'Heavy Duty': From Improv to Film to Victory

Sal Massari and Cristine Linquiti have proven a simple story can go a long way.

The two actors met in class at the American Art Theatre on Long Island, where their teacher, Rick Imberman, had them do an improvisational exercise that illustrated a conflict. Massari remembered an experience Imberman had had, where he went into a Laundromat to use the bathroom but the clerk behind the counter wouldn't let him--it was for customer's only.

Massari and Linquiti used that as the basis for their improv, and it was so effecting, they continued to develop the piece in Imberman's class. Massari then adapted it into a short film, Heavy Duty, which won the audience favorite award Oct. 5 at a festival sponsored by the Guild of Italian American Actors in Manhattan.

The scenario could have easily devolved into a Saturday Night Live sketch, with the requisite and predictable potty humor. Instead, it has become a short treatise about disconnection in an era of heightened--perhaps unenlightened--self-interest.

Massari told Blog Stage he was thrilled to win the award, but the best part for him was sitting in the audience, "just to see people's reactions." Massari's next step is to try to get it into the Tribeca Film Festival in the spring of 2009.

--Andrew Salomon

Comments

[Dan]

'The Maiden Voyage of Jimmy Swash,' a short film by recent NYU grad Tim Young, won the Audience Favorite Award at the GIAA short film program on Saturday. Lead actor Matthew Decapua won best actor for his role as the title character.

http://www.giaafilmfest.com/GIAA_Film_Fest/Saturday_Photos.html