Talk:Don of the Damned

Don of the Damned
Official poster Official poster
Basic Information
Release date	July 21, 2018
Runtime	3h 15m 52s (195m)
Cast and Crew
Directed by:	Nick Geoghegan
Written by:	Nick Geoghegan Wesley Davies Joey Cianfrani
Edited by:	Nick Geoghegan
Starring:	Joey Cianfrani Stephen Weinstock Wesley Davies Lucan Alto Stargiotti Jack Masters Ari Froehlich Chris Smith Kiersten Muse Kyle Smith Ben Blackstone Sam Brandel
Links [ Don of the Damned on IMDb] [ Trailer on YouTube]

Don of the Damned is a 2018 epic crime thriller film directed by Nick Geoghegan, and co-written by Geoghegan, Joey Cianfrani, and Wesley Davies. The second feature released by PWN Studios, it was officially premiered to a private audience on August 21, 2018. Set in the fictional city of Greenridge, the film homages a number of gangster and crime films. The film features Cianfrani, Davies, and Stephen Weinstock in starring roles, with Lucan Stargiotti and Jack Masters as supporting leads. Other cast members include Ari Froehlich, Kiersten Muse, Kyle Smith, Chris Smith, Ben Blackstone, Sam Brandel, and Nick Geoghegan. The video is the PWN debut of Jonathan Stark, Tristan Neal, Andrew Ferguson, and Jack Masters, as well as numerous smaller roles.

The film is set for a wider release in September of 2018.

Plot Synopsis

Given the complicated nature of the film and the many interconnected subplots, the following summary only focuses on events we see on screen in the film. For a more complete description of the plot, see Don of the Damned Plot Synopsis.

Cast

Main Article: List of Don of the Damned Characters

The film features many of the members of PWN Studios, and is considered the debut video for several more. There are also a number of cameos by friends, former members of PWN, and other YouTubers.

The top billed actors are:

• Joey Cianfrani as Joey Mancini -
• Stephen Weinstock as Franky Russo -
• Wesley Davies as Don Tony de Luca - The Don of the de Luca Crime Family, since the mid nineties. His past with drugs has lead him to develop a strict no narcotics policy within his ranks. He becomes involved in Franky and Joey's affair after the quarrel results in an failed assassination attempt on a made man. He takes no sides in the conflict, and tries to resolve the issue as the mob collapses arround him. He is killed by police officers at the shootout at the bar. As he dies, he tells Bergstrom to see to it that Tony's son Michael takes his place.
• Lucan Alto Stargiotti as Emilio Proteggore - A trusted Capo of the Family, one of Don Tony's oldest allies. He acts as a sort of father figure to Joey and Franky. After a failled attempt on his life, he becomes intertwined in the war between Pasta Nostra and Franky's Group. After the Don's death, he becomes the underboss, and helps Michael rebuild the Family.
• Jack Masters as Bill Bergstrom - A quiet, reserved lawyer who is the personal attorney of the Don. He has only a minor part in the plot until the end, when the Don assigns him to "clean everything up". He undertakes a purge which results in the death of ten people involved in the Family quarrel. He also helps Michael take his place as the new Don.

The film features a very large ensemble cast, which is sorted here according to what "group" the character belongs to.

Pasta Nostra

• Ari Froehlich as Tommy Salami - Joey's second in command, and a co-creator of Pasta Nostra. His real name is unknown even to Joey. His younger brother was killed by an Irishman, leading to his intense hatrid of the Irish. It is his decision to extort Franky's Group, and as such he is primarily responsible for the Cartel War.
• Kiersten Muse as Carmela Ross - A muscle, and friend of Tommy Salami. She is reluctant to extort the Irish, fearing retaliation from both the Irish and from Joey himself. Is implied to have some sort of attraction to Joey, which she never acts on.
• Will Geoghegan as Anthony - A young boy working as an errand boy for Joey. Though he is trusted by the other members, they are well aware he would talk if rattled, and as such tend to keep him out of the trade.
• Andrew Ferguson as Andy Ross - The brother of Carmela, who acts as a personal bodyguard for Joey, living permanently in Joey's residence. He is aware of the plot to extort the Irish, but takes little part in it.

Franky's Group

• Sam Brandel as Jack Tataglia - Franky's second in command, also a soldier under Emilio. The only other de Luca soldier to know about the Cartel War. He is calm and mild mannered, and often attempts to resolve disputes in the mob.
• Jonathan Stark as James Vincente - A crooked cop, originally assigned to investigate Fredrico de Luca before the sting. Befriends Franky and serves as a high ranking member of his group.
• Jaik Suri as Augustine - An original member of Franky's cartel, with ties to the Sicillian mob. Quiet and reserved, often sporting earbuds.
• Wade Mickley as Luco - A new hiree to Franky's group, who serves as his bodyguard near the end of the film.

The de Luca Family

• Chris Smith as Al Tessio, an older man with a long history in the de Luca family. Friend of Emilio, and himself a Capo.
• Chris Cruttenden as Christopher Cruchello, a GMN reporter who is the godson of Don Tony.
• Tanner Boulton as Dante, a soldier in Emilio's regime, and a general purpose bodyguard for the de Luca's.
• Cole Jensen as Carmine, a hard-headed soldier in Emilio's group who often quarrels with Franky Russo.
• Justin Le as Michael de Luca, Don Tony's second oldest son and the successor to the seat of the Don. He serves as underboss to Don Tony.
• Arya Samini as Peter de Luca, Don Tony's youngest son, and a Caporegime.
• Brittany Weinstock as The Don's Wife, a quiet Italian woman who pretends to stay blissfully ignorant of Family affairs.

Greenridge Police

• Ben Blackstone as Officer Liam Cosgrave - A corrupt cop working for An Teach, and the lead officer in cases pertaining to the de Luca Family.
• David Crouch as Officer Joel Smith - A cop who works with Cosave. He serves a greater role near the end of the film.
• Grace Shackleford as Officer Lisa Raquel - A female cop who works closely with Anderson and Cosgrave.
• Marc Gildenhuys as Officer John Anderson - An agressive cop who is closely involved with Cosgrave, though himself not in the mob.
• Miracle Wallace as Officer Cruz
• Nick Geoghegan as Officer O'Connor
• Shalamar Hatefi as Monica
• Tristan Neal as Chief Richard Maroon - The long time Chief of Police who is deadset on taking down the de Luca Family

An Teach

• Nick Geoghegan as Johnny Costello, the Father of An Teach, the Irish Mob in Greenridge. He, like Don Tony, is level headed and comsiders the violence he is responsible for to be a tragic necessity in his success.
• Kyle Smith as Éamon Lynch, the underboss of An Teach. His attempts to deal with Pasta Nostra and Franky's Group result in the assassination attempt on Emilio, and he is later brutally murdered by Bergstrom.
• Justin Cottrell as Seamus, an Irish soldier.
• Violette Remington as Saoirse Costello, the wife of Johnny Costello.
• Jack Geoghegan as Sean Costello, the son of Johnny Costello.

There are also a number of minor roles and cameos, both by known PWN actors and those who are "famous" solely within the circles of the producers.

• Blake Weise holds the small but pivotal role of Lewis Cass, a family traitor and former police informant. He is tortured by the Family after it is discovered that Cosgrave and Maroon intend to subpoena him in order to put Emilio and Michael on trial for Vincente's death.
• Harry Dill appears as Timmothy Tungsten, a soldier under Emilio with ties to the police and to Johnny Costello. His beating sets in motion one of the film's primary subplots.
• Connor Davis appears as Josh, a druggie in "The Brotherhood".
• Briggs Borland and Anthony DiFernando appear as Ray and Tyler respectively, two low-ranking drug dealers for "i Banchi". Their deaths in the "Prince Case" allow Vincente to discover Joey's involvement in Franky's affairs.
• Andres Delgado cameos as Deacon Marcello, a local priest with mob connections.

Multiple people appear solely on the television screens seen throughout the film. Reporters throughout the film include Leyla Rakshani, Jesse Wright, Shalamar Hatefi, and Will Golan. Evan Ramirez appears in an Italian Sitcom called "La Ballata di due sottaceti", alongside Lucan, Nick, Violette, and Grace. Voice cameos are made on the radio by Crazy Crab, Sevan Levonian, and Arthur Pescan.

The plot of the film is motivated by the death of Fredrico de Luca, the Don's eldest son and heir to his seat at the head of the Family. The incident of his death occurs roughly two years prior to the plot of the film, and as such we never see the character on screen. Other characters who are mentioned but never seen are a Caporegime named Benvolio, a mob boss named Louis Biscotti, and a deceased soldier named Carmichael.

Crew

The film was edited in almost its entirety by Nick Geoghegan. Wesley composed the entire score of the film. A number of people served in the wardrobe department, though the credits are limited to Violette Remington, Lucan Stargiotti, and Joey Cianfrani. Many actors provided their own costumes.

Makeup was overseen by Adrienne Simpson, and aided by Kiersten Muse, Miracle Wallace. Chris Smith performed much of the special effects makeup and prosthetics. Cinematography is credited to Jordan Forcher, though this is a credit only, and all of the visuals in the film were decided by Nick and Wes. Jordan served as the director of photography on The Sequence, and Nick saw this credit as redemption for that "unfortunate credit". Jaik Suri and Ari Froehlich are credited as location managers, and Mikey Davis is credited as the propmaster. Guns were provided by Mikey, Tanner, Lucan, and Ben.

Lucan and Kiersten handled behind the scenes photography, taking many of the promotional photos posted on the PWN Instagram. For several scenes, Kyle, Marc, Chris, and Will served as production assistants. Lucan was tasked with creating a "making-of" documentary, which he began filming on May 10th.

Production

Given the massive scope of the film, production details have been limited here. A more extensive overview is available at Production of Don of the Damned.

Writing and Inspiration

The writing of Don of the Damned began even before A Hot Lead, with Joey coming to Nick in January of 2017 with a plot for a gangster crime film. The plot essentially formed the basis for what was then called "Kroeger Club", describing two friends in the mafia who unknowingly rip eachother off and must deal with the consequences. The name "Kroeger Club" comes from the working title for the project, as much of the early plot was decided in the room of the biology teacher Mrs. Kroeger (who is the teacher under which both An Egg-Celent Cake! and Bowl of Nays were made the school year prior). Original members of the so called "Kroeger Club" were Joey Cianfrani, Wesley Davies, Jack Masters, Andrew Ferguson, Duncan Taylor, Ryan Borquez, and Justin Le.

When the feature film project began in Film Studies, Joey and Nick briefly considered starting on Kroeger Club, but decided against it, as the school rules would prevent them from making a film as violent as they intended. The first twenty pages were complete by the end of school that June.

Postponal and Resurrection

Over the summer, Nick and Wesley continued working on an even earlier project called "Glass Boxes". The script was complete early on in the summer, and Nick insisted that the trio go on a 24-hour writing and watching marathon for Kroeger Club. Foolishly believing that a complete script would come out of such an event, the others agreed. On July something, the group gathered at Joey's home, along with Kiersten Muse, to begin writing the plot of Kroeger Club. Among other ideas created that night were the idea to stuff the cocaine into stuffed animals, the scene where the Don hits Cass with a hammer, the subplot revolving around Fredrico de Luca, the murder of Vincente via a pizza box tommy gun, and the dinner at the Don's house. That same night, Deadly Choices was filmed. The actual movies watched that night were discussed in Gangster Movies - PWN 24.

However, despite Nick actively working on the script for a month after that, the film was put on hold to begin production on Glass Boxes. A basic plot outline existed by the time school started again, though little progress was made until the end of 2017. On December 2, Nick began working on the script again. A six page treatment was completed the following night, with Nick adding in the police subplot, as well as several other new characters. The character of Christopher Cruchello was created in response to Chris Cruttenden's involvement with Glass Boxes. Ben Blackstone was originally intended to play Vincente, but Nick regretted killing him off so early.

Nick began the arduous rewriting process with Joey's approval on December 7. The initial draft was completed on December 31, with filming intedned to begin in mid-February. However, Wesley still had many problems with the plot, including issues with the Fredrico and Cass storylines. After meeting three times in person to discuss the script, it was already mid-March, and filming had not yet begun. Other issues included missing cast members, the question of which camera to use, and how to schedule around AP testing. On March 27, the initial schedule was first being created. With Ari and Stephen both gone over Spring Break, the number of scenes that could be shot were vastly limited. By April, the trio was ready for shooting, with final changes being made to the script as they approached the start day.

Filming

Preparations

The question had been posed of where to begin shooting. Lucan had insisted onstarting at the begining, citing Wes' complaint in PWN 13 that begining shooting half way through the film meant characters were inconsistent.

With shooting set to begin on April 13, Nick realized that the person originally cast t be Tungsten was going to be unavailable. Additionally, no location was available for that scene. Frantic, Nick set about finding an available location. Luckily, on Tuesday April 10, Nick managed to secure a warehouse for filming, and the day after he convinced his friend Harry Dill to be in the project. Nick then spoke to his ROP teacher about borrowing a stage light and cameras for the shoot that Friday. Wes was still expressing concerns about the lack of a proper title, but with no further suggestions, Kroeger Club was kept.

Early Scenes

Filming did begin on schedule, after school on April 13, 2018, only two days before the one year anniversary of filming for A Hot Lead. That afternoon, the camera equipment and stagelight were loaded into Joey's car by Lucan, Joey, and Andrew. Meanwhile, Nick was making final costume decisions with Wes and Jaik. After school, the geoup met at the drama room before setting off. Adrienne Simpson agreed to apply makeup to Harry Dill. Marc Gildenhuys, who had not been involved with the shoot day until this point, volunteered to come along to help film special features. With Harry Dill in makeup, the group of six (Joey, Harry, Marc, Nick, Lucan, and Stephen) drove to the warehouse, where they met with the owner. While waiting for Cole, Sam, and Tanner to arrive, the group set about boarding up windows and blocking the scene. In total, the first five minutes of the film took one and a half hours to complete.

No scenes had been scheduled to shoot over Spring Break on account of major actors being absent. However, Nick realized that Emilio's assassination attempt had no missing cast members. Nick and Kyle approached Mikey to acquire Dante's signature gun in the film, then walked nearly 1.5 miles over to the adjacent neighborhood to film at the pool. Sam Brandel and Kyle played the two Irish Assassins. Shooting took approximately two hours, most of which was spent waiting for the sun to go down, to get the look that Nick wanted. That night, Wes began working on the character themes for the film.

On April 29, Is the Marvel Cinematic Universe Good? - PWN 21 was shot. Originally, all scenes at Emilio's house were to be shot, as well as the first deal at the canyon. However, due to cancelations, only one singke scene was shot. Furthermore, the mic that they were using turned out to be broken, meaning no footage shot that day was usable. And with the advent of AP testing, no further scenes could be shot until May 15, during which the Sitcom footage was acquired.

Later Scenes

Final Scenes and Pickups

Versions

Canceled censored version

Trivia

References

Names

There are many more references in this film than even A Hot Lead. Many characters are based on those from The Godfather series, and as such have similar names. Michael de Luca refers directly to Michael Corleone, and Al Tessio's character is heavily inspired by Abe Vigoda's character, the similarly named Sal Tessio. Jack Tataglia's last name refers to one of the Five Families in the Godfather. The name Carmine refers to Batman character Carmine Falconi, a character itself based on Vito Corleone. James Vincente is a variation of Kevin Spacey's L.A. confidential character, Jack Vincennes. The name Johnny Costello comes both from Jack Nicholson's character in The Departed, Frank Costello, and real-life Irish Taoiseach John A. Costello.

Other ficitonal names in the film also refer to historical people. Notably, the name Éamon Lynch comes from two Taoisigh, Éamon de Valera and Jack Lynch. Liam Cosgrave was the name of a Fine Gael politician and Taoiseach during the seventies. Lewis Cass was Secretary of War under President Andrew Jackson, an advocate for slavery who lead to a split in his Democratic party.

None of the five primary characters (Joey, Franky, Don Tony, Emilio, Bergstrom) have any external references in their names, though by mere coincidence, "Mancini" is the last name of Sonny's mistress in The Godfather.

Character Traits

Joey's character is not directly influenced by any singular character, though there are minor influences in Henry Hill and Michael Corleone. Franky is influenced by violent characters such as Tommy DeVito, Vic Vega, and especially Sonny Corleone. Don Tony has many character influences from a number of films, primarily in young Vito Corleone, James Conway, and Sal Maroni, as well as some more surprising examples, including George C. Scott's portrayl of General Patton, Henry Jones Sr. and Severus Snape. Emilio is intended as a combination of two Godfather characters, Clemenza and Pentangali. Bergstrom is heavily influenced by Tom Hagen.

Most other characters are not inspired by any single character, and many had no specific influences at all. Al Tessio was also inspired by both Pentangali and Sal Tessio, and Chief Maroon was mildly influenced by J.K. Simmon's portrayl of J. Jonah Jamison. Lewis Cass draws heavy influence from Hyman Roth, and Peter de Luca is loosely inspired by John Cazale's performance as Fredo Corleone. There are mild similarities between Carmine and Carlo Rizzi, and between Dante and Luca Brasi, Al Neri, and Rocco Lampone.

Quotes and Dialogue References

Joey's opening monologue, before Tungsten's scene, was inspired by a monologue by Leonardo Dicaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street, and his monologue about being a gangster was influenced by the famous opening monologues in Goodfellas.

Several verbal references to Dark Knight occur, inculding the line, "Hostile? I'll show you hostile".

Other References

The film features two scenes at Joey's house where he watches other crime films. In one scene he watches Goodfellas, and in a later scene he watches a scene from The Godfather (specifically, the one where Carlo is beaten by Sonny with a trashcan). Joey also directly mentions Goodfellas in one monologue, where he explains his past. The usage of monologue is prevalent in Goodfellas, and while watching the film, following the freeze frame on the explosion, there is a freeze frame on Joey himself.

Connections to other PWN projects

A Hot Lead is referenced both directly and indirectly throughout the film. Most obvious is when Anderson gives Cruchello the tour of the Precinct, explaining the past history of the office and mentioning the case of the Fatal Femmes. Additionally, the film includes references to Palmdale, Prince, Arcadia, and other neighborhoods of Greenridge seen in A Hot Lead. Al Tessio uses a pocket flask similar to Tom Cluz's, and at one point Cruchello uses the same voice recorder used by Devin Carter. Éamon uses a cap similar to that worn by Henderson. The green mug used by Henderson is also briefly seen. The van driven by Tommy Salami is the same seen in the final shootout of A Hot Lead. Tommy Salami and Carmela briefly discuss a "dame from Daytona Beach".

Several locations from other PWN projects are seen again. The Detective's Guild and Police Precinct are filmed in the same building, and the first Irish shootout occurs in the same parking garage as Tom Cluz's meeting with Informant #3. Joey's warehouse is the same warehouse from the final shootout of A Hot Lead. The home from Dare is seen very briefly as Al Tessio's home. Likewise, Emilio's home is the setting of PWN #10 and onward. The canyon has been used in other unreleased projects, such as Agent and The Sequence. The theater used for Michael's coronation is the same used for the PWNER Awards.

A Hot Lead and Kroeger Club also share similarities in layout and plot. Both feature three main characters with intertwined storylines, and two important secondary characters who help the others in various ways. In both, a character portayed by Joey Cianfrani is involved in a climactic shootout. In both, several prominent characters are killed, including at least two of the primary three characters. In contrast to A Hot Lead, Wesley Davies character is more important in the second and third acts (whereas in AHL, Devin Carter is only alive for the first act). In both films, the death of a detective ends act one, and both films end with a massive shootout. Both feature long takes at a law enforcement precinct. The middle act of both films features investigations into murders in an office setting. In both films, Ari FroeIhlich plays a self-described "asshole", Chris Smith plays an eccentric old man (as does Blake Weise), Grace Shackleford plays an enforcer of the law, Lucan Stargiotti plays the second in command to another character and serves as the aide to Joey's character, Chris Cruttenden plays a reporter, and features Nick and Kyle playing multiple roles.