Good News York by Growth Mode Content - GNY EP.95 | Talking Film with Michelle DiBernardo & Joe Cunningham!

Episode Date: September 17, 2025

Exploring Syracuse International Film Festival's Journey and Future with Michelle DiBernardo In this episode of Good News York, host Mike Brindisi is joined by Michelle DiBernardo, the head of the Syracuse International Film Festival. Sponsored by Ads on the Go, the episode dives into Michelle's journey in the film industry, beginning as an actress and expanding to film festival management. Michelle discusses the origins of the Syracuse International Film Festival, its evolution under her leadership, and the incorporation of diverse themes such as LGBTQ, prison reform, homelessness, and addiction. She also highlights the festival's community involvement and educational outreach. Another special guest, Joe Cunningham, joins the conversation later to talk about his recent film, 'The Sentinel,' which tackles the subject of PTSD in combat veterans. Joe shares his personal connection to the story, the challenges of producing the film, and the collaborative spirit within Syracuse's filmmaking community. Both guests underscore the importance of local artistic endeavors and the vibrant film culture in Syracuse, New York. 00:00 Introduction and Sponsor Message 00:17 Meet Michelle DiBernardo: Syracuse International Film Festival 00:53 Michelle's Journey in the Film Industry 01:15 Evolution of the Syracuse International Film Festival 02:41 Challenges and Planning the Festival 04:41 Festival Events and Community Involvement 05:07 Festival Logistics and Venue 08:29 Film Submissions and Judging Process 10:04 Categories and Trends in Film 12:25 Year-Round Events and Community Impact 15:34 The Future of the Festival and Local Film Industry 16:26 Collaborations and Notable Guests 19:22 Sophie Award and Celebrity Involvement 21:01 Filming in New York State 23:36 Filming Locations and Production Challenges 23:53 Balancing Multiple Projects 24:23 Syracuse International Film Festival Details 26:16 Introduction to Joe Cunningham 27:55 Joe's First Feature Film: The Sentinel 29:27 Autobiographical Elements and Inspirations 32:28 Collaborations and Community Support 41:45 Future Projects and Aspirations 43:16 Emotional Scenes and Method Acting 45:37 Conclusion and Contact Information

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and Unirold's 50th anniversary summer specials. Welcome to Good News, York, sponsored by Ads on the Go. Get Ads on the Go.com. Again, Mike Bredisi flying solo, no mat today, but that's okay because I'm joined by a very special guest from the Syracuse International Film Festival right here in Syracuse, New York. Michelle D. Bernardo.

I know it's not as I'm the only one clapping. I try to you know. How are you? Good, how are you? I'm good. I'm glad to have you. Syracuse International Film Festival. This is fantastic. So obviously we know about it, but I was on the website looking around. You guys have been around

since 2003. Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and about how the festival kind of started? Okay, yeah. So I'm Michelle Di Bernardo. I've been in the industry for a long time. I'm not telling you how many years. You don't have to. I started as an actress,

and then I moved on to, like, running Barbazan USA and teaching at Syracuse University until, like, just growing into different positions and realizing, like, I just wanted to be involved in the film industry somehow. Absolutely. And Syracuse International was actually created by Owen and Christine Shapiro. Owen Shapiro was the one who started Syracuse University's

visual performing arts. Wow. So really, really big in the film like here. And they, you know, are a little bit older now and kind of stepped down. And I took over a couple years ago with a different vision maybe per se and adding different things with the community rather than, you know, they were really big on foreign films and some other things where we've added like LGBTQ and prison reform and just many different, you know, things that really need awareness,

like homelessness and addiction and just all sorts of like cool different things that are creative that you never realize like really it's like really cool on a screen. Yeah, that's wonderful. And, you know, those are all things that are, it's just very selfless of you guys to, you know, to also include everybody like that and to try and make a difference through film. Did you start in, were you part of Syracuse International Film Festival in 2003? you joined you just you like joined later yeah yeah no it was like way later uh 2003 i was you know still a baby in the industry like i had done you know as an actress but it wasn't like

changing the realm of behind the scenes you know until further on um definitely came as like i used to do press and celebrity interviews and those kind of things like so um i would go with my old business partner and G and Carlo Esposito and Daniel Baldwin and those kind of people we interviewed. We put together a little press thing and, you know, Owen obviously was someone who I looked up to for many years. And eventually I got a call like two and a half years ago. The president was like stepping down. I was recommended. I had no clue what the heck I was getting into. I own like a for-profit film festival, but that was just like we started it during COVID. So it was online. It was really easy. Yeah. But yeah, so like with Syracuse International, they kind of gave me a logo and it was like, oh yeah, a festival of like 20 years. Like, oh, what do I do? Yeah.

So, you know, there's definitely been some learning curves throughout and, you know, it's almost like rebuilding a business because, you know, a business takes like five years and it's getting bigger and better and just, you know, things are running more smooth and efficient. And this year is definitely going to be really big. I'm sure. Now, when I. I went back to college a few years back, and I was in charge of putting together a film festival. Now, this was a college film festival, so not at the level that you're doing. And I was ready to pull my hair out because there are so many...

It's not just like picking films, setting the place, and then go. I mean, there are so many... There's just so much in logistics that goes through. That's part of all that. Is this a year-long process for you in planning? Like the film festival ends and then you're just like rocking and rolling for the next year? Yeah, like yesterday I was on a Zoom with some new advisory board members. And literally the one guy wasn't on the panel for this year.

And I was like, oh, so I don't want to add anybody to this year. But hey, you want to be on the panel next year? Sure. And they're looking at me like, I'm crazy. And I'm like, no, like this is how it takes. Yeah. And we don't just do like the one main event. We introduced honoring outstanding black filmmakers.

So that's in February. And, you know, we have our new filmmaker showcase. And there's other things we do. And there's definitely going to be some, like, day events because, you know, we've added war. And so we'd love to, like, do things with, like, Clear Path veterans. Last year we did something within my father's kitchen. We love that. So there's, like, different things, like brewing that, you know.

That's wonderful. So let's talk about that. So there's the actual film festival itself, which is when is that? Yeah. October 17th through the 19th. October 17th through the 19th. How many submissions do you have? Well, it was like over a thousand, but it is all 100% programmed as of right now.

We're trying to, you know, make things pretty now because everything's just like in a Google spreadsheet with times and get things over to the website. And like really like it's time right now. It's really prime time. And where will this be? So it's actually going to be at the Catherine Cummings Theater in Casanovia. Nice. Yes. So we've kind of been looking for a home, you know, like obviously it used to be like here and there.

And it's just really confusing when it's like, hey, they're at the Marriott and then they're at house and they're at, you know, like we need a home. And we also needed a home that had really a homey vibe around it. And Casanovia, it's got the boutique so they can go shopping. The lake is right there for like tourism. There's, you know, Lincoln and Brewster and Hampton and there's just like so many different like, you know, walking hotels. And, you know, there's nine, which is a restaurant there.

So, you know, there's other restaurants in the area. It's beautiful. It's perfect. So in addition to everything that you're doing, you're also bringing some money to Casanovia, which is always awesome. Yeah. Now, I do agree with you. You know, I've seen, you know, the word film festival gets thrown a lot pretty loosely these days.

And I've seen been a part of film festivals in the past where you're right. It's there's actually not a location and it's all online or there's five different locations. So having a central location. I think is key. How many people do you expect it's coming out to this? Is there a way for you to gauge numbers ahead of time? Okay, so, like, we're talking with, like, the new owners and stuff like that, and this year, we're packing the house, period.

Like, you know, we're going next level. Just, like, with the selections and what we're doing, I mean, we have two panels on Friday, and it's, like, I don't know, probably about 16 people. Okay. And so anybody that like works in the film industry, if you're an actor, like you go to New York, you pay $149 for one little class. It's with one casting director. We have, you know, like insane amount of people all in one place, one house right there, students free. And it's like a $15 ticket. And you get to see a movie afterwards. A great phenomenal film. So like where are you going to see a film and get all these panelists? And like even if you're not in the industry and you just want to know, like, okay, we have like an education panel. We have like catering people that are there. So maybe you're just, you have a wedding and you want to see, you know, see something's catering or just want to know more about it.

It's, it's cheap. Like, come on. Now you're not happening. So we're back in the house and the film, the crazy films that we have. We have everything from celebrity and invitational. We have, you know, a three-time Emmy winner who's a current director from CBS beyond the gates coming out. And she's screening her film with her husband. And they got some upcoming projects that you never know.

be here. So that's phenomenal. So let's talk about that a little bit. What are some of the categories and how are the films judged? Yeah. I'm assuming the panel, but I'll let you explain that. Yeah, yeah. So we have judges that judged throughout the year. Like I'm like on them from like right now. Like hey like we they're like yeah, there's like 10 films right now. I'm like no. Like we got to cycle through. Because at the end, you know, it was rush still watching like 50 to 100 films because we still needed those judged. So basically, you know, the judges will go through and there's like a whole system on film freeway from creativity to lighting to sound to all that kind of fun stuff. And you got to get a certain score for me to even like look at it at the end. And this year it was really hard

because there was like a lot of like nines that it was like I can't even look at you because they were like so high and there was so many great pieces and you know, you got people emailing you afterwards and you know you hurt some feelings. It's unfortunate. But, you know, Like, it's a judging system. Like, I can't just be like, hey, like, unless it's an invitational, then, like, yeah, then it's, okay, we looked at this or whatever. So sometimes I'll go back through and just see, like, what the judges are doing. And we have people from the community as well as industry people. So it's not just, you know, one set of eyes.

But, yeah. So these films are submitted and judged before the festival even starts, kind of like a preliminary. Is that what you meant? That's awesome. I think that's actually, from someone who went through the hell of trying to organize a festival, I think that's great. And I don't want to say it weeds anything out because I'm sure every submission is fantastic in its own right, but it just makes it easier to dwindle down.

Oh, absolutely. And what are some of the categories that you guys have for the festival? Yeah. So the first night is a beautiful psychological, and everything will be up on the website in the next couple weeks at slyrfilm.com. the second day we're starting with a block of short films that is anything from war to you know it's a variety it really is a variety you prison reform the LGBTQ there there's just there's like 14 films on Saturday alone I love I love that because when you think of film festivals like traditionally you think of like best picture best soundtrack you know best all the normal

category I love that you're getting into the LGBTQ You're getting into, what was it, prison? Prison reform. Prison reform? That's big enough for a whole category? Oh, heck yeah. I mean, we have so many prison reform documentaries or shorts that we got submitted. We're actually showing inmates with talent, which is with iced tea.

No way. Yeah. Ice tea's the man. Yeah. Have you noticed, because you've been involved for a bit, and even when you weren't involved in the festival, I mean, you're an actress as well. You've always been involved in film. What are some of the...

trends you're noticing, like the difference in submissions now or just in the industry in general as to when you started? The types of films. Things have changed. There's a lot more diversity, which is great. It's great, you know, there's definitely some things that I've seen that I never think I would see on film. Okay.

Woo! Yeah. So I have to be careful because obviously we do have like students that come and And I don't want someone to bring like a kid and there's... Right. Yeah. Yeah. That's all.

Yeah, no, that's fine. I just think, you know, the life is changing rapidly, especially with technology. But I... It's a gentle cruising. You start to see the village, almost like a painting. Join me, travel expert Darley Newman and Uneworld Boutique River Cruises L'ouique Bali to learn about river cruising in France. As we have been selling there for decades, we have been able to create deep connection with

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decades ago you saw this shift and now you're really within the last few years seeing the shift in the film industry with streaming and everybody's kind of scrambling trying to figure out how does everybody make money and make this a career. And but creatively there's also been a shift. And like you said, there's diversity and other things like that. So I was just curious from your point of view. So you mentioned that you guys, in addition to just the Syracuse International Film Festival, you're also doing events throughout the year as well.

Let's talk about some of those. What else do you guys got going on? Yeah. This is amazing. Yeah. So this year, we don't have. any more dates locked in you know like obviously holidays are coming but our honoring outstanding black filmmakers will be in February it will be our third annual event our first one we had a

filmmaker come from Cameroon africa wow so yeah we're definitely like i mean we're international so we have people that are like involved and and exciting and have followers in different areas that you would never never know so um last year we honored a local um who knows who it will be the this year, you know, we might be bringing someone in. You know, we're getting a little more attention with it, you know, slowly rising. But I think it's something that was like much needed for attention. And then, you know, there's other people that are like, hey, you're a white girl doing this. Why?

You know, you got haters everywhere. Of course. It's like, you know, if you bring a certain celebrity and, you know, you're getting hate mail. But it's like, you know, it's a great event. And, you know, there's people that are, you know, on, I don't know how to say, like, the proper terminology because I'm not trying to, you know, say anything wrong. No, you're fine. But, you know, there's just some people that don't get recognition that need to.

A hundred percent. Yeah. Well said. Yeah. I could not agree more. And you guys do such a good job of that, of just spreading the wealth of, you know, within the actual film festival itself, all the different niche categories like that. But as you mentioned, all these extra events that you're doing throughout the year.

And you guys are very involved with the community as well. if you want to talk about that. I mean, it's really impressive when you go to the website to see this isn't just a film festival. I mean, this is a community involvement and that is amazing. Yeah, yeah.

So obviously, you know, most film festivals you just think like film, but we're like art, fashion, film, music, all of it goes together and people don't really realize, even like the catering side of it or the boring producing sign of it or the location management or whatever.

Like, it's a community thing and people don't realize how much money like it brings to the community. We do a lot of community events. You know, the students are free. The students are always free. Always, always free. Students are free.

So it's not like we're trying to make money off the students. We have interns from different, you know, universities, and we really kind of take them under our wing. And there's a lot of them that, well, when you, for instance, when you go to film school, you normally make like your senior thesis or you make all these short films. A lot of times we take them and we bring them on feature films that are actually going be streaming on things. So it's like, oh, hey, like on my resume, I did this for like an actual future film before they were ever even like in their senior year. Wow. So yeah. That's a huge deal for somebody at that age who's, you know, just learning the ropes. It's the next generation.

And without them, we couldn't have awesome festivals like yours. So I just think it's wonderful that you're doing that. So I wanted to ask you this question. You know, when I was coming, when I was growing up, You know, I started, I was like, I want to be an actor. And then I was like, I want to be a musician and a comedian. And it was just, you know, I like to perform. But it was, you really had like two choices back. It was like you moved to L.A. or you moved to New York. American High is here now.

We're seeing a trend. We've seen a trend over the last decade or more that, you know, Hollywood's still Hollywood, but people are filming movies and TV everywhere. Do you think that that's true at this point that you don't have to be in New York and L.A. anymore and to be like a working actor or working production? I mean, I've worked in the film industry and only the film industry for like five years. You know, it's my life. I eat, sleep, breathe, and I own a home here.

I love that. You know? Good for you. Yeah. That's fantastic. And American High obviously has been on the map for a while with what they're doing. Are you guys, do you work with them at all? Really?

Yeah, absolutely. Jeremy and Will are great over there. We did show a film from American High. last year. We've talked about, you know, maybe getting some classes donated as prizes for them. So, you know, obviously they're a big studio here and they're doing great, amazing things and employing people. And so, you know, obviously we as a film festival want to work with everybody in the entertainment industry and there's no, no, all love for months. Yeah, of course. I mean, what a perfect marriage, American High in Syracuse International Film Festival. It just makes complete sense. Yeah. So,

So one last question, and then we'll get the plugs in. What do you see? What's next for the film festival? I mean, right now you're super hyper-focused because it's coming up in October. Yeah. But in the next few years, where do you see this going or growing? Yeah. Well, we want Kaz to be our home.

You know, I think the biggest complaint with a lot of larger film festivals and what were, you know, our goal to be one day is that they didn't have that, you know, homey feel. and you had to go all the way here to the hotel or all the way here for a restaurant where Kaz is all right there. Yeah. It's living with the lake. It really is. So, you know, we're going out there and building in the community.

Like, you know, one of my board members owns the Hillcross Jepson, so she's already in CASS. You know, obviously there's some people I won't mention that don't want to be mentioned that live there. And so there's a lot of people that live in that area and the new owners and the new owners and, and, and, The mayor, Kurt, is great. So we're really going to be pushing it. We're ordering flags just to, like, be up and out of the street. So we wanted to grow bigger. We just need the audience to, like, really come on out and support and realize that it's not just foreign films.

It's not just international. It's not just student films. It's a variety for everybody. And, you know, we bring a celebrity here every year. And so, you know, this year is Stephen Baldwin. All right. And we're going to give him his Sophia. And then we also have added a new award this year, the Lumen Award, which is going to be with Tom Saley from WCNY, which he actually wrote some episodes to Murphy Brown and even an episode to Hannah Montana.

Amazing. And he lives right in Kaz. So people don't realize who's out there. There are a bunch of people out there. Are you familiar with Ben Fram? I'm not. Ben Fram is a, he was an S.U professor. He now, I believe, I don't know, I live in Ithaca.

He's down in Ithaca. Our kids play together. but when I had graduated from I see, I heard about his name and I had reached out to him. He also, in Syracuse, was a writer on, I think, the Cars film. I'm probably getting that wrong. It was a very popular film, but you're right. There are so many people in this area that have done so many things

that we don't even realize. And that's why I think your festival's amazing because you showcased just that. And you reminded me, I thought I had one last question, but let's talk about the Sophie Award. I did see that on the site. What is that all about? Yeah.

So, well, our logo is actually Sophia Run's eyes and somebody had got permission like years ago. Yes. And so it's a lifetime achievement award that we give every year. And last year was Dorian Wilson. A year before was Alec Baldwin. You know, Daniels got it before. Grace Jones, Sally Kirkland, Jerry Clinton, so many, like, amazing people. And it's just a tradition that we carry on that we bring amazing people.

And honestly, like, if people knew the amount of work just going into the Sophia, like, I was dealing with Cruz's agents. I was dealing with La Susan Lucci's agents. You know, there's people that were very flattered that just, you know, they're already booked. You know, like they wanted to come, like, to Syracuse. But like I said, like we're bringing people here. You know, we have somebody who's streaming on Netflix currently, a director from Toronto. We have Sonia, who's with CBS. Daniel Crox, we're showing his short film that was produced by Tyler Perry.

So, like, we're showing the Christmas letter that was filmed in Utica with Chavez. You know, so there's some, I see. There's some celebrity films that, like, really people that, like, follow those people, you know, could definitely connect with something that we're showing over the weekend. It's very reasonable. And, yeah. That's amazing. You know, I don't know if you've ever heard this, but not many people know.

I think I've talked about this on the show. Ithaca, New York was actually going to be the original Hollywood. It was like the beginning of silent film. And what happened was the weather. They couldn't shoot year-round. So they went out to California and Hollywood became Hollywood. But actually, Ithaca was going to be the next Hollywood. And I'm just so glad that you're shining so much light on this area because, yes, the weather sucks.

but if you, I mean, as an actress yourself and someone who's been involved in film, if you drive around this state, I'm constantly driving around thinking, my God, that you could shoot a film here, you could shoot a film there. There's something for everybody. You've got your urban areas,

the beautiful rolling hills. I feel as though American High and you, Syracuse International Film Festival, are doing, you're doing God's work in showing that films can be shot here, and it's a beautiful place to do that. Oh, absolutely. Every day I'm talking with some kind of filmmaker.

Like, I get pitched films every day, literally, from all over. And I'm always trying to bring them here, you know. And whether if they don't like Syracuse, I'm always going for cash or, you know, Camelis or Pulas or Pulas or Pulaski or Watertown or just, I'm okay with New York State. Like, as long as you're filming here, but I do try always first like, hey, we have that high tax incentive come on over, you know. Exactly. I couldn't find some people to hire. Just a couple weeks ago, we were working on a very, very large documentary that I'm sure people know about. I'm not going to say who the three-letter streaming is.

But I was working on it for months, and they were actually going to film in L.A. The reason they filmed here is because I said, I can get the picture cars. I can get this. I can get this. I can get that. And it turned into we were supposed to film in June, and we filmed this past week. but everything was beautiful and it was gorgeous and there was a lot of people very excited

to be involved in the project and I saw people all over TikTok like these people documentary are filming I'm like amazing yeah that's us you single-handed you did that are you still involved in outside of the film festival are you still acting or involved in production outside of that

oh yeah oh yeah so like right now we're filming a Bigfoot movie those who believe which great title yeah that's a great title yeah I like that those who believe. And we filmed out by like Happy Valley. Do you know where that is? I don't. Not off top of my head. Oh, well, it's like a ghost town like over. Yeah, my Pulaski. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So we did part of that in Cicero at the Cicero Police Department. Some out in Pulaski. Some out in

Watertown. And we have like two more days of filming. But I'm breaking it down because I'm personally, I'm not going to lie. I like to break it down because I do so many things. It's a gentle cruising. You start to see the village, almost like a painting. Join me, travel expert Darley Newman and Uniworld Boutique River Cruises L'Iq Bali to learn about river cruising in France. As we have been setting there for decades, we have been able to create deep connection with the local communities. Local connections make exploring France easy. Tune into the Travels with Darley podcast on IHeart and wherever you listen to podcasts to hear about river cruising and Unirond's 50th anniversary summer specials. Hey, it's Trevor from the Jim Kerr Rock and Roll Morning Show.

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Strawberry with a hint of lemon. Tropical terror, which is like a pinocalada. Orange horror. Tasty orange with a hint of orange cream and murder mystery. a blend of cherry cola and spices. I love a good energy drink and when I wake up at 2.30 in the morning to get us on the air at 5 a.m., I need something that's going to keep me going, and now I have Liquid Death Sparkling Energy. I can't wait to keep drinking all these amazing flavors.

They have an unextremed only 100 milligrams of caffeine, same as a cup of coffee. You can buy Liquid Death Sparkly Energy drink at fine retailers like 7-11 or learn more at LiquidDeath.com. Plus, I like edit and all that fun stuff too. And then we have a double feature that we premiered a couple weeks back that's back in the edit room. So there's that. And then people call me for stuff. I can't say no. Right now there's someone texting me about another production.

And I'm like, yeah. Yeah. Do you sleep ever? I mean, you are like round the clock going. I love you. I love what you do. Michelle DiBernardo, the Syracuse International Film Festival, actress, production, post-production. She does it all.

Give us the plugs, dates, websites, events, go for it. Yeah, okay, so syrfilm.com. Go ahead and check the events. October 17th through the 19th is our main festival, Catherine Cummings. We have everything from panels to beautiful films to some really, really amazing people that are going to be there. We might even have somebody from General Hospital as well. So, you know, those soap fans. He is in a couple films that are being screened.

So, yeah, I didn't check his voice message, but we'll see if he's coming. And yeah, check it out. S.Y.R. Film, D. Bernardo Productions. Media. Social media I slack on, but if you go to any of the film pages, Excaped, Unravel the prelude to Escape, those who believe, Syracuse International Film Festival. The Facebook page, at least, will have, like, all of the dates, times for all of the films. The website will be updated.

Michelle at S.YR.Felm.com. My phone number is very accessible on the internet, so, you know, text gets me. Well, Michelle Di Bernardo, it's been so fun talking to you And I could probably talk to you for another two hours Syracuse International Film Festival Check it out We are so happy she came on the show Good News York sponsored by Ads on the Go

We will be right back with more interviews about film Stay tuned Welcome back to Good News York Sponsored by Ads on the Go Get Ads on the Go.com We just had a great interview with an international film festival Connoisseur and speaking of film

we have another film connoisse. It's a film day. It's a film day. It's a film day. Of course, my lovely host. Co-host? I think that's the right word. Yeah, but I don't feel right calling you the co-host.

You're kind of the guy in charge. Each other's co-host. Aw, buddy. Well, anyway, my co-host, Matt Mazer here. Back for this. It's not like an anchor man. I'm not Ron Burgundy. I'm Ron Burgundy.

We're back, and we have Joe Cunningham with us. Joe, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me. We're very excited to have. have you. Guys, I got to give you a little quick history here. Joe and I go way back. And when I say way back, you've heard me on this show probably a number of times talk about the fact that I opened the first podcast studio in Syracuse. Yes, you did. Joe was my first, I don't know if I want to say customer or partner or creator. But Joe worked for the Syracuse New Times at the time,

and shout out to our buddy Bill Broad. And he came and made some of the first podcasts that we made in our studio. That's fantastic. I remember, I I always tell the story. I was in a band at the time. Matt had me on as a guest, and when we got done, I remember it was so new to me that I went, so we weren't on the radio?

And he's like, no, that was a podcast. And what's a podcast? So you were in on the ground floor or something great. I think Mark Marin was starting around the same time. Yeah. We were all trying to figure it up. But that was really cool.

I remember being at the Tech Garden over there and being around the table and talking about movies probably as well. I probably diverted off. into that, but yeah, that was cool. It was great, and I'll tell you what, you also at the time wrote an article for the new times about opening the podcast

studio. I have that framed still on my wall at home, so that's a little, you too. Thank you for that. It's great to see I've been watching the show from afar and just how far you guys have come. It's very exciting. Thanks, man. Appreciate that, man. I really appreciate that.

And honestly, the same can be said about you and I think we should dive into that. So you just wrapped a full feature movie, right? My first feature. Dude, congratulations. That's a big deal. Yeah, we shot for five years, so I thought we could do it in a year, but, you know, things happened, and we just didn't give up. But we just wrapped on Sunday at American High, so very exciting.

That's incredible. Yes. What's the movie about? It's called The Sentinel. It's about a combat veteran with severe PTSD, and he has partial custody of his son, and so he's just, struggling trying to take care of his son and deal with the PTSD at the same time. Wow. Now, you had many parts at this production, right?

Did you write it? I wrote it. I produced it. I directed it. And I star in it with my son. Harrison plays my son in the movie. And we shot it in chronological order for the most part. So he was like seven or eight when we started shooting.

And kind of like Link later's boyhood, he grows up. And the last scene, he's 12 years old, so it's kind of cool. Wow, that's pretty neat. Yeah, it's awesome. That's really cool. That's a really heavy plot, but it's one that unfortunately I personally have heard too many times, you know, combat vets with PTSD. So, I mean, I think you're tackling just an amazing issue and shedding light on it. What inspired you to come up?

Was it just something you would come up over the years, or was there a light bulb moment? How did you come up with this idea to shoot a film about that? Sure. I have PTSD myself, so it's autobiographical. I think every artist creates autobiographical work all the time, but I had a specific, you could say, panic attack while I was actually shooting a film right before in 2019. And then I had a moment outside my son's school. listening to this song

You Say by Lauren Dangle and I guess in the song it's like she's talking to God but I felt like I was talking to like I felt like those words were talking to my son and she's like you say I'm strong when I think I'm weak and all this stuff very powerful

and just the climax of the movie came to my head and I was working on a script called Midnight Rider about this drug runner and this whole neon noir type movie that I've always wanted to do. And I knew right then I had to pause that project

and do this movie with my son because he was seven, six or seven years old and do this father-son movie and based on my own PTSD. And I knew that would be like self-therapy. I threw myself into it kind of, I try to method act as much as I can without hurting anybody or losing my job,

which almost happened a few times. And then I have a couple, friends, some of them are in the movie. Lawrence Gabriel is a combat veteran and he was the bouncer at McAvins Pub who got shot up saving the biggest shooting in Syracuse. He got shot five or six times saving everybody there. So he's in the movie. He's actually my friend and he plays himself a boxer in the movie because he's a boxer. And my friend, Adrian McCraney, her husband, Jimmy, is a sniper, is an ex-Sniper who's in Afghanistan, who trained with Chris Kyle, the American sniper. American sniper. So I kind of like glammed a couple different things from those people

and just kind of smushed it into this story. And then, you know, I wasn't a veteran, but I have, you know, certain experiences. So I was, I felt that the, that story would be a great vehicle to express those emotions inside of me just because people are really, there's so many great films. Deer Hunter, leave no trace, American sniper,

that show veterans out of the furnace is one of my favorites to Casey Fick in that. And there's so many great like military PTSD movies. So it's like you're not reinventing the wheel, but Tarantino and Scorsese said, you got to make it personal, you know, and that's what makes it powerful and unique and great. So I tried to do that as much as I could.

That's awesome. Amazing. Joe, you, as you mentioned there, that you've made at least a portion of this movie at American High, our local movie studio that's made some fantastic Hollywood films right here in Central New York. How do you come to a place like that? And do you pitch them to your script or how do you, how does that even work? That's a great question. So it was very important that we got to school to film it. And so, as Christopher Nolan says, I write a script, not knowing how I'm going to do it,

and then the fun part is figuring out how to do it. Sure. And sometimes when you write a script, you write it kind of the other way, and you're like, well, I know I have this location and these people, and I can easily do this. But I really ambitiously wrote this script thinking that I need this, this location. and I definitely need a school, which is really hard to get. So I wait tables as that's what I do, and I used to be embarrassed of that. But my friend, Solon, Quinn, who's also a filmmaker, he's like, Joe, that's the job of an actor.

So now I'm, like, pretty chill with it. But until I get rich and famous, of course. But Jeremy comes to my restaurant a lot, so I shook hands with him as soon as he came to town. and he was like, oh, you're the first actor that I've met, you know, in L.A. Every waiter's an actor and everybody's trying to, as their script in their back pocket. So he's, and he's like, you know, if you ever need anything, let me know. And around that same time, he got me into Sit Is Dead,

which is one of their Hulu movies. I think it might be Amazon or something. And so I got to know them that way. But then, you know, trying to pitch this thing. and I always wanted to create an actor's studio in Syracuse. I've been involved in a couple different networking groups, screenwriting groups, and playwriting groups. One of them was called Help Words Come Alive in Fulton,

my friend Peter Mahan, who directed a movie I'm in called Under the Mercy, started that group, which has since changed into something else. But these are the groups where I met people like James Marlowe, my DP who makes movies on like almost no budget and they win awards. He won the Syracuse Film Festival and other festivals and they're just fantastic. If you ever get a chance to check out, I'm going to plug them Trent Lockwood Adventures on YouTube. They're kind of like Indiana Jones meets Monty Python and they're amazing. They're awesome. But anyway, he's great. And so I met these people who are all you know, indie filmmakers like John Cassavetes and Syracuse kind of thing. And so those are the people

that we all started to like create this cosmos of volunteering on each other's movies, whether it be as actors or crew. And then those people come and work for me. And it's just a great friend group and environment. And so through that, once Helpboards kind of stopped, I decided to start to start the Syracuse Actors Studio with my friend Laura Stisser, who's an incredible actress, and she's actually in The Sentinel as well, and we developed this character for her. She's got one of the best performances in the whole movie.

I don't want to spoil too much. But it's been, I was like always trying to cast, you know, the film and going on Facebook, trying to watch people's reels and figure out, I put some casting calls on backstage for different things. but I was like, I wish there was like a cosmos of actors here in Syracuse, a group of actors that like we could support each other and learn from each other. So Laura and I started the Syracuse Actors Studio back about two years ago and we, Tracy Dando, who is on your show. She's amazing. She hosted us for about a year at Safe Space and now we're at the McCarthy Mercantile, Michael John Haggerty, hosts us there.

And we meet once a month and we just teach each other different skills and things. and it's fantastic. But more than the skills, we have this great community of actors that I cast from all the time and always help. And now I've lost track of the question because that's what I do.

No, listen, you're nailing it. This is, it's incredible to hear, you know, your story and to... But first of all, you're always first. You were the first guy that Jeremy, from American High Matt, first podcast guys. So you've been a... at this a while. On the edge. How long have you been making films altogether? Shoot. I made a film in college in 2011, and then it was like the best day of my life. I wrote this

script, and I got two of my brothers and just bought him lunch and had this little DSLR, and we went around Destiny USA without permission and just shot this little movie, and it was just so fun. And I was like, oh, my God, I want to do this, you know, my whole life. I've always wanted to do from when I was a kid. But that was like the first taste of it. And then, you know, I went into the marketing world and kind of freelance writing. And I thought that was the way that I was going to make money off of my creative writing degree. And that was, it wasn't a mistake because I met a lot of great people and, you know, had those experiences and learned that wasn't what I wanted to do. And that I met my friend Joe O'Connor, he's like a life coach guy. Really shout out to Joe.

really good dude. And I met him for coffee and I was like, look, Joe, I'm here. You know, I'm like waiting tables and freelance writing and stuff. And I want to make films. And I need to find like that thing in the middle that's going to make me like a million dollars so I can make films. And he said, take this, take away that thing in the middle and just like go make your films. And that was like the best advice anybody could have given me. And I remember where I was going with the actor's studio. We partnered with American High early on because, I'm not very good at like publicity or public relations. But I partnered with a couple people, Aaron Williams, Tracy Chamberlain, is my publicist,

and she's probably the reason I'm sitting here today. But they are really great at like corporate connections and stuff. So they reached out to Jeremy pretty early on in the actor studio because we had always envisioned creating a connection from the studio to every major theater company and film studio in the area. And so we've now, we create a connection between American High and Syracuse Actors Studio because if they need actors, sometimes they reach out to us. And we go there once or twice a year to host some of our sessions. And so they, through that relationship, I waited until it was actually ready to shoot

the scene in the school. And then I reached out to them. I was like, hey, remember me. I'm the guy from the actor's studio. Can I shoot in your school? It's this, this and this. And they were like, they were like the nicest people. Sometimes you go into a business.

I've worked with like, I'm sorry, I'll show it up. I've worked with like 25 local businesses. And sometimes they're like, oh, please don't do this. Please don't do that. But American High was like, oh, how can we help you do this? That's the way to go. And they're like so nice. All right.

That was the end of that. No, that was great. How are we having it? That's what we want to hear about. A couple more minutes before we let you go, Joe. But I just want to ask you kind of, because I'm always the process guy, right? I'm always thinking about how this works.

So obviously you just finished shooting. You mentioned you've got to do a lot of editing. What is the step beyond that, I guess? Like, do you have to then shop it around? Do you self-release it? Like, how does that work? Yes. Well, after the edit, I give it to my,

sound and composer Dave Welsh, who's a great composer, and then he'll mix everything and everything. And then the last film I did under the mercy kind of was a crash course in self-distribution, but we try to get into as many film festivals as we possibly can. I see. And that way we can get some sort of exposure to producers, distributors, that kind of thing. But I'm very new with all that stuff. That was a short film, so I ended up just putting in on, YouTube and making DVDs that are in the sound garden right now. Shout out to the sound garden.

They're amazing. But, you know, which is where the Sentinel will go if we don't get distribution. I'll just keep self-distributing. But the ideal would be to get the attention of someone who distributes for like Netflix or Hulu or something like that. And then we could get just so more people can see the movie. There's about 300 people in the movie or worked on the movie. and probably like 25 speaking roles and all the performances are so great I just want people to be able to see sure so it's great

that's so cool man that's amazing that's so cool I know this might be a little a little in advance because you still got a lot of work to do here but just curious if there's another project on deck or something you're thinking about oh yes that would come next I have 10 movies in my head of the time of course

I have flash cards taped all over my house with different film ideas. I'm just kind of like always putting stuff on the wall. But the next one is Midnight Rider, which is the story of, it's based on the Almond Brothers song. I was driving my car with the windows down at night, I think on like 13 curves in the middle of the night or something.

It's not a ghost story. But I had just finished freelance writing, and I just had like a clear head. And I was like, what would I write if I wanted to write my own thing? And I didn't really have an idea. and I was listening to Midnight Rider and I just got this feeling that like I'm this like drug runner guy

in like I don't know some sort of in the crime world at some point so the movie's about this drug addict who's also a drug runner and he works for this lone shark and he's in love with a stripper he thinks he is anyway and she goes missing and nobody else cares so he

goes to find her. That sounds awesome it's actually Danny's life story it is. Tawi. There you go. We ended up here, but... Yes. That's true. That's phenomenal. Was there a moment, because, you know, you seem... You're writing about some real heavy things.

Was there ever a moment, you know, because you did talk about your PTSD in this film, The Sentinel, was I say that correctly? The Sentinel. Where you had a moment where it was... You were like, what you really felt it, like a scene where you were like, this is heavy, this is a lot. Oh, yeah. There's a very simple scene.

It's... It might be my favorite scene in the whole movie, but I'm getting emotional thinking about it. But whenever I got home from bringing the groceries home, I would always take, you know, my son would be with me, and I would try to get every single bag in at the same time. And then that would, like, somehow that would trigger me. And I would start yelling at my son and stuff like that. Very not a good thing to do. So I wrote that scene into the movie. And we shot it at my apartment.

And my AD is here, Sally LaMonico, who's a great filmmaker herself. And James Marlowe is shooting. And we shoot it in a big one shot. We did it four times. And it was so real that the neighbors started to come out to try to stop us. And then it's like, oh, it's such a beautiful scene. And then, you know, of course, spoiler, they, the character were probably. apologizes and they hug over on the side at the end. And every time I watch it, I cry. I can't

not cry. And every time I bring the groceries home now, I remember that. And so the movie has been really like self-therapy for me. And ironically, you know, I try to method act and everything. When the character started coming back to therapy, I started going back to therapy. That's method acting at its finest. Commitment is what that's called. Yeah, I have a son too, and Matt as well. So I can imagine as a father. I'm not your son. Was this Moripovich?

You're not? No. But I can understand how anything involving your children. And you said your son was actually in it, right? So that even made it. He's like the best actor in it. He's 12 now, but we started shooting when he was like six. And I stopped work on Midnight Rider because I was like, I really only have one chance.

Capture. He's like a kid. Yeah. Yeah. But I can imagine how emotional that would be, you know, reliving something that personally happened between you and your son. And, I mean, man, I'm getting emotional talking about it. That's great. Joe, we are just about out of time, but, man, I really appreciate Hedkes here.

You're welcome to come back anytime. Yeah, man. Tell us more about the progress and, of course, anything new that's going on. We'd love to hear you. And honestly, your actors group is a phenomenal thing that we'd love to hear more about. Syracuse Actors Studio. Anytime you want to come back and even bring a person or two, we'd love to dig more into that. She's my co-lead.

Let's do it. That's awesome. She's much more personal than I am. So where can we find all the info on this movie when it'll be out released? I know there's a lot that's still up in the air. Socials or anything like that. So we have the Sentinel Film on Facebook and Instagram. My film company is called Amy Luce L-O-O-O-S films.

It's an explanation there. And then if you want to learn more about the Syracuse Actors Studio at Syracuse Actors Studio on Facebook and Instagram as well. That's easy enough. Joe Cunningham. Thank you for joining Good News York, buddy. It was a pleasure, man. Thank you so much. Joe Cunningham, the Sentinel Film, Syracuse Actors Studio.

Yeah. Wow. What a great episode. What a film-heavy episode. Thank you. We got more good stuff coming tomorrow. We've got some crazy interviews. We've got a whole, the schedule is booked

with incredible people like Joe and awesome people from around New York. Which is solidifying. Follow Good News York. Sorry, buddy. It's solidifying what you and I have talked about, but your whole brainchild, this whole thing, that there's so much good and so much talent in this area.

And guys like Joe and everyone that we have on are a perfect example. And it's not just here. It's all in New York State, but I mean, there's so much great things going on. Why we do it. Yeah, man. And with that, We will see you tomorrow. Good News, York, sponsored by Ads on the Go. Get Ads on the Go.com.

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