Case Study: The Making of ‘The Price for Silence’ by Tony Germinario

Tony GerminarioThe Price for Silence
Date: 20th July 2019
Director: Tony Germinario
Producer: Brendan Contant, Emrhys Cooper, Lynn Mancinelli
Writer: Tony Germinario
Lead Cast: Lynn Mancinelli, Richard Thomas, Emrhys Cooper

Kira Flynn grew up in a storybook NJ setting. As a teen, she was a gifted artist with a bright future ahead of her, until one fateful night changed everything; a child’s innocence, a father’s loyalty, and a family’s future.   

Fifteen years later, Kira’s father passes away. She returns home to her mother, Sheila, and her brother, Lucas, to help bury her father while she digs up her past.

Longline : After the death of her father, a troubled woman returns home to confront the family who paid for her silence.

indieactivity : What is your film about?
Tony Germinario : THE PRICE FOR SILENCE is a film about a girl who was raped as a teen, but her father took money in order to stay quiet.  It’s now 15 years later, and after her father’s death, the girl comes home to confront everyone including her own demons. I actually woke up in the middle of the night and the idea was just there. The next day, I reached out to Lynn Mancinelli, who starred in the film. We had worked together on my first film, BAD FRANK, and told her the idea. She jumped right on board and the two of us worked on the story together.

indieactivity : Tell us about the festival run, marketing and sales?
Tony Germinario : We had a nice festival run starting with the Chelsea Film Festival in NY where we had our world premiere.  We won several awards including a couple of Best Actress nods, a few Best Films, and other acting categories as well, so we’ve been very happy with the response.  We have a great PR firm that’s been helping us get some press, and we’ve signed with Indie Rights for Domestic Distribution and House of Film for International.

indieactivity : Dramatic Feature?

• Director : Tony Germinario
• Producers : Tony Germinario, George Stohr, Andy O’Connell, Lynn Mancinelli, Emrhys Cooper, Bill Timoney
• Budget : $240k
• Financing : Private
• Production : Based in NJ/CT
• Shooting Format : Red Camera
• World Premiere : Chelsea Film Festival NYC
• Awards : 
  • Lynn Mancinelli – Best Actress at the International Film Festival of Wales
  • London Independent Film Festival – Best Low Budget Feature
  • Remi Special Jury Award – Worldfest
  • Gold Remi Award – Screenwriting – Worldfest
  • Audience Award – Kristin Carey – Idyllwild Film Festival
  • Accolade Film Competition – Award of Excellence – Best Film,
  • Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress
• 30 nominations at different festivals
• Website

indieactivity : Give the full Official Synopsis for your film?
Tony Germinario : Kira Kira Flynn grew up in a storybook NJ setting.  As a teen, she was a gifted artist with a bright future ahead of her, until one fateful night changed everything; a child’s innocence, a father’s loyalty, and a family’s future.  Fifteen years later, Kira’s father passes away.  She returns home to her mother, Sheila, and her brother, Lucas, to help bury her father while she digs up her past.

indieactivity : Development & Financing?
Tony Germinario : When I first had the idea for the script, I approached Lynn as I knew I wanted to work with her again. We got together and talked about the idea which I knew for any actor would be a challenging one to play, and she jumped right in. I then worked with her over the next few months to shape the story and the characters to make sure we were hitting the tone and beats we wanted. Once the script was in place, we approached some people that were fans of our first film, and they put up the financing.  This was a ULB film, so fortunately we didn’t have to raise all that much.  

indieactivity : Production?
Tony Germinario : We shot the entire film in just 18 days; 12 in NJ and 6 in CT, so principal photography was done in less than three weeks.  We were fortunate that we didn’t have to do any reshoots or ADR so we went right into editing.  The first cut was probably ready 5-6 weeks later.  We then did post sound and scoring which took another 4-5 weeks due to scheduling, so all in all it was a pretty smooth process.

indieactivity : Festival Preparation & Strategy?
Tony Germinario : We actually worked with a festival consultant on this to determine which were the best festivals to go after. Festivals are always difficult because it doesn’t always come down to the quality of the film.  There are so many factors that come into play like who’s in your film, do we have another film like yours already in it, will you be able to be at the festival, etc., so having someone help in the process can be a plus. Chelsea was a great start for us and they were super. I also really liked Beaufort.  They make sure you have a big turnout as the whole town supports the festival.  Even at 9 am, you could have an audience of 200-300 people which is amazing.

Related Story : Tony Germinario Director for ‘The Price for Silence’ on making his film

indieactivity : The Release?
Tony Germinario : The film will be released on Friday July 19th.  We’re doing a one-week theatrical release in Hollywood and we’ll get released on Amazon on the same date. Other platforms will be released over time so we can spread it out.

indieactivity : Advice from the Filmmaker?
Tony Germinario : Keep moving forward.  There will always be obstacles and excuses, but if you really want to be an artist or filmmaker, you have to drown out the white noise and just keep pushing.

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