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
Daniel Sauli
Danny Aiello
Jane Curtin
Marisa Ryan
Ian Kahn
Running Time: 1:30
Not Yet MPAA-Rated
1. 85 Aspect Ratio
Heather Burns
Stereo Mix Sound
Press Contact:
Meadowbrook Pictures
51 Wooster St., 2nd flr.
New York, NY 10013
(212) 343-3037
Matt Coogan
matt@meadowbrookpictures.com
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.
For more information, visit www.brooklynlobster.com.
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 Sheepshead Bay, 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 Bleecker Street in Manhattan and then moved it to Brooklyn. He was the first to airship lobsters packed in barrels of seaweed and is responsible for the glass lobster tanks
found in local supermarkets today. The feature film loosely portrays Jordan's own
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, Mystic River) 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-offact 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:
Kevin Jordan
Producers:
Chris Valentino
Darren Jordan
Associate Producers:
Brian Jordan
Aimee Golden
Barry Ohannessian
Cinematographer:
Dave Tumblety
Editor:
Mako Kamitsuna
Production Designer:
Jesse Nemeth
Costume Design:
Laquitta Matthews
Casting Director:
Phyllis Huffman
Music Composer:
Cousin Bruce Morrow
Music Composer:
Craig Maher
Cast:
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 I Just 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 Blues
Anaheim. 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 latenight 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
Northeastern University. 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 between Sauli's character 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's other 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 York University'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.