By JOHN ANDERSON (photo gallery of filming at the end)
Sure everyone thinks New York City or Niagara Falls when it comes to movie locations in New York, but Binghamton has a strong film office and now a new movie.
The Binghamton Film Office and the Broome County IDA The Agency said funding was secured for Daniel V. Masciari’s movie, “Stationed at Home.”
Binghamton has quote the history. It is the home to Rod Serling of the “Twilight Zone, and the look of Binghamton and the area is noticeable in his shows and movies.
In 1991, Hornell’s Bill Pullman starred in “Liebestraum,” filmed in Binghamton and also starred Kim Novak. In 2014, the movie “The Rewrite” with Hugh Grant and Marisa Tomei was also filmed in Binghamton.
The movie is based on a traveling experience in Binghamtom in 1998 and some luck for one of the characters. Masciari said he came up with the idea for the movie while driving through Binghamton in 2016. He is an Ithaca graduate and a lot of the actors are from Central New York.
According to the film office, actors are needed for the roles of:
FRANK (male, any ethnicity, 50s-70s): A disgruntled cab dispatcher.
THE DOORMAN (male, any ethnicity, 50s-80s): A short, scruffy, eccentric man who spends his time tending to a hotel.
ALBERT (male, African American, 60s-80s): A stoic and caring grandfather, who owns an antique shop.
DAMIEN (male, African American, 7-11 years old). Will need to have a child performer working permit.
HOU (male, Chinese, 20s/30s, 5’8 or under preferably, slim): A Chinese immigrant, a loner, and has recently moved to Binghamton.
Acting experience is not required, the press release said, but it might help.
(Here’s a look at a film announcement and below how to apply)
From the Stationed at Home website:
A film by Daniel V. Masciari: “When you believe in serendipity, and you’re open to seeing the beauty in the seemingly mundane, you can create entire worlds out of one abandoned train station. At least, you can if you’re Daniel Masciari.
The inspiration for the film came to the young filmmaker… while he was driving through Binghamton one night…”
The roles will pay $379 a day and there is a SAG (Screen Actors Guild) agreement. You have to email stationedathomecasting@gmail.com with your headshot or a recent photo, any previous experience or a resume and specify the role you want to audition for. The subject line of the email should be “Stationed at Home casting.”
Filming starts in February.
In a story written by Jamie Swinnerton in the Tompkins Weekly, he wrote, “it’s 1998 and a Binghamton cab driver and part-time hoarder is keeping his eyes turned skyward looking for the first passover of the International Space Station, set to be right above Central New York at midnight. From there, all the other characters started to form and a plot was constructed.”
Masciari told Swinnerton, “The film just unfolded over six months. This film is about characters from all different backgrounds and they’re all trying to find the meaning of home, hence the film Stationed at Home.”
From the “Bing Film Office” website:
Our rich history has produced tons of inspiring stories over the decades and centuries. We take great pride in being the birthplace of IBM and Endicott-Johnson Shoe Co., an industrial giant that shaped the region. We’re also the home of film and television icon Rod Serling. The “Twilight Zone” creator and legendary screenwriter certainly left a big impression on pop culture. His hometown of Binghamton, New York, definitely made a big impression on him. Greater Binghamton is Serling county, with reminders of the late great’s roots throughout.
Binghamton is a place a little left of center and right in the middle of it all. Why film in Greater Binghamton?
A clapperboard for the film “The Harbinger.”
We’re city and country, quirky and unique, laying claim to such unusual distinctions as the “Carousel Capital of the World”. You’ll even find a gothic revival stone insane asylum here, if that’s your thing …
Actually, we’re here for anything and can accommodate pretty much every project. Numerous towns and villages dot a gorgeous natural landscape full of wide, open spaces. We enjoy all four seasons here in these genuinely film-friendly communities.
Binghamton is home to hundreds of compelling locations ready for just about any production from period pieces to modern tales. We invite you to Be Part of Our Story. Our locations set the perfect scene for you to tell yours.
Photo gallery of the early filming in Binghamton from the movie website: