WATERTOWN — Michelle L. DiBernardo, filmmaker, actress and president of the Syracuse International Film Festival, found herself helplessly tied up in her craft Tuesday night in a former city factory building.
“That was me in the bed with the straitjacket,” DiBernardo said the next day, as she recalled one of the scenes filmed Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning at the former GLV Black Clawson Co. paper research center at 591 W. Main St., in back of the former ARC Jefferson-St. Lawrence building now owned by Credo Community Center.
DiBernardo, a resident of North Syracuse, is director and co-writer of the psychological thriller, “EXscaped,” scheduled to premiere in Watertown in August. The movie’s tag line: “Small town blamed her. But was she at fault?” DiBernardo also plays the main character, Veronica Gavin.
She said the long night of filming went well and she arrived back home in North Syracuse at about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday. She was especially glad to be out of that pesky straitjacket.
“Whatever straitjacket we got is a very nice Halloween costume,” DiBernardo said. “We couldn’t even figure out how to maneuver those straps. But aesthetically, it looks beautiful.”
Other scenes for “EXscaped” were shot in the Syracuse area. But DiBernardo and her team returned to the former factory in Watertown after discovering it last year.
That discovery led to scenes being shot there for the horror film, “Brain Hunter: New Breed,” co-directed by DiBernardo and Robert Resto. That film, which premiered at Pulaski’s Kallet Theater last August, is now available on the ad-supported streaming service Tubi.
The former Black Clawson property, a brick building of about 17,000 square feet, was purchased by Watertown resident Raymond E. Worcester about seven years ago for $1,000. “I’ve been slowly fixing it up as best I can with my limited income,” Worcester told the Times last year.
“I’m still doing stuff to it,” Worcester said on Thursday. He’s invested about $30,000 into the property, including adding office space.
For DiBernardo, the building is a mecca for filmmakers, and potentially not just for those in the horror genre.
“It’s a big building,” she said. “If you look at a sound stage, it’s an empty space and then you build the set. You just need a big warehouse or facility to build those sets.”
DiBernardo, CEO of DiBernardo Productions LLC, has become smitten with Watertown and the north country. In addition to planning more films in the area, she plans to host the fifth annual Creators Film Festival at the Watertown Fairgrounds on April 15. The festival was created by and is hosted by DiBernardo Productions. It will be the first in-person Creators Film Festival. The previous ones have been virtual. She plans to make Watertown the festival’s permanent home.
“I like up north,” she said. “It’s quiet, easy to get to and the community is very willing to have us, compared to New York City with everybody over-charging and rolling their eyes. It’s a totally different feel. They roll out the red carpet here, they welcome us and appreciate us.”
The Creators Film Festival could be the second film festival hosted by Watertown next year. The 9th annual Snowtown Film Festival was held in February in partnership with WPBS-TV, with festival films shown exclusively on the station. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival was also virtual in 2021 and 2022.
‘BEGINNINGS OF AN INDUSTRY’
DiBernardo has been in discussion with Watertown City Council member Cliff G. Olney III to brainstorm ways to expand film shoots in Watertown.
“I’m absolutely looking at doing something with a grant, like what they’ve done with New York state and Syracuse to help the film industry down there,” Olney said on Friday.
In June, Empire State Development announced that Syracuse-based WCNY had been awarded $499,766 from the state’s Entertainment Workforce Diversity Grant Program for its new WCNY Entertainment Academy.
The academy will train the next generation of television and film production engineers, electricians, set designers, sound mixers and camera operators to help support the growing entertainment industry in Central New York. The award comes from the first-in-the-nation grant program, which funds job training and workforce development across New York’s entertainment industry and is financed by a percentage from the state’s Film Tax Credit program.
“I’ve asked staff about what we may be able to look into and get for the city,” Olney said.
Olney visited the “EXscaped” set in Watertown and attended the premiere of “Brain Hunter: New Breed.” “I could see where they have editing to do and different things they can get better at, but to bring in more talent from around the area, which certainly exists, I absolutely think it’s something we should look at.”
Olney also sees potential in the old Black Clawson building. “Ray is very engaged,” he said of its owner. “For him to invest the money he has into the project, I think we have the beginnings of an industry and it could expand into something more. We’re not at the level of having car chases on the Square at this point; well — we’re already seeing them on Arsenal Street, aren’t we?”
“With a plan, we can do it,” building owner and “EXscaped” associate producer Worcester said. “There’s a lot of people thinking outside the box.”
Worcester was required to think outside the box, and his comfort zone, during this week’s film shoot at his building.
“The last minute, somebody didn’t show up and they needed a doctor,” he said. “So, I ended up being a doctor. I told them I’m not an actor, but we got through it.”
Arts and entertainment, DiBernardo said, are important for a thriving community.
“We’d all be bored without entertainment,” she said. “But we’re bringing money into the economy, we’re bringing in people who might not come to Watertown or may not know about it. And it’s not like we’re always going to use the (West Main Street) warehouse. We have other things planned. We’re definitely expanding in that area.”
On Sept. 4, Olney, on his Facebook page, posted a video interview he hosted with DiBernardo and her daughter, Kailee Stevenson, who co-directed “EXscaped.” They were joined by local actors Ed Abbate and Bernard W. (“Bernie/Bucky”) Miles III, who both have roles in “EXscaped.” Miles is also manager of the West Main Street building.
For “EXscaped,” sections of the West Main Street building were made to look like a mental asylum.
“We built the upstairs offices into a small nurses’ station and a hospital room,” DiBernardo said. “It’s not your average hospital room, but this is The Left Behind Asylum.”
DiBernardo said the main character she plays has issues, from betrayal to grief.
“Things happen to her,” DiBernardo said. “Some things may be her fault, some things may not. She may have gotten into situations she didn’t mean to be in; so many different things where a lot of awareness needs to be brought around.”
SPECIAL EFFECTS
“EXscaped,” DiBernardo said, isn’t as gory and doesn’t have as big a budget as the previous film, “Brainhunter: New Breed,” also partially shot at the building.
“It’s a bit different,” she said. “We tried to go more with the psychological thriller and more awareness.”
But she added, “However, being a horror person — whether a horror filmmaker or horror actress and in the horror cult field, yes, there is some gore.”
The person responsible for bringing that element to life is Michael J. McCoy of Buffalo.
“He’s an amazing special-effects artist,” DiBernardo said. “His talent hasn’t been found yet.”
McCoy, who is largely self-taught, has won special effects awards at the Buffalo and Chicago 48 Hour Film Project, which takes place on different weekends in different cities throughout the year.
McCoy was on the “EXscaped” set on Sept. 10 when scenes were filmed in the Syracuse area. He said one of his tasks was to bring a grisly murder scene to life, which involved a prosthetic, a fake blood bladder, tubing and other elements of the art. The main actor had to be in the makeup chair for about 45 minutes.
“I’ve always loved horror movies, monster-making and all that,” McCoy said in a phone interview on Friday. “It’s always fun to see things you wouldn’t typically see on a normal day or in a normal movie. There’s a lot of actors in the area that have never worked with makeup effects or anything, so it’s fun to see how they see it from a fresh set of eyes. They’re so awed about it.”
McCoy, whose credits include a couple of short films, works in manufacturing at a Buffalo pharmaceutical company. His interest in special effects began as a teen when he worked on Halloween haunted houses. He took online courses from the Stan Winston School of Character Arts in Los Angeles. “Those were mainly to advance my sculpting skills,” he said.
He credited a course with Norman Cabrera for advancing those sculpting skills. Cabrera is a highly respected veteran of the “creature effects industry” with more than 35 years of professional experience and has lent his artistic skills to many of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters and TV series. “He taught me a lot of tips and tricks when it comes to sculpting with clay,” McCoy said. “To me, that’s the fun part.”
SYRACUSE FESTIVAL
DiBernardo is president and executive director of the Syracuse International Film Festival, which is marking its 20th anniversary this year.
The festival, Sept. 28-30 and Oct. 4-7, will be held at various sites around the city. The festival kickoff will be hosted by award-winning actor Alec Baldwin from 4 to 10 p.m. Sept. 30 at Mohegan Manor, 58 Oswego St., Baldwinsville.
Apart from his impressive career in film, television, and theater, Baldwin has continued his late mother’s philanthropic work. Carol M. Baldwin founded The Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund of CNY.
The Baldwin Fund continues to annually award grants for research conducted at SUNY Upstate Medical University and Upstate University Hospital. Carol Baldwin died last year. Baldwin carries on his mother’s legacy through the fund.
“Alec has had involvement here for years,” DiBernardo said. “His mother created a beautiful foundation here, and Beth is doing a great job in running that now.”
Elizabeth “Beth” Baldwin of Camillus created the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund of CNY with her mom in 1990, joining their efforts with doctors at Upstate Medical University after Carol was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The Sept. 30 event with Alec Baldwin will conclude with Baldwin receiving Syracuse International Film Festival’s Sophia Award.
While playing Jack Donaghy on NBC’s “30 Rock” from 2006-2013, Baldwin garnered two Primetime Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and seven Screen Actors Guild Awards, receiving the most SAG Awards for a male performer in history. In recent years, Baldwin has also amassed critical acclaim for his portrayal of Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live,” and for which he won his third Primetime Emmy.
Tickets for the event are $30 for general admission and $75 for VIP tickets. They are available on Eventbrite or through www.syracusefilmfestival.com.