Monday, March 13, 2000
Area-made indie film lands veteran actor
BY MARGARET A. McGURK
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Veteran character actor Joe Pantoliano (The Matrix) has agreed to appear in Dead Horse, an independent feature tentatively slated to be filmed in the Tristate this summer.
Mr. Pantoliano was recruited by fellow New Jersey native Pat DiNizio, leader of the rock group the Smithereens. Mr. DiNizio plans to debut as a director with Dead Horse. In return, Mr. Dinizio will write music for an independent film Mr. Pantoliano plans to direct with Andy Garcia and Camryn Manheim.
Mr. DiNizio was in town last week to play for small audiences in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati on his nationwide “Living Room Tour.” Dead Horses co-author Matt Hader had booked one of those appearances, and he struck up a friendship with Mr. DiNizio that led to the movie deal.
“He looks at my songs as little motion pictures, and he suggested that I direct this film,” Mr. DiNizio said. “He right now is writing two separate other screenplays from my original stories. ... There is one called Threatened, which is sort of like the samurai picture Sword of Doom meets Godfather II meets Mean Streets.”
Though he owes his fame to music, Mr. DiNizio is no stranger to film. He studied film in college, trained briefly as a film editor and acted as an unofficial co-director on some 15 videos for the Smithereens.
He also wrote the band's hit “A Girl Like You” for director Cameron Crowe's Say Anything, although the song was replaced by Peter Gabriel's “In Your Eyes.” Mr. Crowe also cast Mr. Dinizio in a supporting role in Singles, but his character was cut.
Dead Horses is a dark, comical crime story involving four employees at a retail carpet store. It is co-written by brother Matt and Andrew Hader. “(Andrew) manages a carpet store and has a feeling for the ins and outs of the sales industry,” said producer Mark Turner. Matt Hader collaborated with another brother, Art, on the script for the locally produced, but still unreleased, feature April's Fool.
Depending on several factors — such as financing and Mr. Pantoliano's other film commitments — the filmmakers hope to roll camera on Dead Horse this summer after Mr. DiNizio finishes his musical tour in June.
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