With any luck, actor Joe Gentile will begin filming Neon Dream here in town before the year is over. He just launched a Kickstarter campaign today.
Gentile describes the movie, which he’ll direct and star in, as “a semi-autobiographical drama regarding my life growing up.” “It revolves around this kid named Kyle who’s your all-American straight-edge good guy,” he says. “This girl comes into town and he gets thrust into a world of sex, lust and violence.”
The film is set in Northern Maine, but Gentile plans to shoot in Northeast Ohio.
“Being from Cleveland, coming home to shoot this is practically full circle to me, getting to involve the people I know, and the places I love is beyond amazing,” he says.
Gentile has cast Academy Award nominee Leslie Browne, who’s returning to acting for the first time since 1987’s Dancers, Independent Spirit/SAG Nominee Misty Upham, Tuesday Knight and Alex Hafner, all of whom have been in major motion pictures. And he’s not done casting the film either.
“There are two other roles that are in the middle of being negotiated on right now,” he says. “There’s another Oscar nominee and a very famous singer — unfortunately names cannot be brought up right now unless a confidentiality clause is signed.”
This article appears in Feb 5-11, 2014.
Those getting on-board will be definitely in the opening steps of a movie’s production — the fundraising ends on April 12 and the projected delivery of items for the various pledge levels is December 2019.
Way to go!
Always glad to see people shooting a film in Cleveland. Maybe this guy can pay $20 and shut down the entire shoreway for a week or two. They did it for the Captain America movie, why not do the same for this guy!