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Mambo Italiano
by Jeffrey M. Freedman
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Michael Mosca is noted for having a Midas
touch when it comes to recognizing low-budget films that are capable of
generating big, fat dollars. As senior vice president of Equinoxe Films,
Mosca was the driving force behind the Canadian acquisition and
distribution of last year's blockbuster, low-budget breakaway feel-good
film, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."
The buzz on the street at the Toronto International Film Festival
regarding Equinoxe's subsequent release is predictably that the Canadian
distributor followed-up with another low-cost, feel-good, ethnic feature
that would capitalize on the fat Greek phenomenon of 2002.
Mosca's answer to critics and audiences
alike is that he knew he would have a winner with "Mambo
Italiano" which is based on the play by Italian-Canadian playwright
Steve Galluccio, even if Equinoxe had not cashed in as big as it did on
the fat Greek.
Basically about a young gay Italian man's coming out and set in the
Italian district of Montreal, there are ethnic traces of fat Greek but,
as Mosca told Filmmakers, the story and script had a charm and hit
potential of its own he could not resist.
"It started when my colleague, our
director of video and I, were down at the American Film Market in Los
Angeles, February 2002," said Mosca in Montreal-based Equinoxe's
Toronto office.
"We had just finished screening a film called "My Big Fat
Greek Wedding." I was on the sidewalk discussing with Mark the
potential of the film and how much we should offer to buy it when my
cell phone rang and it was Denise Robert, the co-producer of "Mambo
Italiano."
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| Michael
Mosca,
Vice President, Les Films Equinoxe |
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As Mosca recalls, Robert told him she needed his help to release an English film she was producing
(Equinoxe distributes in English and French across Canada). Mosca had Robert send the script to L.A., he read it, loved it, called her the next day and told her they were in.
"That's how we bought Mambo Italiano," he says.
As Mosca recalls, Robert told him she needed his help to release an English film she was producing
(Les Films Equinoxe in English and French across Canada).
As Mosca recalls, Robert told him she needed his help to release an English film she was producing (Equinoxe distributes in English and French across Canada). Mosca had Robert send the script to L.A., he read it, loved it, called her the next day and told her they were in.
"That's how we bought Mambo Italiano," he says.
The film stars Ginette Reno and Paul Sorvino as the frantic Italian parents and Luke Kirby as the closeted gay who falls for his close childhood male friend, and is directed by hot Canadian Quebec director, Emile Gaudreault. As mentioned, "Mambo" is considered by many at the Festival as a big, fat Greek variation. However, no one here seems to care much that Equinoxe released a film in the same genre last year that happened to be Greek instead of Italian. The movie seems to be giving local audiences a shot in the arm in the wake of SARS, mad cow disease, blackouts and an economy which, while not quite as anemic as the one in the States, isn't a whole heck of a lot better.
Is this why Mosca bet on "Mambo," because it had the feel-good elements of the fat Greek, was low budget and was likely to make audiences feel good again and spread the word about a movie worth the price of admission at the local theatre?
"Sometimes it's a gamble," Mosca admits, noting two positive aspects of the project were Gaudreault was attached, and that the equally bankable Cinema Imaginaire produced the picture. "The script was solid and I knew Cinema Imaginaire had the track record to bring the script to screen and give me good production value," added Mosca. "It was a gamble but we essentially had all the odds in our favor by having all of the right people attached to the project who have a lot of credentials."
Mosca notes as well that, while he believed the story was a good, solid one with lots of potential, the attachment of an international star gave it the added boost it needed to make it a worthwhile endeavor, financially and artistically.
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From left to right,,,, Luke Kirby, Paul
Sorvino, Mike Mosca, Mary Walsh, Peter Miller
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"The film is good in its own right but a star like Paul Sorvino will give it that extra push people need to go see it," he says, explaining that when an American movie star is attached to any project, it can go a long way toward bringing buyers in to take a look at the picture.
But it's also true there are a number of factors that can give a film the boost it needs to succeed the way "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" did and that bring a low-budget feature like "Mambo
Italiano" to a major festival with the kind of publicity and generally positive press it is getting.
"The film is a feel-good movie, it's a cute film," Mosca admits. But he adds there were also less pictures at the American Film Market last year (because of the economy and 9/11), and because of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" Equinoxe had a lot of success selling "Mambo."
The timing of the acquisition of the fat Greek did not in any way guarantee the success of "Mambo." "'Big Fat Greek Wedding' and 'Mambo
Italiano' were both bought the same week in February, 2002," said Mosca. 'Big Fat Greek Wedding' was not released until April; so when we bought 'Mambo' we had no idea that 'Greek Wedding" was going to be so huge.'
All that being said, what does Mosca, who has an acquisition track record in the Canadian film industry that is second-to-none, look for when he gambles on projects that don't come with the mega-star power or huge budgets of Hollywood attached?
"I try to select projects that are well-written, whether it be a comedy , thriller or something else," he says.
"I have over 20 years experience in the business and it helps to understand the trends of what people like to see...but it's always a gamble."
And that is……?
"With all the DVD and video around the world, you have to find a project that is going to make people want to get off their couches and go see it in the theatre. It has to have a catch or a hook. With 'Mambo
Italiano,' I thought it was well written and, being Italian myself, it struck home as well. But for the amount of money that was required…I thought we had a good chance of selling it
worldwide-although we didn't have any way of knowing it would sell as well as it has. It basically had all the elements I look for in a project: good story, acted well, directed well with good production value where the movie-goer comes out of the theatre saying 'That was worth my while.'
Director: Émile Gaudreault
Producer: Denise Robert and Daniel Louis (Cinémaginaire inc.)
Writer: Émile Gaudreault and Steve Galluccio
Cast: Luke Kirby, Ginette Reno, Johnny Griffin, Paul Sorvino, Claudia Ferri.
Cinematographer: Serge Ladouceur
Original Music: FM Le Sieur
Editor: Richard Comeau
Production Design: Patricia Christie
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