“The Other Side”
Begins Filming In Miami
In-Too-Deep Drama Co-Stars
Academy Award-Nominee Chazz Palminteri & Michael Rapaport
Principal photography began today in Miami on writer-director David Rodriguez’s dramatic thriller, The Other Side. The 20-day shooting schedule will take the Miami-based production to Ft. Lauderdale and Pembroke Pines.
The Producers are Paul McMenamin and David Rodriguez; Paresh Kanani is Executive Producer; Paolo Bossola is Associate Producer; Screenplay is by Rodriguez and Ben Carlin, based on an original story by Rodriguez; Director of Photography is Steven Goodman.
Chazz Palminteri and Michael Rapaport lend tough-guy swagger to this gritty urban drama about the freefall descent of three twenty-something preppies into a world of criminality. Sharing the spotlight with these established thesps are a ferocious group of up-and-coming young stars: Pierce Forsythe, William DePaolo, Xenia Siamas, Chad Lindberg, Charlotte Ayanna, and Otto Sanchez.
Perhaps best known for co-starring with Robert DeNiro in A Bronx Tale, which he originally wrote for the stage and performed as a one-man show in Los Angeles, Chazz Palminteri has made indelible impressions in such films as Hurlyburly opposite Sean Penn and Kevin Spacey; Analyze This with DeNiro and Billy Crystal; and in Woody Allen’s Bullets Over Broadway, for which he received an Academy AwardÔ nomination for Best Supporting Actor, along with nominations for the Independent Spirit Award, the Screen Actors Guild Award, and an American Comedy Award. Palminteri, who will next be seen starring opposite Ving Rhames in USA Network’s Kojak, recently made his feature film directorial debut with Noel starring Susan Sarandon, Penelope Cruz, Paul Walker, and Alan Arkin.
Michael Rapaport was recently seen starring in David E. Kelly’s critically acclaimed television drama Boston Public. An independent film stalwart since his 1993 film debut in the Sundance Award-winning Zebrahead, Rapaport has gone on to memorable supporting performances in films as disparate as Woody Allen’s Small Time Crooks, Ted Demme’s Beautiful Girls, Tony Scott’s True Romance, Spike Lee’s controversial Bamboozled, and The Sixth Day opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger.
David Rodriguez produced his first rap demo, The Hip Hop Game at Power Play Studios at just sixteen years of age and co-founded Pro Athlete Management Group at 26. After working with hip hop superstar Busta-Rhymes on music videos for the When Disaster Strikes record and serving as production assistant and associate producer on such independent films as Fired Up and Dangerous; David Rodriguez’s drive, business acumen, and artistic ambition have now come to fruition in his feature debut as writer-director-producer of The Other Side.
Drugs, sex, and the allure of fast money blur the boundaries between two very different societies in The Other Side. A bartender in his twenties, Joe DeSimone (Chad Lindberg) is dissatisfied with his financial situation and relationship with his stripper girlfriend, Lisa (Charlotte Ayanna). While out clubbing with best friends Kevin Doyle (Pierce Forsythe), a rookie stockbroker and recovering drug addict, and Mickey Cohen (William DePaolo), a suburban rich kid, the trio witnesses a drug bust. The dealer drops a package of ecstasy pills on the dance floor before the cops get to him, however, and Mickey retrieves the package. Seeing this as an opportunity to make some fast cash, the friends decide to approach notorious neighborhood gangster Paul Diaz (Otto Sanchez), offering to distribute the drugs for him in their community. Diaz accepts and the three young men soon find themselves commanding a burgeoning criminal operation. Encouraged by their immediate success, Kevin’s greed surfaces and he increases the volume of their operation while relapsing into his past cocaine addiction. But as payday approaches, the friends come to realize that visiting the other side comes at a high price.
