By Andrew Hackmack
His latest production, "Appointment With Death," will be featured at the Long Island International Film Expo, which runs from July 9-19 at the Bellmore Movies. "It's like an award just to be selected," Fiore said. "They receive hundreds, if not thousands of entries."
The movie stars a single actor - Sal Manzo of Lynbrook. "Appointment With Death," at eight minutes long, was filmed mostly in the vacant upstairs apartment at Fiore's mother's house in Valley Stream. "When you're a filmmaker working on no or a low budget," Fiore said, "you use every available favor or resource that's available to you."
Fiore said he would classify the movie as a thriller. It is about a Mafia hit man, played by Manzo, whose violent past catches up with him in the form of his latest victim. The hit man, Johnny Mylo, is a composite of characters from Mafia movies and some people from Manzo's childhood. "Some of the guys I grew up around in Brooklyn had that same kind of attitude," he said.
Manzo is a professional singer and has performed at Feinstein's nightclub in Manhattan and has also sung "God Bless America" at Citi Field. He was returning from a singing engagement in Vegas in early May when he found out that the film was chosen for the festival. "Literally it was the plane landed and the phone rang and it was Benny to tell me," Manzo said.
For Manzo, the transition to acting was natural. "I'm very good in front of a crowd," he said, "and now I know I have the same feeling in front of a camera."
"Appointment With Death" was shot back in April 2008. "Believe it or not, it was shot in two days," Fiore said. "I acted as my own film crew and Sal was the entire cast. We just set our minds to getting it done."
Fiore said that editing the movie was the most intense part, taking several weeks. It then went to his "sound guy," Steve Principato, for music and sound effects. He noted that while filming, Manzo has to react to noises that wouldn't be added to the film for a few months.
The pair are tossing around a few more possible film projects for the future. Fiore said he wants to move beyond short films. "The shorts are a calling card for a filmmaker," he said. "It's to get your name out there. The goal is to do a feature film."
Manzo said that whether it is singing, acting or something else, working in the arts is something that's in the heart. "When you're able to entertain people, you're doing what you love to do, you're doing what you're meant to do and you're making other people happy," he said, "it doesn't get much better than that."
