Melissa Pellicano & Chris Laudando: “The Celebration of a Film Festival”

RCM presents: A Staten Island Film Maker Showcase, on February 27th from 7 to 10pm at SI Makerspace, (450 Front Street, Staten Island, N.Y.). If you ever desired to  view an actual film festival, well now is your chance to see never before previewed films being presented to the public for the first time. It’s free to whomever wishes to enjoy a night of entertainment, complete with a cocktail session, and intriguing, and captivating movies.

Get Out was able to speak with the mastermind behind the event, Melissa Pellicano, a video editor for the Huffington Post, and also a proud Bi-sexual, and one of the producers of a brand new short, entitled,”Sender”, Christopher Laudando.

Melissa, please give us an overview of what the film festival is about.
Melissa: I’m putting together a showcase which originally started as just a small get together  of filmmakers. I’m part of the filmmakers collective on Staten Island and I don’t want people to look at Staten Island is just the other borough. When I started the film collective our main goal was for the betterment of Staten Island. We’re getting more and more attention and we are collaborating more with great minded filmmakers, such as Chris who put together a short entitled, “Sender”.

How long does it take to organize a festival?
Melissa: This particular one took a couple of months because it’s small. I’ve been trying to reach out to different filmmakers to see who they know, whose work they appreciate, and why. I have a three hour time block, and I have two 20 minute films that I’m trying to show, as well as other films and excerpts from films. There will be somewhat of a cocktail hour before we start the films. It is a free event for anyone who wishes to attend.

Chris tell me a little bit about your film. I understand that it’s in the realm of science fiction.
Chris: Kind of, it’s more of a psychological fantasy. It’s a short experimental, arty type film. It is only 5 1/2 minutes long.

If a Hollywood producer came in and wanted to buy the film, can you make it longer?
Chris: It can be made into a feature film.

What is the premise behind the film?
Chris:The main character is plagued by these strange dreams.  He receives a mysterious package in the mail that eventually begins to move by itself. He winds up throwing it out the window. He then gets a knock on the door, and a stranger stands in front of him. They wind up in some kind of struggle, and in an attempt to escape, the main character goes through a door, winds up running through a field, and then enters another door. He encounters another person who says, “we’ve been waiting for you, now you are home”.

OK Chris don’t give the rest away.
Chris: Some people may interpret it as a dream, only it’s not. People may ask what is on the other side of that door, and I think it’s what you really wanted it to be. What’s very exciting for me, is that an actor from Kevin Smith’s movie “Clerks”, Scott Schiaffo, is the person on the other side of the door.

What was your motivation for the film?
Chris: I had initially sent the cinematographer from the film an hour long television pilot that I had wrote. He loved it and wanted to do the project, however I thought it was best to start with a short film, so I wrote “Sender”.

Melissa, what do you feel the future of your festival holds?
Melissa: We are looking to make this an on-going thing, that we might do twice a year, we are hoping to get some grants in the future by showing our work.