Uncle Louie and Santino's

UNCLE LOUIE THE MOVIE: EATING PIZZA IN LA
In LA today promoting our film Uncle Louie. I'm also stuffing my face on excellent pizza from Santino's, rated #1 in Sherman Oaks by the Huffington Post. The Neapolitan Squares are my favorite, specifically the Regina made with marinated roasted red peppers, spinach, ricotta cheese and garlic.

THE MAKING OF UNCLE LOUIE: entry 5

R Allen Russell sees the cosmos in the smallest leaf. Mangelli and I knew this about our dear friend and Majestic Scribe brother. And if was his eye on the ineffable that made our decision to make him the director. He made a small film called Exposure, a long time ago and it blew our minds. He sees beyond the pale, to the bigger picture. His life long quest is to find meaning in everything. In Uncle Louie his soul is clearly revealed

THE MAKING OF UNCLE LOUIE: entry 4

The first thing we had to do in making Uncle Louie was rewrite the script then break it down into scenes and shots. We got it done under two weeks. Together with our director and Scribe comrade, R. Allen Russell, we put the script to bed then went to work building our cast. We wanted Nick D’Arpino to play Louie. Nick not only acts, but is a wizard with camera and lighting. Nick has talent coming out of his ears, We were on our way. Everything started falling into place. Craig Ferriera and Michele Mangelli came on board to play Benny and Bernice. There was no turning back.

THE MAKING OF UNCLE LOUIE: entry 3

It became clearly and painfully evident that the man we had selected to play the villain had not done his homework learning the lines and nuances of Lester. Take after take drove the point deeper and deeper home. We wanted to like the footage. We really did. But it didn’t work. The dialogue came off wooden and unnatural. Sunday night, we made the decision to scrap the footage and start all over again with a new Lester. I broke down that night and cried my eyes out.

THE MAKING OF UNCLE LOUIE: entry 2

Mangelli and I have been told “no” by everybody—every agent, producer, publisher, all types of readers, and secretaries, so many secretaries, and all of them hired to brush you off. The closest we got with our novel Guilty Parties was a third reading at Avon Books. They assigned designers to think about a cover. But in the end, it was no. Sorry. We pass.

THE MAKING OF UNCLE LOUIE: entry 1

Joe and I have been working on Uncle Louie for nearly twenty years. We have been writing together professionally since 1974. We've had many wins. We wrote the script for a shoot ‘em up indie called Lockdown (starring Richard Lynch and distributed by Overseas Film Group) and the thirteen mini=plays for the PBS aired HealthQuest series. We had other scores too, ones that paid money. None of it though was ever enough to soften the punch in the stomach that came with every rejection. Being told “no” hurts; it crushed our hearts and seeded doubt.

Uncle Louie is Goin' to Buffalo!

Uncle Louie has been selected as one of the finalists in the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival - April 8 through April 17, 2011!

Congratulations to creators Joe Izzo and Joe Mangelli who gave life to the enigmatic character of Uncle Louie and a wonderful world of possibility. And congratulations to the cast and crew who worked tirelessly to bring this tale to the big screen.