crew gathered to shoot some scenes with actor Paul Patrick Murphy, who coincidentally was playing the role of "Paul Murphy" (go figure). Although it was a laid back shoot, the team did pass a milestone as we logged our 100th roll.

Fat Mike ate all the pizza from our good friends at CHOP.

July 30, 2006

LoCicero gets all the ladies.

On day 44 the Sleather crew arrived at Sound FX in West Warwick, RI, to shoot some scenes for Audio Hut and light their microwave on fire. Come to find out, accomplishing those tasks would take a record breaking 18 hours as the shoot lasted well into the night.

Special thanks to Tammy and Steve for letting us shoot at such a perfect location.

Extra special thanks to John, Rob, and Matt for coming in on their days off so we could shoot and for being the best hosts a crew could ask for.

Breakfast consisted of multi-flavored bagels, juice, and coffee.

For lunch, tuna and chicken salad sandwiches were served with salad.

"It's only a few scenes, we'll be done in a few hours." - Anthony's famous last words before he was lynched later that evening.

"You're going to light the microwave on fire? That's the dumbest thing you guys have ever done." - Mark Leonard moments before he ate his words.

July 23, 2006

It was day 43 and while Daddy McGrouch is in LA, the Sleather crew will play. Not a blade of grass was damaged on his front lawn when we returned to Trafford Park Drive in beautiful Coventry, RI, to shoot some much needed pickup shots for Shake in a Bag and Linus and Sally's car scene.

Wendy's was picked up, although the extra Frosty went unclaimed.

July 18, 2006

Heirloom DP Brandon Meadows is not a fan of the paparazzi, but producer Nick Delmenico loves the attention.

If you look closely, you can see Anthony passing a $100 bill to Judge Broto Chakrabarti.

You could say that Anthony was a little excited.

It was a double debut at the Columbus Theatre on a wild Tuesday night as the Sleather trailer premiered along with Heirloom at the 48 Hour Film Project screenings in Providence. Both pieces were well received by the packed house and by Gene Valicenti of NBC 10, who had the 48 Hour Film Project producer Paul Kelly pull Anthony from the audience for an interview.

"If no one laughs, I'm going to die." - Nick moments before the trailer played.

Laughter and applause were served, thank God.

To see the clips of Heirloom and the interview with Anthony that aired on NBC 10, click here!

Modern day card hustler Dave Trodella has a tough time dealing with the bright lights of Hollywood.

July 14-16, 2006

48 Hour Film Project - Providence 2006

The 48 Hour Film Project is a film competition that asks filmmakers to produce a movie in just 48 hours. At 7:00 PM on Friday night, filmmakers drew a genre from a hat and were given a prop, a character, and a line of dialogue, all to be included in a 4-7 minute film due by Sunday at 7:30 PM. Sleather cast and crew could be found on over ten of the thirty-six teams that particpated.

Sleather Studios entered as Gentlegirth Films (a name we use when producing shorts) and drew Western as our genre. After scouting our locations and a whirlwind all night writing session that produced three scripts, we began pre-production first thing Saturday morning. With costumes and props assembled, we attempted to get horses around 9:00 AM. Meanwhile, John was still working on the score.

We began filming at 4:00 PM that afternoon. We shot at our first location in Coventry until 9:00 PM and moved camp (literally log by log) to Scituate, where we continued until dawn, parting with Jamie to begin editing and Dave to grab a b-roll shot. We finally arrived at our third location at around 8:00 AM. Despite half the crew asleep on couches, Anthony directing "by ear" from the floor, Brandon dozing during takes, and Nick nodding off in the middle of a scene, we got our final shots. We then hand delivered the last of the tapes to Jamie and spent Sunday afternoon editing.

At 7:20 PM, with Anthony driving Nick's car and a caravan of other vehicles follwing should something go wrong, we left for Cafe Tazza with our entry into the 48 Hour Film Project, Heirloom.

July 14, 2006

Sleather goes to camp!

Anthony and Nick are guest speakers at the RIIFF KidsEye filmmaking camp. After a special screening of RPG: Chapter Nine, the boys participated in a Q and A about the making of RPG, the process of indie filmmaking, and all things Sleather.

Special thanks to Program Directors Christina Mealey and Keith Brown for setting up the screening.

Extra special thanks to the kids for being a great audience and for an afternoon of fun.

July 9, 2006

Day 42 and a Mad Rush was on at the house behind the house to finish scenes in Linus' living room by our 4:30 PM deadline. With the clock ticking we shot scenes for "Living After Withdrawal" and "Living in a Bag".

Adrenaline was served.

July 2, 2006

Fourth of July weekend is upon us and for the Sleather crew that means only one thing: a return to The Pastry Gourmet in Cumberland, RI, to finish the drive thru scene. Only there was one problem, as last minute engine trouble caused the absence of our silver Beetle. With moments to spare, Anthony and Jamie jumped into "Jamie's new car" (see June 18th) on a quest to find a silver Beetle. After an exhaustive search which led them from Cumberland to Providence, a Beetle is spotted on North Main Street. After a short tour of the local neighborhood while following said Beetle, a meeting takes place in a local Cumberland Farms parking lot, sealing the deal on our replacement Beetle for that night. It should be noted that Nick and New Nick were involved in a negotiation of their own with a couple passing through from Pennsylvania that didn't end quite as fruitfully.

"I'm in hot pursuit of a silver Beetle!" - Anthony on the phone to Nick.

"I'm in hot pursuit of a silver Beetle!" - Nick on the phone to Anthony a few minutes later.

Special thanks to Holly from The Pastry Gourmet for staying during the shoot, and to Mike Ryan for standing in as Bubba.

Extra special thanks to Jane Clavin, who saved our shoot at the last minute by allowing us the use of her Beetle.

Bugs were served. Silver bugs.

June 25, 2006

Day 40 and our now middle-aged shoot found us at Tom's Market in, all together now, "Beautiful Coventry, RI." An early call time had us there before the market opened ready to get a jump start on the supermarket scene, or "Fun with Blueberry Muffins." We were joined by Mike LoCicero (Linus), Lindsey Cranshaw (Sally), and Jon Pierce (The Muffin Man). On this day we learned just how difficult it is to shoot in a supermarket on a busy Sunday.

"Do you have power for your muffin light?" - Jamie Carreiro

Special thanks to Glenn Place for once again allowing us to shoot at Tom's Market.

Pizza and the now world famous teriyaki wings from CHOP were served. Ironically, blueberry muffins were not.

June 18, 2006

After working tirelessly on the back-lit drive thru menu for Shake in a Bag (even canceling our day shoot), we returned to The Pastry Gourmet in Cumberland, RI, on day 39 joined by our good friends Bubba (Brian Bradshaw), Skeeter (John DiGioia), Ty (John McElroy), Giorgio (Christian Herrera), Colin (Paul Bulgin), and Blaine (Mike Sovak) to continue with the drive thru scene. As is usual with the Sleather set, Murphy's Law was in effect as a scheduling miscommunication left us without our location at the last minute. Moments later, Anthony received a call from Jamie, who had just totalled his car (don't worry ladies, he was unharmed), and to top it off, we were missing two actors. Just a day in the life of producer Nick Delmenico. Despite the usual bumps in the road, the shoot went off without a hitch, well, until the timer on the parking lot lights decided it was 11:15 (thank God for good lighting teams).

"... and Jay Emmett go together like spaghetti and meatballs." - John McElroy

Indigestion was served.

Special thanks to Stephanie Cambio for again allowing us the use of her VW Bug, and to Mark Fogarty, Dave Trodella, John Ronci, and Melanie Scalera from the RIFC for stopping by the set.

Extra special thanks to Natalie from The Pastry Gourmet, who at the last minute saved the day by staying with us total strangers into the wee hours despite: A. working all day, and B. having to get up first thing in the morning.

June 11, 2006

Day 38 took the Sleather crew and 28 extras to Band Stand Live in Taunton, MA, for the commercial audition scene. Not satisfied with the size of the line of auditioners, Anthony and Dana took to the streets to try and round up some more. "Excuse me, would you mind being a hemorrhoid sufferer for a few hours?" Despite some problems with our arch nemesis the sun, we came away with a fine scene.

"Where is that smoke coming from?" - Anthony

Special thanks to Dil for providing us with a killer location and the best green room Sleather has ever seen, and Jeff and Tom for helping us out during the shoot.

Burgers, dogs, chicken salad, pasta salad, chips and the answer to Anthony's smoke question were served.

Our night shoot took us to Cumberland, RI, to shoot the drive thru portion of Shake in a Bag at The Pastry Gourmet. We were met by Ty (John McElroy), Giorgio (Christian Herrera), Colin (Paul Bulgin), Blaine (Mike Sovak), and Keith (Keith Brayne), who couldn't wait to have another shake dumped on him.

Special thanks to Sue from The Pastry Gourmet for being so accomodating to our crew, to Debbie from The Pastry Gourmet for staying late with the crew, and to Stephanie Cambio for providing us with her silver Beetle to use in the scene.

June 4, 2006

Day 37 found the Sleather crew back at the Columbus Theatre to dot the "i's" and cross the "t's" on the audition scene featuring a 46 take crane shot.

Special thanks to Jon Berberian at the Columbus Theatre for once again showing the Sleather crew great hospitality.

Our afternoon shoot took us right next door to the Viola building for the "four walls of insanity" scene. Riding the fine line of just enough sun, not enough clouds, and way too much rain, we were finally able to complete this scene. It only took nine months.

Special thanks to "Sugar," you know who you are.

Teddy Bear Picnic!!!

Despite the rain that decided to fall just as we were about to eat, the Sleather crew enjoyed undercooked burgers and overcooked dogs prepared by none other than Anthony on Daddy McGrouch's grill.

Note - Daddy McGrouch's lawn was not injured during the Sleather picnic.

One Midas Commercial Coming Up!

Our night shoot consisted of the highly anticipated Linus/Sally car scene beginning sometime after sundown and continuing throughout the night, wrapping sometime after 3 AM.

How do you spell tired?
S-L-E-A-T-H-E-R

"Can you live with it, or do you love it?" - Doc (demanding perfection)

No zzzzz's were served.

Special thanks to Daddy McGrouch for falling asleep early and allowing the Sleather crew to shoot undisturbed into the wee hours of the morning.

Extra special thanks to the lighting team for a great job on the night shoot.

May 28, 2006

Sunday felt a little familiar as the Sleather crew returned to the Gonzalez family duplex on day 36. Although it was no longer fall, the front yard was again full of brown leaves, pumpkins, and Halloween decorations. Unfortunately the cast had to be dressed for 50 degrees on an 80 degree day.

"Makeup, Brad is glistening again." - The phrase that Alicia will hear in her sleep.

Special thanks to our neighborhood friends Hippy McHop, Barkey McDog, Johnny Weedwhacker and his cousin Charlie Lawnmower, and of course the Gonzalez family.

Extra special thanks to Dr. Robert's mechanic for coming in on his day off and fixing Charlie's car so we could have it up and running in time for Sunday's shoot.

Lemonade a la hose and pizza was served.

Our night shoot consisted of a Ford Taurus, night vision goggles, a clamp, a stethoscope, a mini hammer, a laser pointer, and four trash cans. Luckily TJ Frail and Mark Leonard happened to have all of the above items on their tool belts.

Special thanks to the North Kingstown Police Department.

May 21, 2006

Day 35 found the Sleather crew somewhere over the rainbow shooting another scene for Linus' house. A pushed back call time of 12:30 featured some fun in the sun antics before the shoot on Daddy McGrouch's front lawn (much to his dismay). The only hitch was a slight delay due to a passing thunderstorm.

"You broke the window!" - Daddy McGrouch

Pizza and the most amazing teriyaki wings ever from Coventry House of Pizza were served.

May 14, 2006

Happy Mothers' Day!

A very rainy day 34 found the Sleather crew back in Plainville, MA, attempting to finish scenes at Linus's living room within a five hour shoot (don't laugh, we really thought we could do it). Needless to say, Plainville hasn't seen the last of us. That's all I've got, this depressing 10 days of rain has soaked the inspiration out of me.

"Um ... Anthony ... I think it's the shutter speed." - Doc (breaking the bad news)

Muffins and coffee were served.

May 7, 2006

It was day 33 and no bones about it, the Sleather crew was focused and determined to make up for the missteps of the week prior by banging out 2 and 1/3 scenes, 32 camera setups, 45 shots, and 162 takes during our 12 hour day.

New tally: Sleather 1, The World 0.

"Why do I always want to kill myself at the end of a Sunday?" - Delmenico

American chop suey, turnip/carrot surprise, salad, and Italian bread were served.

Special thanks to Joe Del Grosso for being an outstanding AD. Good luck at NESN, and we'll see you in August.

April 30, 2006

A quick start on day 32 seemed promising and the house behind the house was abuzz with life as the Sleather crew shot more scenes for "Linus's Living Room" and "Campaign Headquarters." As quickly as things began, they in turn fell apart as we first lost the sun and then our minds.

"I think I'm going crazy." - Anthony

Special thanks to the Del Grosso Family for letting us take a mulligan on this one and extend our shooting schedule.

Baked ham with pineapple, pasta, turnip/carrot surprise (a Sleather crew favorite), rice, green beans, salad, and Italian bread were served.

Including the dodgeball tournament on Saturday, you can now say that Team Sleather is 0-6 for the weekend.

April 29, 2006

At the request of Sleather's own Kody Batchelor, the Sleather cast and crew assembled a six-person team for the First Annual Rogers High School Theatre Department Fundraising Dodgeball Tournament. Mike "Fat Mike" LoCicero, Jeff "The Hodge" Hodge, Mia "Miagi!" Shaffer, TJ "Frail McCoy" Frail, Anthony "T" Ambrosino, and Nick "Ringo" Delmenico, with Kody serving as emcee for the day's festivities, took to the courts for an unforgettable afternoon of dodgeball. Although Team Sleather went 0-5 for the day, they came out of the tournament the undisputed People's Champion.

Special thanks to Jack Miller and Kody Batchelor for inviting us to take part in the tournament.

Additional special thanks to Keri Dillard and Olympic Medalist Mark Leonard for making the trip to Newport to take photos and video of Team Sleather throughout the tournament.

Extra special thanks to Keri Dillard for making the Team Sleather uniforms.

April 23, 2006

It was day 31 and the Sleather crew was fresh from its Easter break at the house behind the house in Plainville, MA, shooting scenes for Linus's living room. Our 15 hour day consisted of the scenes "Living in a Bag" and "Living After Death." During intermittent rain, we shot some external scenes with Sue, but more importantly we played a little bit of wiffle ball.

Roasted chicken and chourico with vegetables was served.

Special thanks to the Del Grosso Family for sharing a living room with Linus for a while.

Congratulations to producer Nick Delmenico, who won our Sleather Stick Figure Art Contest with Where's Paul? Be sure to look for this magnificent piece of artwork in the film.

If you are offended by the use of the word "Easter," please insert the politically correct holiday of your choice to describe our off week.

April 9, 2006

A 1:00 PM call time meant only one thing: the entire Sleather team was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in anticipation of the final day of shooting at Fresh Start in (say it with me) "Beautiful Coventry, RI," on day 30. (Not day 30 of Shake in a Bag, but it felt like it.)

Special thanks to our entire cast and crew for a tremendous six weeks and for a great scene.

Extra special thanks to the folks at Fresh Start for everything from letting us rearrange your shop to being extras in the scenes.

"How do you guys want your shake?" ... "IN A BAG!"

"I was clearly the better minor." - Kody Batchelor referring to his onscreen rival Kyle McCoy once we had wrapped for the night.

Ham, mashed potatoes, turnips, green beans, and corn bread was served.

April 3, 2006

Slither opened this weekend with a gross of $3.88 million and was number 8 at the box office. Although we appreciate the kind remarks, please stop congratulating us for this feat. Our movie is called Sleather (note the "ea"). Also, the movies are very different from one another: theirs is a horror/comedy whereas ours will be a horrific comedy. With the recent success of Slither and the upcoming Lucky Number Slevin, it is clear that we have reached the dawning of "SL" prefixed movies dominating the market.

April 2, 2006

Day 29's morning shoot found the Sleather crew in Burrillville, RI, (wherever that is) for Sally's bedroom scene. Special thanks to the dapper Jason Emmett for providing a tremendous outtake.

In the afternoon, the crew returned once again to Fresh Start in beautiful Coventry, RI, to continue working on Shake in a Bag. (I am fresh out of witty remarks about this location.) Special thanks to Keith Brayne for putting up with the series of unfortunate events that kept him covered in shake for five takes.

Pasta and a boat load of snacks were served.

March 26, 2006

Day 28's morning shoot saw the Sleather crew return to the Warren Convenience Store to crash a car, spill a little milk, mix a few sodas, and put the money in the bag. After putting the finishing touches on that scene, they headed back to Trafford Park Drive in beautiful Coventry, RI, to finally get the rain deprived exterior shots from back in January. With the lighting talents combined of Dr. Robert, Olympic medalist Mark Leonard, and Eric Weindel: Art Star, we were able to make Nick's front lawn and driveway look like Charlie's front lawn and driveway. Simply amazing.

"Ok, one more guys." - Anthony shortly before he was shot by the grip team after take 40 of the dolly shot down aisle one at the convenience store.

We had pizza for dinner, well, except TJ, whom we had forgotten about after sending him ahead to the night shoot. (Sorry, TJ.)

March 19, 2006

If you guessed that day 27 would find us still shooting scenes for Shake in a Bag in beautiful Coventry, RI, then you guessed right! We have all but finished our night interiors for this scene, but it's those pesky daytime shots that require a little more TLC and a few more days of shooting.

Special thanks to the Taco Bell on Bald Hill Road for staying open until 2 AM. We love you guys.

Shakes nor bags were served.

But we did feast upon BBQ chicken and pork around 6:30, if you're curious.

March 12, 2006

A rainy day 26 brought the Sleather crew back to Fresh Start in beautiful Coventry, RI, to continue shooting scenes for "Shake in a Bag." We were joined by 14 fresh-faced extras for a three hour whirlwind daytime shoot. Our night shoot picked up where we left off the week before with Keith, Ty, Giorgio, and the Shake in a Bag crew of Corrie Bartlett, John Ronci, Justin Grant, and Kody Batchelor.

Special thanks to Kody for keeping his lunch paper-free, and to Paul for not taping it.

Extra special thanks to the Walt Disney Company for stealing away associate producer Jess Therrien. Just kidding. Good luck, Jess!

Chicken salad sandwiches and pasta salad were served, with a side of love. Thanks, Mark, for keeping the Sleather team's bellies full every week.

March 5, 2006

Sleather's silver shooting day (25) found them off to a great start back at the Warren Convenience Store without a makeup artist in sight (sick and broken down, respectively). Not wanting to waste the time, they decided to head down to Fresh Start in beautiful Coventry, RI, to get a head start on their night shoot, the much anticipated "Shake in a Bag" scene. Special thanks to Tom Bartlett for letting us turn his coffee shop into a fast food restaurant. Extra special thanks to Bubba (Brian Bradshaw) and Skeeter (John DiGioia) for making us laugh so hard that the crew decided to watch dailies that night even though it was 1:30 in the morning.

Pizza was served.

March 2, 2006

The Sleather crew had so much fun shooting shorthanded the week before that they decided to do it again as they returned to Greenville Ave for day 24. Special thanks to Dr. Robert's Lonely Hearts Club Band for providing the entertainment during the down time while Michael LoCicero's milk-soiled shirt was in the dryer.

"Yes, I know it's snowing." - Anthony on his phone every five minutes concerning that night's rehearsal.

Milk was served.

February 26, 2006

Day 23 on the Sleather calendar found them on Greenville Ave. in Johnston, RI, shooting the kitchen scene. Special thanks to the Bulgin family for not noticing the gouge in the hardwood floor after their son knocked over the monitor table. Unbelievable, Paul.

Chicken and vegetables were served.

February 23, 2006

The Sleather team is starting to realize that there is nothing more fun than a midweek pickup shoot with limited time and a shorthanded crew, but that did not stop us from making up for our snowed out shoot from February 12th by gathering the aforementioned shorthanded crew and 18 extras at Rhode Island Costume on day 22 for some Dunkaroos and some laughs.

Special thanks to Laurie Garabedian for not only letting us rearrange her store, but for letting us make her relive the horrors of Halloween night in a costume shop.

Dunkaroos were served.

February 19, 2006

Customers entering the Warren Convenience Store this chilly Sunday were shocked, some more than others, to find the Sleather crew filming yet another scene. Special thanks to Yacht Club Soda, Rhody Fresh Milk, and Little Rhody Eggs for supplying us with products to place in the store. Extra special thanks to Richard Desilets, whose real life reaction to unreal events, provided us with cinema gold. Thank you, sir, for signing our release.

February 16, 2006

If you were in the A-Frame at the Kent County YMCA on Thursday night, then you were probably a part of the latest Sleather script read through. The cast was joined by a group of friends, acquaintances, and even a few strangers for a night of audible delight. The audience was armed with an anonymous questionnaire, which they filled out to help the writers get a better idea of how the story was coming across. Special thanks to the audience for attending and giving us their much valued feedback.

February 12, 2006

Anthony insisted on shooting anyway.

Anthony's claim that there was no impending storm, that it was merely hype by local dairy farmers as a ploy to sell more milk, was proven false when the Sleather crew awoke to find Blizzard '06 had managed to cancel another shooting day.

February 11, 2006

Nick Prymak and his archnemesis, Nick Prymack.

With great anticipation of the costume shop scene, some of the Sleather crew gathered to rearrange Rhode Island Costume. Anthony repeatedly told the cast and crew that called him all day about the impending storm that there was no storm, and that Sunday's shoot would go off without a hitch.

February 5, 2006

As exciting as shooting in an empty hallway already is, the Sleather crew took it up a notch on day 20, shooting more scenes for the "apartment" this Sunday. Facing bizarre and difficult lighting situations, a "haunted" smoke machine, and the countdown to game time for Super Bowl XL, the assembled half crew pulled together and had a great day technically and creatively. Needless to say, the Super Bowl halftime show was preempted to watch the much anticipated dailies shot just hours earlier. Special thanks to Greg Doura for coming through in the clutch with replacement fog machines after the haunted hallway claimed ours.

January 29, 2006

The schedule kept the Sleather Production Team in beautiful Coventry, RI, to shoot the much anticipated "bathroom" scene. Day 19 taught them some lessons:

Lighting gels and 500 watt bulbs don't play nice together (neither do straws, I've been told)
Always knock before entering a bathroom, even if you're on a movie set and believe you have nothing to fear on the other side. Sorry Sue.
Never park your car on Main Street and expect it to come out unscathed. Just ask John, Liz, and Jess.
Green rooms and video games make great bed fellows.
And yes, you can fit seven people, lighting equipment, a boom mic, and a camera into a modest sized bathroom comfortably. Well, maybe not so comfortable, but they fit.

Roasted BBQ chicken and potatoes were served.

January 22, 2006

Like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, the Sleather crew awoke on day 18 to discover they were still shooting on Trafford Park Drive. Much to their delight it was a different room. Much to their dismay records were again broken as they logged their longest shooting day at 16 hours plus. Poor Mike LoCicero (on two hours of sleep) was forced to shoot scenes in which he was "sleeping" for the bulk of the day. This odd form of torture will teach him to cut back on his bachelor like nights.

Special thanks to Chi Weindel for being an outstanding member of our art department. Good luck with all of your future endeavors!

Lasagna was served.

January 18, 2006

Day 17 of shooting, but day two of the midweek makeup shoot, was again on Trafford Park Drive. The cast and crew shot the infamous "towel" scene. Maybe not so infamous, but it did contain a towel. Special thanks to cinematographer Nick Prymak (no "C") who stood in for Brad Morrissey (Charlie) and did a Seinfeldesque (read: terrible) version of the character for Mike and Jeff to play off of.

January 17, 2006

After an evening drive to FedEx the night before, this fine Tuesday evening, day 16 of shooting, found the Sleather crew on Trafford Park Drive in beautiful Coventry, Rhode Island, filming scenes for "Charlie's house." Special thanks to the rain which began moments after the crew set up five light stands, the camera, monitor, and all of the outdoor props.

"What's that sound?" - Eric Weindel as the drops began to hit the tree leaves above our unsuspecting group.

January 15, 2006

The Sleather crew sleeps in! A shipping oversight has left some much needed equipment safely nestled in a New Jersey FedEx warehouse. The afternoon was spent holding meetings to plan for the weeks ahead.

January 8, 2006

The cast of Sleather took part in a photo shoot at Ron Wexler Photography in Providence, RI. Photos will be used for publicity and promotion of Sleather.

December 18, 2005

Day 15, the final day of shooting before the holiday break, took the Sleather Production Team, models from The Beauty Within, and a lively group of extras to Ultra the Nightclub in Providence, RI. Special thanks to Cristy Raposo for all of her help in turning Ultra the Nightclub into Paris, France, and also for getting up early on Sunday morning to make everything possible.

December 17, 2005

Records were shattered on Day 14 as Sleather had both its shortest day of shooting and the fewest cast and crew members present. Actor Chris Johnston and six crew made the trip to the Senate Chambers at the University of Rhode Island. Special thanks to the heaters that made noise even when turned off.

December 11, 2005

The team returned to DJ's apartment on Day 13 to finish what it started. Special thanks to Calvin the Greyhound for moving his food and water bowls to accomodate the production.

December 10, 2005

On Day 12, the Sleather Production Team invaded the apartment of one DJ Watson (of RPG: Chapter Nine fame). Special thanks to the new Narragansett Beer girl for agreeing to do a calendar shoot on such short notice.

December 4, 2005

This Sunday's shoot was called off due to a freak snowstorm. Who would have thought that filming outdoors in December could be cancelled due to snow?

December 3, 2005

A frigid Day 11 had the Sleather crew back to the set of the birthday party scene. As is usual with our Saturday shoots, we faced a limited crew as well as the usual seasonal challenges. While our hands were red from the cold, the camera remained toasty with hand warmers inside its weather protector.

November 20, 2005

Day 10 brought not only the Sleather regulars, but also 21 children (and their parents) to partake in the birthday party scene. Special thanks to Nick Prymak for breaking the house's only toilet and forcing over 50 cast and crew to shuttle to the nearby Wendy's when nature called.

November 19, 2005

The Sleather team returned to the Gonzalez duplex on Day 9 for more daytime shooting. Special thanks to Rakey McLeaf, Barkey McDog, Father McTime, Walkie McGravel, and Hippy McHop.

"Why are we racing Scott?" - Michael A. LoCicero
"Am I Rakey McLeaf?" - Jeff Hodge

November 6, 2005

On Day 8, cast and crew assembled in North Kingstown to not only shoot, but do some landscaping as well. Special thanks to the Gonzalez Family for allowing us to redesign the front of their house.

November 5, 2005

Day 7 of shooting took the Sleather Production Team to Ron Wexler Photography in downtown Providence. Special thanks to the giant ball of fire in the sky, otherwise known as the sun, for making short work of this day's shoot.

October 30, 2005

On Day 6, the cast and crew returned to the East Greenwich Town Hall, Prospect Park, and the University of Rhode Island to get additional shots for those scenes. It was deja vu all over again.

October 29, 2005

Day 5 had the production team in the Hunter's Crossing neighborhood of beautiful Coventry, RI, braving sub-zero temperatures and ambient lawn care noise. Special thanks to the skateboarder in the pink t-shirt who ever-so-subtly kept trying to get into the shots.

October 23, 2005

Hey, TJ, you can't delete this from your MySpace.

Day 4 found the Sleather Production Team shooting at BZ Results in beautiful Coventry, RI, where the entire crew was blown away by the performance of one Syd Dillard. Our evening shoot had the cast and crew at the University of Rhode Island's Kingston campus. Special thanks to Sheri, and also to Lea, who was working in the Memorial Union that evening.

October 16, 2005

Day 3 of shooting began with high hopes after our success at the Columbus Theatre. What began as smooth sailing across the Atlantic suddenly turned tragic when gale force winds and sandstorms turned Day 3 into a veritable disaster. The iceberg of poor weather not only relieved us of our day's shoot, but also one XL-2.

Mother Nature 1, Sleather 0

P.S. If anyone finds our shooting scripts and storyboards on top of a random building or blowing in the wind, please return them promptly.

October 9, 2005

Day 2 of shooting saw the Sleather Production Team travel to several locations, including the Columbus Theatre on Broadway in Providence, and the Providence Performing Arts Center.

October 2, 2005

Sleather had its first day of shooting! We shot scenes at Prospect Park in Providence, RI, the East Greenwich Town Hall and at Tom's Market in beautiful Coventry, RI. Special thanks to the drunken gang of teenagers who had just gotten out of a party at 7 AM and held up our shoot with their repetitive questions.

September 21, 2005

Sleather Studios will be hosting a script reading for potential investors this Sunday, September 25 at 2 PM. It will be held in the Greenwich Room at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick, RI. The reading will be followed by a meet and greet featuring the cast and crew. Those interested in attending should email ProductionTeam@SleatherMovie.com.

August 23, 2005

The Sleather Production Team battles it out in the final night of casting. After hours of debating, watching tapes, debating some more, and watching even more tapes, the decisions are made. When the smoke cleared, five actors were left as the new faces of Sleather, they are: Michael A. LoCicero, Jeff Hodge, Brad Morrissey, Susan Travers, and Lindsey Cranshaw. Thanks to everyone who auditioned and made this process fun and excruciating all at the same time.

July 31, 2005

Principle photography wraps for On a Good Note.

"Anthony, it's getting blue out." - everyone on the cast and crew at least 10 times as the sun rose while getting the final shot.

July 30, 2005

The Sleather Production Team has announced its final open call. It will be this Tuesday, August 2, from 6:30 PM - 9 PM at the Kent County YMCA in Warwick, RI. See the news for July 7 or the Cast page for directions.

July 22, 2005

Due to an overwhelming response, we have added two more dates to our open call. We will also be holding calls on Sunday, July 24, 12 PM - 5 PM, and Tuesday, July 26, 6:30 PM - 9 PM. See the news for July 7 or the Cast page for directions.

July 10, 2005

Depends on what you mean by fun and energetic.

After much anticipation, the Sleather Production Team held its first casting call for Sleather at the Kent County YMCA. We met some very fun and energetic people, and we look forward to meeting the rest of you during future casting dates.

July 7, 2005

OPEN CALL FOR LEAD ROLES, SUPPORTING ROLES, EXTRAS, AND CREW!

Sunday, July 10, 12 PM - 5 PM
Tuesday, July 12, 6:30 PM - 9 PM
Sunday, July 17, 12 PM - 5 PM
Tuesday, July 19, 6:30 PM - 9 PM

*THIS IS A NON-PAYING JOB.*
A copy of the DVD and meals on shooting days will be provided.

Actors will be asked to do a cold read from the script and may also perform an optional one to two minute monologue.

Crew applicants are asked to bring a resume and may also bring any examples of previous work.

at

the Kent County YMCA
900 Centerville Road
Warwick, RI 02888.

Click here for a map and driving directions.

After entering the Y grounds, follow the road to the right until you reach the water park. Park in that parking lot and go into the building next to the field. If you get lost, tell someone you're look ing for the A-Frame.

If you are able to, please download the contact information sheet in either Microsoft Word format or Adobe Acrobat PDF format. The call will move faster if you are able to print and fill it out before arriving. These sheets will also be available to fill out at the call.

Please email casting@sleathermovie.com with any further questions.

July 2, 2005

The RPG: Chapter Nine Special Edition DVD is complete. Unbelievably, our editors were able to take extra footage from our ten minute short and create almost an hour of bonus features. Plans for distribution are now underway.

June, 2005

After securing permission from the City of Cranston Police Department, production of On a Good Note has continued throughout the month on location at Benedetti's Bar & Grill in Cranston, RI. Our now exhausted crew has been shooting overnight on Saturdays and Sundays from midnight until dawn.

June 15, 2005

Anthony and Nick hand deliver the first copy of RPG: Chapter Nine, hot off the presses, and into the hands of the Rhode Island International Film Festival for their consideration.

June 7, 2005

Scott Lewis takes over as the new Director of Photography for Sleather.

May 22, 2005

Production of On a Good Note has begun. This short film is being directed by Anthony and John, with Nick serving as the Director of Photography.

May, 2005

Pre-production of On a Good Note, a short play by John Lincoln, is underway. The script will be adapted for the screen by John, Anthony, and Nick, and production will begin around the middle of the month. The actors of the stage production of On a Good Note will also be acting in the film version. They are Michael A. LoCicero and Chris Rosenquest.

April 27, 2005

The Addict, a short film directed by Nick, produced and written with Anthony, tied for third place in the Open category at the URI Visualizations Film Festival. The short was viewed at a special screening of second and third place winners at the University Club on the University of Rhode Island's Kingston campus.

April 20, 2005

RPG: Chapter Nine, our first short film, is completed. It was shot at eleven different locations over four days. It will be submitted to film festivals and be available on DVD in the coming months.

April 3, 2005

Production of RPG: Chapter Nine has begun. RPG is a short film, produced and directed by Anthony and Nick, which answers the question: "What if real life followed role playing video game rules?"

March 12, 2005

The Sleather Benefit Dinner was a roaring success. Waiting in line for hours, despite inclement weather, the exuberant crowd feasted upon a scrumptious buffet featuring some of the finest cuisine ever to grace their bellies.

February 22, 2005

No news is good news.

January, 2005

Keri Dillard and Kevin Donnelly are brought on as art designers and storyboard artists. DJ Watson becomes the webmaster and graphic designer, taking SleatherMovie.com out of the dark ages.

December 14, 2004

The name Ryan Ruggieri is chosen from the hat of possible DPs. A phone call later that evening confirms this choice.

November 12, 2004

After months of waiting, The Official Sleather Web Site is officially unveiled!

November 10, 2004

The screenplay is finished. Only proofreading and minor additions and/or changes are left to be made.

August, 2004

After unprecedented participation in an online opinion poll, the title Sleather is unanimously chosen.

July 7, 2004

After an extended absence, we all got together and said, "We need to get going on the script." A long night of writing ensued.

May 17, 2004

After an extended absence, we all got together and said, "We need to get going on the script." A long night of writing ensued.

January 5, 2004

After an extended absence, we all got together and said, "We need to get going on the script." A long night of writing ensued.

June, 2003

One summer evening amidst ripping CDs and watching television, the idea to write a movie was kicked around. We immediately brought on a crack team of lawyers, caterers, and technical experts. We then began offering roles in the movie (mostly to people we shouldn't have (if you are one of those people, we're just kidding)). Five minutes later, we realized we hadn't yet written a script. A long night of writing ensued.

sleathermovie sleather movie independent feature comedy RI R.I. Rhode Island