The writer-director chats about his background and his new thriller.
Writer/Director Tony Germinario's Award-Winning 'tour-de-force' thriller Bad Frank punches its way to VOD this July from Gravitas Ventures.
Headlined with a true breakout performance by Award-Winner Kevin Interdonato, and featuring electric support from Amanda Clayton (Bleed For This), Tom Sizemore (Showtime's Twin Peaks, Saving Private Ryan, Heat), Brian O'Halloran (Clerks 1 & 2), and boxing icon Ray 'Boom-Boom' Mancini, Bad Frank has become a majorly sought after film this year, and acquired by heavyweight Foreign Rep, Lotus Entertainment.
Frank Pierce (played by Interdonato) leads a seemingly normal life, but when a disturbing past re-emerges and something precious is taken from him, his mask of sanity loosens and unearths the urge to be violent once again.
When did you start making movies – not produced features but just for yourself. As a kid?
Ha! Great question. I had a little camera probably about 20 years ago that I filmed on just to mess around.
Do you remember what you would shoot on?
I wish I did. I think it was just a little sim card or something like that.
What kind of films were they? Little horror movies or action movies?
More like me pretending to interview someone and then changing wardrobe to be the person I was interviewing. I just like cracking people up so I made a whole bunch of bad jokes that just got worse and worse after a few beers.
Did your folks encourage you to partake in a career as a filmmaker?
I got into the game a little late, so it wasn’t quite the same path. I tried giving music a go for a while and was a touring musician before the wife and kids came along. My parents have always been supportive, no matter what crazy things I’ve decided to do, so I’m really lucky in that regard.
Was it inevitable that your first feature be a hard-hitting horror-thriller?
Well, I had written a rom-com that I had produced a few years ago. It was called Wingman Inc. and it was about a professional wingman that falls in love with a professional cockblocker. A friend of mine named Choice Skinner directed it. It was filmed out in LA and it was a little pricier than I had expected. I wanted to direct my own script next and to do it I had to do it cheap and with people I knew, so we filmed the whole thing for just $80,000 and did it all around my home town. Fortunately, my DP, Mike Hechanova, is brilliant and it looks like we spent a hell of a lot more.
Who were the first people you showed Bad Frank to?
I did a little screening for all the people that helped out in some way for the film; people who loaned us their house, their car, their business, good friends who were extras, etc. All the reactions were great, but they also said “What the hell is wrong with you?!”.
Was it important to you that the film got a festival run first. Do you think that ultimately helped the film?
Important to me, not really. Do I think it helped? Yeah, I do. Some festivals are great, others not so much. I like them mostly for the people you get to meet. I haven’t been to any of the big ones yet, but I’m hoping that will come with my next film, as we’re looking to step it up a bit.
How important a marketing tool has the internet been for the film?
It’s huge. Between twitter, facebook, instagram, you name it, it’s a massive part of what you need to do to get the word out there, especially as an indie filmmaker. Even with distribution, you still have to do the majority of the publicity and marketing yourself. It’s not the same world as of a few years ago, so you have to grind it out all the time. I think we spent more time in post-production doing social media than just about anything else.