In his documentary ,. Culver City resident, actor, author and cartoonist Darrell Fusaro returns to his hometown of Clifton, NJ to give a benefit performance of his play, The Basement at his alma mater, Clifton high school.
That’s where the plot becomes very interesting.
And here’s the behind the scenes of The Basement.
Jeff Trujillo joined Darrell on the journey back to his hometown of Clifton, New Jersey, simply to record the benefit performance of The Basement, as a keepsake for the high school. It wasn’t until reviewing the footage that Trujillo concluded there was a sincere story that deserved to be made available for others to enjoy.
Once Jeff convinced Darrell that this was a worthwhile goal they rolled up their shirtsleeves and got started. Working together evenings and weekends, they assembled the footage, along with Fusaro family photographs that spanned the 20th century, and investigative phone calls Darrell had made years earlier in his quest for answers.
As first time documentarians they were pleasantly surprised with how well things were coming together. But something was missing; a soundtrack. Then out of sheer coincidence, it was discovered that Darrell’s dog had a neighborhood friend, Sparky, who’s owner turned out to be renown film composer, Gaili Schoen.
Gaili’s documentary soundtracks include the PBS Special, “Annie Leibovitz: A Life Through A Lens.” With no budget, except what they pooled together from their own pockets, Jeff & Darrell knew Gaili would be out of their reach, but they were they in for a surprise. Gaili fell in love with Darrell’s story and joined the team. Darrell and Jeff both consider Gaili’s soundtrack, brilliant, hitting all the emotional notes throughout the film and highlighting them precisely.
After screening the film Echelon Studios offered them a distribution deal bringing The Basement to the attention of the American and International film markets, On-Demand and Netflix. The Basement is available now on DVD at http://www.singahe.com/basement.html
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