MARTIN SCORSESE
Presents
A Film by Kevin Jordan
A MEADOWBROOK PICTURES RELEASE
Toronto International Film Festival
Official Selection
2005 World Premiere
13th Annual Hamptons International Film Festival
Official Selection
Starring
Danny Aiello Jane Curtin
Daniel Sauli Marisa Ryan Ian Kahn Heather Burns
Not Yet MPAA-Rated
Running Time: 1:30 1. 85 Aspect Ratio Stereo Mix Sound
Press Contact:
Meadowbrook Pictures
51 Wooster St., 2nd flr.
New York, NY10013
(212) 343-3037
Matt Coogan
BROOKLYN LOBSTER
Synopsis
Frank Giorgio's once orderly life has been thrown into chaos since the bank that loaned him money for a restaurant addition to his lobster business has folded. With the threat of a public auction looming, the very proud and stubborn Frank, played by Danny Aiello (Moonstruck, Do the Right Thing), his family and eccentric crew attempt to save the Brooklyn lobster shop that is the cornerstone of their identity.
Frank's son Michael (Daniel Sauli, The Pink Panther, Boiler Room), who has chosen a much different life for himself in the tech world of Seattle, and his girl friend Kerry (Heather Burns, Bewitched, Miss Congeniality 2) return home for Christmas and, for better or worse, are dragged into the family drama that unfolds. Michael’s childhood home has been sold, and his mother Maureen (Jane Curtin, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Saturday Night Live) is separating from Frank. Over the course of two extraordinary weeks, he finds himself sleeping on a pull-out couch with his dad, catching wandering lobster crates in the bay and trying to mend his relationship with Kerry in a gaudy Russian motel.
While Michael joins the sometimes humorous Lobster Farm rescue efforts, Maureen is trying to keep her distance, staying with her daughter Lauren (Marisa Ryan, Riding in Cars with Boys), son-in-law Just in (Ian Kahn, Dawson's Creek) and baby granddaughter as she looks for a place to live and establish her own identity-apart from the lobster business that has consumed her life, her house and her husband. Lauren, who has stood by her father working at the Lobster Farm, strives to keep the lines of communication open while the family struggles to hold it together despite the imminent threat to their business.
This sincere, down-to-earth drama explores the complexities and inherent comedy of family dynamics. As the final auction approaches, Frank and Michael are forced to look within themselves and the heritage that has shaped them both. For Michael, that means acknowledging the traits he shares with his father and not al lowing himself to repeat the same mistakes. For Frank, it's a matter of letting go and opening himself up to the family and friends who might just provide the lifeline he so desperately needs.
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BROOKLYN LOBSTER
Production Notes
The inspiration for Brooklyn Lobster, starring Danny Aiello (Moonstruck, Do the Right Thing) and Jane Curtin (3rd Rock from the Sun, Saturday Night Live), came from Jordan's Lobster Dock in SheepsheadBay,Brooklyn. Writer/director Kevin Jordan wanted to bring the story of his family's lobster shop to life on the big screen. His grandfather, known as "the lobster king of New York," started the business back in 1938 on BleeckerStreet in Manhattan and then moved it to Brooklyn. He was the first to air-ship lobsters packed in barrels of seaweed and is responsible for the glass lobster tanks found in local supermarkets today. The feature film loosely portraysJordan'sown family's struggle to keep their business afloat after a bank defaulted on the loan intended to help them build a restaurant extension.
Jordan teamed up with his brothers Darren and Brian to create a 10-minute documentary on their family's shop to stir interest and raise funds for the narrative feature. After a screening and lobster party, sufficient funding was secured to start production. Casting director Phyllis Huffman (Million Dollar Baby, MysticRiver) was the first to join the team. She got the script to Aiello, who signed on immediately, and Curtin soon joined the cast to play opposite him. The film was shot in less than five weeks on location in Brooklyn as well as in New York City and Long Island. It focuses primarily on Frank Giorgio (Aiello), the stubborn, good-hearted, blue-collar owner of Giorgio's Lobster Farm, and how he deals with the impending foreclosure on the small, shaker-shingled lobster shop he inherited from his father. Although Frank refuses help, his family members also want to save the business that has always been a cornerstone of their lives-but the underlying story is really about their relationships with one another, especially Frank and Maureen (Curtin), whose marriage is coming to a quiet, matter-of-fact end, and Frank and their son Michael (Daniel Sauli, The Pink Panther, Boiler Room), who is visiting for the holidays but reluctant to return full time to lobster land and his father's obstinacy. Jordan explores the complicated dynamics of family relations, marked with drama and humor, as the Giorgios face their greatest challenge yet.
CREDITS
Director/Writer/Producer:Producers:
Associate Producers:
Cinematographer:
Editor:
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Music Composer:
Cast: / Kevin Jordan
Chris Valentino
Darren Jordan
Brian Jordan
Aimee Golden
Barry Ohannessian
Dave Tumblety
Mako Kamitsuna
Jesse Nemeth
Laquitta Matthews
Phyllis Huffman
Cousin Bruce Morrow
Craig Maher
Danny Aiello (Frank Giorgio)
Jane Curtin (Maureen Giorgio)
Daniel Sauli (Michael Giorgio)
Marisa Ryan (Lauren Giorgio-Wallace)
Ian Kahn (Just in Wallace)
Heather Burns (Kerry Miller)
Sam Freed (James Miller)
Tom Mason (Chuck Miller)
Barbara Garrick (Lynn Miller)
Henry Yuk (Bill Lau)
Jo Yang (Jen Lau)
John Rothman (Sal Guardino)
Cousin Bruce Morrow (Radio DJ)
DANNY AIELLO
Frank Giorgio
A lifelong resident of New York City, Danny Aiello began acting in his mid 30's and set the tone for his career by immediately earning a Theatre World Award for his debut in Lamppost Reunion. With a reputation for no-holds barred stage and screen performances which are brimming with honest emotion, Aiello's portrayal of Cher's jilted fiancé in Moonstruck endeared him to film audiences. As 'Sal' in Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing, Aiello received unanimous acclaim including Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor, and was named Best Supporting Actor by the Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago Film Critics Associations.
After decades of starring in films, theatre and on television, Aiello recently completed his lifelong dream and recorded his first studio album. Entitled IJust Wanted to Hear the Words, the compilation of classic traditional jazz hits debuted on April 28th at #4 on the Billboard Charts and garnered rave reviews. Aiello is currently in the midst of touring and sold out his very first concert at NYC's legendary Rainbow Room, and he has performed at the House of Blues Sunset Strip in LA and the House of BluesAnaheim. The album was released by IN2N Entertainment and was produced by Tommy Van Dell.
Aiello has just finished shooting the independent film Brooklyn Lobster for director Kevin Jordan, where he stars as a blue-collar guy who runs a financially troubled lobster shop.
JANE CURTIN
Maureen Giorgio
Jane Curtin first gained national attention when she made her TV debut in 1975 as one of the original members of the Not Ready for Prime Time Players on the hit late-night series Saturday Night Live. During her five year run on that show, she received critical acclaim and two Emmy nominations for her creation of many memorable characters.
She starred with Susan Saint James for five years on the popular television series Kate and Allie, twice earning the Emmy Award as Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her portrayal of affable divorcee Allie Lowell. Jane went on to a successful six-year run as Dr. Mary Albright on the NBC hit 3rd Rock From the Sun.
Her feature film credits include Antz, Coneheads, How to Beat the High Cost of Living, Suspicion, Mr. Mike's Mondo Video, O.C. & Stiggs and Brooklyn Lobster.
Born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Curtin studied drama at NortheasternUniversity. She was a member of the improvisational theater group The Proposition for four years before going on a national tour with a number of plays, including the comedy Last of the Red Hot Lovers. She appeared on Broadway with Joanne Woodward as Prossie in George Bernard Shaw's Candida, and reprised the role on television. Her other stage credits include the off-Broadway musical revue Pretzels, which she co-wrote, and several appearances in A.R.Gurney's Love Letters. Most recently she appeared in the Westport Country Playhouse production of Our Town, which also played on Broadway to a sold-out run in late 2002 with Jane reprising her role.
DANIEL SAULI
Michael Giorgio
Daniel Sauli stars opposite Danny Aiello and Jane Curtin in the feature film Brooklyn Lobster, which hits theaters in November 2005. Sauli plays Michael Giorgio, son of Frank Giorgio (Aiello), an aging patriarch facing the imminent loss of the small Brooklyn lobster shop started by his own father. Michael, who has chosen a much different life for himself in the tech world of Seattle, returns home for Christmas with this girlfriend to find his parents separated, his childhood home sold and the family business up for auction. The interplay betweenSauli'scharacter and Aiello's provides much of the humor and dramatic tension around which the film's characters revolve.
Sauli will also be seen in the upcoming Shawn Levy-directed MGM film The Pink Panther (2006), prequel to the 1964 Peter Sellers hit. He plays the role of Roland Saint-Germain in a cast headlined by Steve Martin, Kevin Kline, Beyonce Knowles, Jean Reno, Emily Mortimer and Henry Czerny.
Other feature film credits include Boiler Room, Seven and a Match, Brooklyn Babylon and Calling Bobcat.
On television, Sauli has starred in the Showtime pilot Hate and HBO Pictures' Thought Crimes, directed by Sidney Lumet, and guest starred in episodes of NBC's Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Push, Nevada on ABC, HBO's Sex and the City and the A&E Movie of the Week The Lady in Question.
Daniel Sauli'sother performing credits include an active professional life in the theatre. He has appeared on Broadway in the role of Louis in the Roundabout Theater's Tony Award-winning revival of A View from the Bridge, starring Anthony LaPaglia, and he originated the role of Galileo in David Hare's The Judas Kiss, opposite Liam Neeson (also performed in London's West End). Additional theater credits include Dead Reckoning at the Cherry Lane Theater, Biloxi Blues at the Pasadena Playhouse, Christmas in Naples at the Williamstown Theater Festival and Maid at the Lincoln Center Theater.
KEVIN JORDAN
Writer/Director/Producer
The inspiration for writer-director Kevin Jordan's latest narrative film, Brooklyn Lobster, came from his own family's lobster shop in Brooklyn, NY. The feature, which stars Danny Aiello (Moonstruck, Do the Right Thing) and Jane Curtin (Saturday Night Live, Kate and Allie) and is officially presented by Martin Scorsese, premiered at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival and has also been officially selected by the Hamptons International Film Festival, the Avignon Film Festival and the Bahamas International Film Festival.
Jordan started his career in front of the camera, acting in commercials and hosting the award-winning PBS teen series In the Mix. He also appeared in the Disney movie Houseguest with Phil Hartman and Sinbad. Shifting his focus to directing, Jordan attended New YorkUniversity's film school where he received the inaugural Martin Scorsese Young Filmmaker Scholarship and NYU's Continued Excellence in Directing Award. Upon graduation, he spent two months on the set of Kundun as an apprentice to Scorsese. Jordan then co-wrote, directed and produced the independent feature film Smiling Fish and Goat on Fire, which was presented by Scorsese, won the Discovery Award at the Toronto International Film Festival and was acquired for theatrical distribution by IDP.
Jordan's next project, Flickerbox, is a narrative feature that takes places during the film patent wars of the early 1900s.