A Cheval man is using his airline layoff as a chance to pursue a dream, but it's a scarier ride than any jet.
By SHERYL KAY
Published May 30, 2003
As a child, he spent countless hours watching jumbo jets take off directly over his home in Brooklyn.
Years later he went on to study aerodynamics. After graduating, he spent 18 years as a commercial airplane pilot.
Now Tony Sommo is taking off in a whole new direction.
Using skills he developed as a part-time filmmaking student at Georgetown University seven years ago, Sommo, 40, is embarking on a career in cinema. He brings his debut effort in movie screenwriting, production and direction to the Tampa area with a full-length feature film called Dropped Frames. Cast and crew have been filming at various locations, including a private home in Cheval and Ciccio & Tony's restaurant in SoHo.
"It's a story that takes place in Central Florida," said Sommo, who lives in Cheval. "With the weather, and the terrific local talent, this is the perfect place to shoot it."
The venture comes as Sommo finds himself on hiatus as a pilot. Like thousands in the airline industry, Sommo was furloughed as air travel slowed in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He received his notice just a few months ago, but says the airline plans to call him back when business picks up.
Even before the layoff, Sommo was setting the stage for his second career.
He got a taste of it as a part-time writer on television's America's Most Wanted, an opportunity that came to him through one of his instructors at Georgetown. About a year and a half ago, he decided to return to writing, this time for the big screen.
"I was always a big fan of independent movies, and writing seemed the simplest and most difficult way to get into the business," he said. "It's the simplest because it's real easy to write a script: Every cab driver and bartender in Hollywood has one. But it's real hard to get your script read once you're finished writing it."
That's how Sommo decided to produce and direct Dropped Frames on his own.
He began by researching what it takes to make a film. "Well, I'm a pilot," he said. "If I have a checklist I can do anything, and I found a checklist on how to make a movie with about 150 items on it. So I just went down the checklist and started to do them all."
Dropped Frames, starring Quinn Duffy of New Port Richey and Sara Stein of South Tampa, is a love triangle set in a small production studio in Florida. The story centers on the film editor of a low-budget movie who is dating the producer's daughter and learns of her dark past, while meeting another possible love interest.
"When we're all done filming, we'll probably have about 80-90 hours of footage, which we have to turn into an hour and a half feature-length film," he said. "Our initial budget was $100,000, and now we're up to about $120-K." A limited partnership with friends helped him finance the film, along with his personal savings.
Sommo said one of his greatest challenges to date has been to reconcile the differences between his job as director and his job as producer.
"As the director, I'd like to do a lot of different shots," he said. "As the producer I know each time we do another take it's going to cost me money, so I really have to balance both jobs."
He expects to wrap up principal photo shooting shortly. Film editing will take another two months, with final touches and soundtracks added. The end result will be transferred from digital medium, to 35mm film. Then the movie is ready for distribution.
"I have a few contacts who want to see a rough cut," he said. "But we're pretty much going to let the (independent) film festivals market it for us."
After a career in the air, Sommo has been surprised at the different types of stress that come from filmmaking.
"Making this movie has frightened me more than anything in 18 years of aviation has," he said. "You have to be pretty bold to be a filmmaker, too. Your cast and your crew's livelihoods depend upon you and the job you've done, and they're not strangers - you work with them every day.
"It's also pretty scary knowing I may have no more money left after this film is done," he added. "But it's been a lot of fun, definitely an experience I'd like to do again some time."
- This report first appeared in a regional edition covering North of Tampa. Reporter Sheryl Kay can be reached at skreporter@hotmail.com
