Interview with Tony Germinario - Director of Bad Frank

Did winning all those awards at various film festivals enable BAD FRANK helmer Tony Germinario to take nightly dips in a pool full of money? Hardly, but he’s damn proud that people are enjoying the movie so much.


Fantastic work on the movie. Was this a pet passion project you’d been flirting with for years?

Thanks!  I appreciate that.  I’d like to say it was a passion project that I’ve been toiling away over for years and it took ten years to get it made…but that would be a big fat lie. The script process probably took about 9 months, and then filming began.


Where and when did you get the idea for it?

I never remember my dreams, but one night I woke up and just had this idea about a guy who kidnapped a girl.  That was what the first draft of the script focused on, but once Kevin Interdonato and Russ Russo came on board, the script evolved from there.


Are any of the characters based on people you know?

God, I hope not.  No, my mom was the director of a mental health center when I was a kid.  This isn’t based on any person, but just more from some of the things I heard about when I was young.  There are so many afflictions out there that have amazing possibilities, and this one just struck me the most.


Do you appear in the film yourself?

Um, no.  Got a face made for radio.  I might try and get my Hitchcock moment in there some day, but for now, I’m happy being strictly behind the camera.

Are you pleased you gave the film a festival run first? Would you recommend that to all indie filmmakers?

Yes and no.  If you do the festival circuit, be prepared for highs and lows.  You’ll not get into some festivals that you probably should, but they’re more for political reasons than anything else.  Then you’ll get into some that you never believed you would.  I think festivals are great for networking, meeting new people, and it’s always cool to see someone’s reaction to your film.  We were very fortunate that the reaction was positive, so that’s an awesome feeling.  We haven’t done any of the biggies yet, so I would like to go through that experience some day.


Did winning so many awards on the festival circuit help with distribution?

Not really.  We’re with Gravitas and Lotus Entertainment and they’ve been great, but I haven’t really seen much of an impact from the awards.  If it was Sundance or Tribeca or SouthbySouthWest maybe it would have been different, but not too much.  Don’t get me wrong, having all the accolades definitely helps when people are looking for a film and see all those laurels, but I don’t think it did all that much with distribution itself.  If that makes sense.

Are you at work on a new project yet?

Yes!  Actually super excited as we’re going to start filming in August.  The project is called THE PRICE FOR SILENCE and it stars Lynn Mancinelli who was in Bad Frank.  It’s another darker, psychological piece.  Lynn plays a girl who was assaulted when she was young, but her father took money in order to keep quiet.  Years later, after he passes away, the girl returns home to confront her family and the people that assaulted her.  If you liked BAD FRANK, this will be right up your alley.


Think there’s any shot of a Bad Frank 2 in the future?

I hope so!   But it all depends on how well this one does.  So go out and pick it up on iTunes and Amazon and any other platform and force our hand!

Thanks for the support.  We really appreciate it.

Links

http://www.badfrankmovie.com

Twitter: @tonygerm & @badfrankmovie

Instagram: @tonygerm

Tony on IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4894287/

Bad Frank on IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3362238/