RED LINE STUDIOS
Presents
JOAN COLLINS as Francesca Vonn
CHARLES CASILLO as Darius Russi
In
FETISH
with
HUGH C. DALY as Childs
FRANK C. PERRY as Director Talk Show
JEFF DYMOSKI as Talk Show Crew
ANASTASIA KONSTANTINOU as Make Up Artist
MANDY MUSCATO as Interpreter
NELSON ROSADO as Talk Show Crew
GENTRII THURLBY as Assistant
TOMMY as Limo Driver
Written by Charles Casillo
Costumes by Mark Zunino
Executive Producer - Kelvin Dale & Frank C. Perry
Produced by Anastasia Konstantinou & Matthew J. Pellowski
Music by Bruce Hathaway
Directed by Matthew J. Pellowski
(c) 2010 .. 30mins .. USA ..
A fading movie star has a bizarre, late night rendezvous with an eccentric talk show host!
Joan with Charles at Beverly Hills Film Festival
Around the time of the release, I spoke to Charles about the film and on working with Joan...
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| JOAN & CHARLES ON SET FILMING CHAT SHOW SCENE WITH DIRECTOR MATTHEW.J.PELLOWSKI |
C.C." It is a dark comedy about a legendary actress on the skids, who is a constant target of bad press, always in the tabloids and is trying to redefine her image for a comeback. She appears on a late night talk show, where she becomes "cozy" with the host in a bid for a comeback. Joan herself described the screenplay as a cross between "Sunset Blvd meets "David Letterman" via "The Twilight Zone"!"
It sounds fabulous Charles, when you were writing the screenplay did you have Joan in mind for the role of Francesca Vonn?
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| CHARLES & JOAN ... |
C.C.." I wasn't thinking of any actress in particular for the part, while I was writing the role. The character is really a composite of all those kooky actresses today, you read and hear about...addicted to drugs and alcohol and plagued by one scandal after another and who are known more for their personal lives, than their current movie careers. Once the script was finished, I knew it would take a special actress who could be very comical and over-the-top one moment and subtle, tragic and vulnerable the next..yet maintaining a glamorous charisma throughout. I immediately thought of Joan! There is really no actress today that equals her when it comes to combining classic Hollywood glamour and beauty with a contemporary hip and sexy personality."
Charles, yes I agree, there is very few actresses like Joan!
C.C .. "My producer Kelvin Dale and I put together a short list of five actresses, we thought would be right for the part, as knowing Hollywood as I do, we were not sure who would be available. But Joan was on top of the list and as soon as she expressed an interest, I immediately knew I need look no further! Now that the film is complete, we cant imagine anyone else in the part!"
Charles, you also are a best selling author with "The Fame Game" and "The Marilyn Diaries", had Joan read your books?
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| ON SET OF FETISH |
C.C..." Before I met her in Los Angeles, I sent her a copy of "The Fame Game" along with the "Fetish" script. She was in the middle of reading "The Fame Game", when I met her for lunch to discuss her appearing in "Fetish". One of the first things she said to me as we slid into the booth at the restaurant is "I am enjoying your novel!" So when we met again the following week in New York, to meet with the director, I gave her a signed copy of "The Marilyn Diaries", which she read over the holidays, before we began shooting "Fetish"."
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| JOAN as FRANCESCA with CHARLES as DARIUS IN FETISH |
Charles, I loved your novels and I wondered what you have in mind for your next project, be it another novel or a screenplay?
C.C..." Now that I've been bitten by the film bug, I really want the next part of my career to be all about making movies. I want to write and act. So for the time being, I have put my book career on the back burner. I am working on a script for Lindsay Lohan, which I hope will get her career back on track. I then plan to write a screenplay based on "The Fame Game", in fact Joan and I have talked about her taking a role in the film of "The Fame Game". Frankly Joan would be welcome to a part in all of my future films! She is a dream to work with and she adds value to any production.""
Charles, you are obviously a great admirer of Joan's, as I am, did you find it an awe inspiring experience working with such an icon?
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| CHARLES IS SHOULDER PAD TO SHOULDER PAD WITH JOAN! |
C.C..." All the while we were in pre-production, I was on the phone with Joan quite a bit, talking about the character, the mood of the script, the wardrobe, the actual making of the movie. Then during rehearsals we were constantly exchanging ideas with the director, Matt Pellowski. So at first it was like working with any dedicated, passionate actress who is completely "into" the work. But I remember just before we shot our first scene together, we were rehearsing in her dressing room and I had a mini meltdown! I was like, "Oh My God! I am about to shoot a scene with THE JOAN COLLINS!"
I am a total movie buff, so it had a really deep emotional meaning for me. I said, "Gee, Joan! I'm a little nervous." I acted like an ass, actually! She immediately put me at ease. She said, "Nonsense." Once we began shooting the scene, which took place inside a limousine. I instantly got wrapped up in the intensity of working with her and it was marvelous!."
Charles, it can be nerve inducing just meeting your idols, let alone having to work with them. Now that the film has wrapped, what plans do you have for it?
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| JOAN & CHARLES ON SET FETISH |
C.C... "We are just in the beginning stages of entering it into the high profile film festivals all over the world.
Would love to see it at the London Film Festival! "
Charles, I am sure with Joan as star, you will get plenty of publicity and much interest. I am so looking forward to seeing it, as is all the readers and we wish you as much success as possibly can be had with the film! Thank you Charles for sharing this interview with the blog!
(c) 2010 .. Mark McMorrow...
Partial Creation of "Fetish" with Joan Collins by Charles Casillo
It was 1 am on a frigid February morning and Joan Collins’ boots were getting a haircut. We were supposed to shoot the outdoor scene earlier in the day but because of the non-stop snowstorm, filming kept being delayed. A team of crew members continuously shoveled the balcony and tried to keep the ground dry–all the better to keep legendary goddess from being electrocuted while shooting. As the snow fell and the city came to a halt, the lights were being set up by the grips and electrical department and Joan’s big furry boots were being trimmed by wardrobe department–and hair and makeup.
The movie we were shooting was “Fetish,” a short, very dark comedy about an iconic movie star–drug addled and plagued by tawdry headlines–trying to make a comeback on a late night talk show. Joan was playing the “star,” Francesca Vonn and I played the eccentric talk show host, Darius Russi.
Because we all have our own private impressions, dreams, misconceptions and ideas of what she is like, there is something I want to tell you about Joan Collins. She is probably a little bit of everything you imagine her to be. I suppose she is many different things to many different people. She has been a star for decades and she comes from the era when stars were STARS for good reason. Talent. Beauty. Personality. And that special somethingness that average people just don’t have. I mean, starred in dozens of movies and plays. She met Marilyn Monroe. Dated Warren Beatty. Acted opposite Paul Newman. And made television history by becoming one of the most indelible soap opera vixens before or since her indelible role as Alexis on “Dynasty.”
Yet the strongest impression she made on me during the making of “Fetish” is that of a hardworking actress. I think that most people working with her for the first time would expect a “diva” ( a word she detests), making demands and worrying only about the way she looks. Not true! Joan really was interested in the character of Francesca Vonn and wanted to make her as real as possible. When the director, Matt Pellowski, suggested that what celebrities are like in their public persona–movies and on television–bears little resemblance to what they are like in real life, Joan embraced the idea for the character wholeheartedly. “Francesca” appears in her full celebrity glory in the opening “talk show” scene. Glamour, beauty, humor, charisma. But as the night goes on, the character gradually becomes less fabulous, more ordinary, as she leaves the studio and heads back to the host’s apartment–slowly revealing her vulnerabilities.
You would think Joan would be hyper-conscious of being ultra-glamorous. Actually she was much more interested in “becoming” the character. Instead of wearing the two knock-out gowns Mark Zunino (designer to the stars) had created for Joan to wear in the movie, she decided to wear only the red stunner in the opening scene, opting for a much more simple black outfit–from her own closet, I believe–for the scenes that took place out of the show-businessy television studio.
Matt added to the drabness of “real life” by using the desaturation of color process in post production, draining the color and life out of everything, giving a bluish, almost corpse-like pallor to the characters so that they look even more grim.
As a writer it’s a tremendous joy to see a character brought to life. Watching Joan bring layers to Francesca Vonn was incredibly exciting. Here is a woman who knows what to do in front of a camera. She’d always incorporate something surprising–and it really comes across and works when you watch her subtle actions in the rushes.
“Fetish” was a difficult shoot. We were filming a lot of pages of dialogue a day–always out of sequence. Shooting out of sequence is normal in movie making but it usually is shot out of sequence scene by scene. We were confusingly shooting out of sequence moment to moment. Joan always gave it her all.
Sometimes I sat alone with her in her dressing room running lines. But, let’s face it, she can’t help it: when you’re Joan Collins you carry that fantastic history around with you like an aura of perfume. Sometimes you can’t help but be intimidated. And no matter what is done in post production, you just aren’t going to make Joan Collins ordinary. She has that beautiful bone structure–the seductive eyes–the kind of face that Hollywood turned out in its heyday.
The hours dragged on, the snow kept falling at a steady, heavy pace. Joan was holed up in her dressing room. My dressing room was a few hung blankets squaring off a five by five area–where I could change, have my hair and makeup done, and stare at the “walls,” with my anxiety building. Oh, would it ever stop snowing! I was growing more and more tense. I broke out in hives and Ann Marie DeMauro, my wonderful makeup artist, kept having to use kleenex to absorb my sweat and her makeup spray gun to cover up the welts on my neck. Then she would leave my tent and I’d stare at the walls some more. When I ventured out of my haven, I was in a panic induced stupor. And I was mean! Snapping at people and growling and then going sullen and silent–a big baby. The crew members sitting around took note. “What’s wrong with him?” somebody asked.
“Here,” Ann Marie said, positioning a giant hand-mirror in front of my face. “I know how to cheer him up–his reflection.” Hrmph! I resented the implication. But, weirdly, she was right. “My handsome prince,” she said. I brightened immediately.
“I think you made the rash on his neck go away,” Kelvin Dale, the executive producer said.
Suddenly, Joan came out of her dressing room and sat around with the makeup artists and some of the interns and the rest of us who weren’t setting up outside. Ann Marie began talking about “Dynasty.”
“Everyone wanted to look like you,” Ann Marie said. “I remember we all used the ‘beer can’ rollers to get our hair that way.”
I said: “The day after a new Dynasty episode everyone was talking about you. You were the ONLY female star on television.”
“Oh, there were some others…” Joan said.
“No!” some Joan zealot’s shouted in unison. “Not as big as you!”
“I remember there was a contest,” Neal our cinematographer chimed in, “a man was offered a choice between a million dollars or a date with Joan Collins.”
“I remember that!” Joan said.
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| Joan on set with Charles & Sound Mixer Hunt |
At last the phrase, “We’re ready for Joan and Charles” went down an assembly line of walkie-talkies, finally reaching us.
At last, in the middle of the night, we were ready to go out on to the balcony where Joan would deliver a long speech. We took our places. It was about 13 degrees outside–with a frigid wind blowing. In the scene, Joan enters the balcony first–without a coat–and I follow and place a fur around her shoulders. Which means she stood on the balcony for a long time without wearing a coat. Since her feet wouldn’t be in the shot at least she was able to wear her furry boots–fashionable and newly groomed.
“Action” Matt said.
Joan, as Francesca, looked out over the city. I, as Darius, came up from behind and put the coat on her. Then we said the lines for the first time in front of a camera.
“This coat kept Marilyn warm on chilly Manhattan nights,” Darius says.
“Is she your favorite star–Marilyn?” Francesca asks him.
“No,” he says.
“Who is?” she asks.
“You.”
CUT!
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| Joan with Director Matthew J. Pellowski |
The film has not been released on dvd, which can be the problem with shorts, unless it can be included in a package.. You can view 'Fetish' currently via Amazon Prime at the following link...
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