Bronx teacher bullies his way into filmmaking
Written by Jon Minners
A
local Morris Park teacher has taken his first steps toward a successful
filmmaking career by spotlighting his hometown in an inspiring short film.
Benvenuto Ferron, a Lurting Avenue resident, has created a 15-minute movie entitled Da Bully, shot in Morris Park, and featuring children from the community. The film could be a prelude for things to come in what Ferron hopes to be an exciting career in the movie industry.
“Last summer, I had been in pre-production for my first independent film,” said Ferron. “I had decided to shoot a music video or short film as a warm up before I actually went into production the following summer. I just wanted to check out how my crew would work together. The problem that I faced was that I really didn’t have any story to shoot. But I got lucky and something I saw inspired me.”
Ferron states that he always wanted to work with children, because kids present a unique challenge to the director, approaching acting with a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and innocence. Loreto Park and the children enjoying the playground would prove to be the inspiration Ferron needed for his short film.
“Well, last summer, while I was taking my one-year-old daughter to play in Loreto Park, I began to notice a bunch of little kids having a water balloon fight and my daughter found them to be so amusing,” he recalled. “As they were fooling around, another older kid showed up with a large water gun and basically blasted them all. Well, my daughter and I were both laughing and that’s when I thought that would be a great idea for a short film. So, I went home and constructed a story incorporating some of the things I had seen in the park.”
Ferron decided that what he really wanted to write was a father and son story using a baseball theme and came up with Da Bully. The story surrounds around Sal, played by Salvatore Rutolo, Jr. Sal is a clever kid who is forced to challenge a park bully that has taken his New York Yankees hat. What makes matters worse is that Sal has to get his hat back before his dad takes him to the big game. “I felt that this would give the story line more substance and enhance the action sequences,” he notes.
In a small quiet Italian-American neighborhood in the Bronx, Sal organizes a group of his best friends to help him recover his lucky Yankees hat from a teenage bully, played by Charlie Nesto. The bully hangs out in a nearby park and Sal and his friends go to great lengths by hatching a bold plan using water guns and water balloons in an effort to provoke and trap the bully and get his Yankees hat back.
“Most of the children in the film are kids that I saw playing on Lurting Avenue or in Loreto Park,” said Ferron. “I had to confront the children and their parents to convince them that I was serious about making a real film. I showed them some student films I had made at NYU and then I explained to them the long hours their children needed to work in order to complete the movie. We completed the film in one weekend shooting everyday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.”
Although the film has been made, do not expect to see it at any local stores or Blockbuster video chains. “I made my short film, not with the intention of selling it,” said Ferron. “Rather, I wanted to produce something that would showcase my talent while in the process present the film to many festivals and create additional buzz for my upcoming feature, which I am shooting in Morris Park.”
Ferron will be screening his film in select circles. “Since I am a teacher at the Focus School for Documentary and Media Studies, I also wanted to use Da Bully as a model for my students,” he said. “I was hoping to use my film as a tool to engage and motivate my students to make their own projects become a reality.”
Da Bully has been officially selected by the New York Independent Film and Video Festival and was shown in New York and Los Angeles, giving Ferron the exposure he needs to get his filmmaking career off the ground. Ferron is shooting several projects in the near future. Rio Palestina is a documentary about the face of international terrorism. Ferron is also shooting a documentary about Italian immigrants from the Island of Ponza and their patron saint, San Silverio. Ferron is currently in pre-production for a feature independent film about Italian-Americans living in the northeast Bronx. Recently, the filmmaker worked on a Brazilian independent film called Odique?, with some friends. The film has received a lot of critical acclaim in Brazil, according to Ferron, who is hopeful his star is on the rise, stating, “Hopefully, this won’t be the last you see of me.”For feedback, visit our message board or e-mail the author at jminners@g-pop.net.