 "BROADWAY DAMAGE" stars Mara Hobel and Hugh Panaro. As a child, Hobel starred as little Christina Crawford in "MOMMIE DEAREST" with Faye Dunaway and as the young neighbor, Charlotte, on TV's "Roseanne." Panaro has starred on Broadway in "Les Miserables," "Phantom Of The Opera," "Showboat" and recently as Buddy in "Side Show". The film also stars newcomers Michael Shawn Lucas and Aaron Williams. Supporting players include Gary Janetti, Jerry McIntyre, Barbara Winters-Pinto and James Lecesne, the writer of the Academy Award winning short film "TREVOR."
"One day, about two years ago, I woke up with the disturbing realization that I'd become more jaded than I'd ever intended to be," explains writer/director Victor Mignatti when asked how he came up with the idea for "BROADWAY DAMAGE." "I was working in advertising -- directing TV commercials, videos, image films and editing fashion stuff. So much of what I was called on to do was supposed to be very edgy, very hip, and I realized that all of that manufactured edginess was just another way our fear-driven culture hardens itself against love and romance and joy." Mignatti never considered himself a cynical person, but realized that the work he was producing for others had taken a toll on his outlook on life. "I thought, 'What was I like -- what was my life like before I became cynical and jaded?' And I flashed back to when I was about nineteen. When my parents had just dropped me off at NYU and everything seemed possible. I wanted to make a movie about what that time in my life felt like, a sort of modern old-fashioned movie that would speak to the inner-romantic in all of us." Casting began in New York with casting director Alan Filderman (Broadway's "Master Class," "Once On This Island," and "Three Tall Women"). Filderman had a strong identification with the script, "I'd come to New York to be an actor myself and everyday of my life I experience, first hand, the heartache and longing that goes into this business." Filderman also knew exactly were to find the actors who would play the leads. "It was really important to Victor that the kids actually looked like they were in their early twenties. They needed to be open and vulnerable, but still kind of tough. So I brought in actors who were already part of the way there in terms of the character's professional ambitions... also actors who still could embody that naiveté about life."
"What none of the actors realized at the time was that even though we were casting and had started scouting locations and had set our first day of shooting, we didn't have a single cent of the budget in the bank," Mignatti confesses. "I think the trick to getting a movie made is to start making the movie, even if you don't have the money. Indie director Jeffrey Arsenault gave me the best piece of advice any one ever gave me. He said, 'Set your first day of shooting and stick to it.' It sounded nuts at the time, but I set a date and soon after that the money started to come." "We raised just enough money to get the film in the can. I knew with a rough cut we could raise the rest," Mignatti explained. Producer David Topel enjoyed the challenge of flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants production, "Sometimes your financial limitations can actually be an asset. It's no small feat shooting a film on the streets of New York in the very rainy month of June. It was a roller-coaster ride. People tried to scam us, we got kicked out of locations... someone even turned a hose on us one night. But we made it work by having a great time."
Line producer Anthony Bennett had worked with Mignatti on a number of image films. "Right away, Victor made some very unusual choices. The first being shooting in Super-16mm instead of 35mm," Bennett notes. "He felt that because the story had so much sweetness built into it that it was extremely important that elements of the look had some sense of grittiness. In many ways he sees this as a film for people in their twenties, people raised on MTV." Mignatti shot extensive tests with Director of Photography Michael Mayers before deciding on Super 16. Mayers explained, "I've worked with Victor for over ten years and we're always searching for new ways of looking at things. Particularly the Village, which we both love. Victor is very specific about lens choices, and he likes to experiment. We used many more wide-angle lenses on "BROADWAY DAMAGE" than in anything we've ever done." But Mayers wasn't sure about Super-16. "At first, I was nervous, but Victor was really into it. In addition to the added graininess he wanted, we both felt we would be able to create a more intimate feel on the set." |
Mignatti adds, "Sure, these kids can be smart-assed, but the difference is they still listen to their hearts, not to mention Broadway cast albums. I've been lucky enough to know lots of shameless dreamers. It's that balancing act between idealism and reality that interests me... Holding tight to your dreams in such a tough world. That's 'BROADWAY DAMAGE.'"
Mignatti elaborates, "Because everyone was making so little money, they were all there because they wanted to be there and that's very important to the spirit of a film set. I want everybody to be having a great time on the set. That's part of my job description as far as I'm concerned. If people aren't having a great time, it shows up in the dailies and then you end up having to try to edit that tension out."