BEREL and the Bus Driver Poster

In mid September, we met with Joshua Hill, a storyteller who has been releasing audio CDs made for the Orthodox Jewish community for several years. Little did we know, that first meeting would lead to directing and producing our next feature and taking a film from script to screen faster than we ever had before. Less than 8 weeks after that meeting Berel and the Bus Driver was complete, and two weeks later Berel had been screened in over 35 cities in the USA, Canada, Israel, and France to awesome reviews and full theaters.

But before the movie was shown, it had to be written.

Immediately we hired venerable writer Leonard Cetrangolo to work with Joshua Hill to turn the Berel and the Bus Driver treatment into a screenplay. We had to begin pre-production before we had our shooting script, scouting locations and talent that were available and could be utilized by Cetrangolo and Hill. Before we knew it, we were living in a house in Lakewood, NJ, home to one of the largest yeshivas in the world and one of John D. Rockefeller’s estates.

By October 6th Leonard and Joshua had created seven unique characters and we had our shooting script. And less than a week remaining of pre-production. Our crew was hired, we could finally begin casting the actual roles, and our major production elements were falling into place.

Patrick, Prod. Designer Nicolo DePierro, Noah, and Asst. Director Tim Duff in front of the the ice cream schoolbus.

From October 12th-15th, and 17th-20th, the Berel cast and crew shot at a furious pace. Averaging over 10 pages per day, our cinematographer Glen Mordeci utilized the Canon 5D MKII’s size and latitude to capture stunning footage with minimal equipment and time. Production Designer Nicolo DePierro’s amazing sets and props came to life (after, among other things, working day and night to transform a barely running ice cream truck into a magical school bus, among other things). SFX Makeup guru Paul J. Mason transformed actors with a deftness can only be described as magic. Our production team was filled out with cheerful (and essential!) volunteers like Tzvi Ort and Steven “Spielberg” Russell. And of course, our cast supplied us with an abundance of moments of beauty and truth. Our post production team began transcoding and assembling footage while we were still shooting, and at the end of 7 very long days Berel and the Bus Driver was in the can, so to speak.

What followed was three weeks of madness as we worked around the clock with multiple editors (Anisha Tomlinson, Chris Houghton, Oliver Irving) and our composer Billy Mallery, sound mixed, color corrected, created original artwork and credits lists, and everything else that needs to happen for a movie to be finished. All while producing and shooting a commercial on the side.

Producing and directing Berel and the Bus Driver was a truly wonderful experience. Not only did we get to make a movie with a fantastic creative team, but working with an all Orthodox cast and within the Orthodox community gave us an intimate view of a populace which we would not otherwise get to experience. Working so closely with a group of people who externally can seem so different helps us to discover our shared experiences and gives us insight into the human condition that is at the heart of filmmaking.

Producing a feature film from story to layoff in about 7 weeks was not easy. It required lots of late nights (about 7 weeks worth!), lots of scrambling, and lots of compromises. However each challenge offered us an opportunity to creatively solve our constant dilemma: how do we best tell this story with the resources available.

It is with great pride that we present the following trailer for Berel and the Bus Driver.