Jodom in the News

Local actors on the silver screen

        By Lori Hein, Correspondent, Easton News - Friday, June 18, 2004

Walking the red carpet at the June 13th premiere of Jodom Pictures' "A House Divided" were Brian Hoffman and John Shanahan, local actors whose performances and professionalism earned praise from director and Jodom president Mike Amato.

"I hope to work with both of them again on our next film, which is the highest compliment a director can give to an actor," Amato said.

For Hoffman, from Easton, and Shanahan, a Norton resident, the sell-out premiere at Boston's waterfront World Trade Center was their first opportunity to see the finished film. Both brought family and friends, enjoyed the artichoke and prosciutto hors d'oeuvres at the pre-screening reception, and waited, looking elegant in their tuxedos, for the film to roll.

"None of the actors have seen anything more than small snippets of the movie when we had to go into the studios to edit or re-record dialogue during the post-production phase," said Hoffman before the premiere. "I can't wait to see it on the big screen."

Ditto for Shanahan.

"This is the first time seeing this. I'm thrilled. I love the script," he said.

In this serious film about child abuse and mental illness, Hoffman plays a major role as Dr. William Redmund, the psychiatrist who treats Laura, the main character, for multiple personality disorder triggered by the sexual and physical abuse she suffered as a child. Laura is key to a murder investigation led by a detective whose own mentally ill wife Redmund also treats. Redmund links the film's characters and is the cog that propels the action.

A person who suffers from multiple personality disorder lives in a house divided.

"Laura's house," says Dr. Redmund in the film, "is how she views her mind."

Her house - her mind - is divided into rooms in which her various personalities live.

Shanahan, in a supporting role, plays the opportunistic but inept detective, Francis O'Rourke, perversely endearing because he's out of his league.

"Because of the intense nature of the subject matter," said Amato, "we needed to provide the audience with some moments of comic relief. John provided that in spades."

Shanahan's character is one of a trio of detectives, and the other two mockingly call him "the cavalry."

Being cast in a feature-length film is a feather in any actor's cap. Hoffman and Shanahan earned their silver screen credits with years of work.

By day, Hoffman is a managing partner for the staffing and recruiting firm Winter, Wyman & Company.

"I've been there almost 25 years," said Hoffman, "and am extremely proud of the company and the folks I work with."

But there's always been this performance bug. This muse that called him to act in "high school plays, musicals, community theater, church shows."

Then there's the radio thing...

Hoffman's dream of one day working in radio germinated long ago.

"Radio had always been in the back of my mind. I had always had an ability to mimic accents and do character voices, and I thought that would fit best in radio."

Hoffman took classes to learn to do radio and TV commercial voice-overs. One thing led to another. He met Jordan Rich and Ken Carberry of Chart Productions, took their extensive classroom and studio training, landed voice-over gigs for radio, TV and internet advertising, and became the voices for computer game characters. He's been a guest co-host on "The Jordan Rich Show" on WBZ NewsRadio 1030 and has produced several of the shows.

It's the voices that bring our story back to the black-tie optional big screen premiere on Boston's waterfront. A few years ago, Hoffman auditioned for a spot as an extra in the satire "Limelight," also directed by Mike Amato. He read for the part of a German physicist. His accent was so convincing that Amato asked if he had any Texan up his sleeve. By the end of the day, Hoffman was cast in a major role as Dick Hammer, a hard-nosed Texas candy mogul intent on pulling a New England taffy company into his portfolio. "Limelight" was Hoffman's first feature-length movie.

"Brian's Texan accent was so real that when people met him at the premiere, they were shocked to find out that he was a New Englander," Amato said.

It was the "Limelight" performance that led Amato to offer Hoffman the Dr. Redmund role. The "House Divided" part called for sensitivity and empathy, and Amato bet on Hoffman because of "the humanity and tenderness that are part of his basic personality."

Shanahan, an editor by profession, is passionate about both writing and acting and has been doing both since childhood. His one-act play, "Bob's Date", is capturing attention and kudos in regional competitions, and the Attleboro Community Theater will premiere two new Shanahan plays in July. He's also working on two small independent films and has several additional plays in the works.

Responding to the call for auditions for "A House Divided", Shanahan read for multiple parts, but, said Amato, "We were so impressed with his versatility that we created a new character just for him ... an incompetent detective whose biggest weakness is that he doesn't realize just how inept he is."

Shanahan's skill at humor (he writes an occasional humor piece for this paper) provides relief in a movie about tough subjects, and his performance lifts the Detective O'Rourke character beyond the rank of hopeless bungler.

"A mark of a good actor is his ability to act when he isn't speaking dialogue, and John has the innate ability to make me laugh with just a raised eyebrow or nonverbal statement" Amato said. "His overall performance gives O'Rourke an almost sympathetically pompous quality. You laugh at him and then feel guilty afterwards, because he is so clueless."

Besides Shanahan's O'Rourke, there's little to laugh at in "A House Divided", a film that deals with abuse and mental illness and the toll they exact.

But, said Hoffman, "One of the really beneficial things about this film is that it portrays mental illness and the upheaval, trauma and impact it brings on a family in a very human light."

Hoffman said he feels his character is one of the "good guys" because he "unfolds as an empathetic guide" and brings "a humanism and kindness to a very tortured space."

Director Amato, who also wrote the film, saw his own mother deal with schizophrenia, and he dedicated "A House Divided" to her. He told the audience, after the screening and ovations, "We wanted to do a movie where the person with mental illness was not a villain, like a Hollywood stereotype. We wanted to make a statement that was a little bit different from that."

A Los Angeles film agency has acquired the rights to "A House Divided" and placed Amato under contract. He'll take the film "on the festival circuit" this summer, with the first stop an important independent film festival in South Dakota. DVD release depends on how the film does on the festival circuit. Amato's hoping for worldwide DVD distribution, and, if the film wins "a few film festival awards," it's better positioned to secure that. Other possibilities include commercial release or sale of the screenplay to a major studio.

As they sat in the World Trade Center's plush amphitheater, sipping wine and watching "A House Divided" for the first time, surely the cast and crew thought back to the months of hard work required to make the film.

"What you see in the theater is only a small fraction of the time that went into the finished product," explained Hoffman.

Amato likes to have several "perfect" takes of key scenes, and from different angles. ""So," said Hoffman, "you may actually do the entire scene anywhere from 25 to 35 times to get two minutes of film. And, you have to try to recreate the same emotion, energy, attention and pacing each time. Yup, it's a lot of work."

There are several barn scenes in the movie, and, to viewers, it looks like summer. The cast and crew know better, having endured endless hours in an old New Hampshire barn in 20-degree winter weather to capture the scenes. They couldn't turn the heat on, as the noise would register on film, and the actors had to chew ice chips so their breath would be cooled enough not to show on camera as vapor in the cold air.

"I mean, c'mon," laughed Hoffman. "It's already cold enough. Your teeth are chattering from the bone-chilling temperatures, you're 20 feet up in a freezing barn loft, and sucking ice chips! And, you're almost through a really, really good take, and a plane flies overhead, ruins the sound, and you grab another cup of ice chips and start all over again..."

Lori Hein can be reached at 508-230-3766 or www.lorihein.com

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