Improper Bostonian
Boston's Best issue, July 12-Aug 1, 2006, cover story

“Made in Boston: A cast and crew of locals put their faith in the indie film On Broadway”

by Ethan Gilsdorf

Boston has received the Hollywood treatment more than a few times: think “Good Will Hunting” and “Mystic River,” or television’s “Spencer For Hire” and “The Practice.” Sadly, production companies shoot our fair city superficially. Film or TV crews visit for a few days, grab some exteriors --- a Hancock Tower or Pru here, a Beacon Hill pub façade there (remember the Bull and Finch Pub, the model for “Cheers”?) --- while the bulk of the footage gets shot in a passably look-alike, often cheaper town like Toronto, in a LA-LA Land studio or on some anonymous back lot.

Perhaps it’s just as well: when out-of-state productions artificially pump up the Boston local color, they mercilessly butcher our beloved accent anyway.

But flying way under Tinseltown’s radar is the just-wrapped “On Broadway,” not only 100 percent shot in Boston, but featuring a homespun storyline and an entirely homegrown team of filmmakers, producers, financiers and talent. Plus, the cast should finally do our wicked hard patois justice.

“Open your mouth and never close it,” quipped “Saturday Night Live” comedienne Amy Poehler, originally from Burlington, who has a bit part in the film. “That’s Boston.”

The $1 million indie feature stars several local heroes besides homegirl Poehler. There’s Mike O’Malley of “Yes, Dear” (raised in Nashua, NH; his parents hail from Belmont and Newton); Watertown’s Eliza (“True Lies,” “Buffy: The Vampire Slayer”) Dushku; and Dorchester’s Robert Wahlberg. Headlining the cast is erstwhile New Kid on the Block and Jamaica Plain native Joey McIntyre, at 24 not so kid anymore and remaking himself as a serious actor. The Hub-heavy ensemble gives the film an undeniable street cred.

“Boston has a very authentic feel to its corner of the world that you don’t get in Toronto,” says O’Malley, who plays Father Rollie O’Toole, on-screen brother to McIntyre’s Jack. “You have people who know the jargon, the accent, the place.”

Even a fresh visitor can pick up the indigenous vibe. Irishman Sean Lawlor, who played Mel Gibson’s father in “Braveheart” and plays Joey McIntyre’s father in this film, didn’t find JP or Dorchester all that different from Dublin. “I can see the influence of Ireland in Boston,” he said. “I’ve never seen so many tri-colors hanging out of bars.”

So what, or who, attracted all these name brand actors to this project? The driving force was writer-director and West Roxbury native Dave McLaughlin, 35, a Boston College grad whose last big screen credit was the script for 1998’s release “Southie.”

“People did well but came back to Boston to work on this,” McLaughlin said of the movie he describes as a “blend of heart and humor” and partly based on his real-life experience directing a play, called “God Willing,” in the back room of The Burren, an Irish bar in Davis Square.

“The play in the movie is about uniting a community around an idea,” says O’Malley. “It goes to people’s hopes.”

In the tradition of “The Full Monty,” “Waking Ned Devine,” “The Commitments” and “Billy Elliott,” the film’s true subject is taking risks --- something that McLaughlin knows intimately. “On Broadway” is his first time helming a feature-length film.

McLaughin took a two-month leave of absence from his job with the Boston Redevelopment Authority to direct the script he began writing back in 1999. To make his life easier, McLaughlin kept the plot relatively straightforward. “[There’s] no asteroid colliding with earth,” he said. The closest thing to a natural disaster was lousy weather. Mostly set in JP’s Irish-American community, “On Broadway” was shot in and around May’s deluge, using locations throughout the city --- from an Irish bar in Waltham to the Boston Public Library to a Red Line T ride over the Longfellow Bridge.

To overcome any beginner’s jitters, McLaughlin rallied to the cause virtually every industry veteran in the Boston area. “I wanted to surround myself with people who were much more talented than me in their disciplines.” Enter executive producer Kris Meyer of Quincy, who helped run Farrelly Brothers productions like “Fever Pitch” and “Stuck on You”; LA-based cinematographer and South Boston native Terrence Hayes; actor-producer and Cantabrigian Lance Greene; producer Mark Hankey, owner of Picture Park Productions, Boston’s largest commercial film company; and producer Charlie Harrington, of Cohasset, a location manager for films like “Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events” and “The Last Samurai.”

“Dave was a natural. I could tell the first meeting Dave was a director,” said Harrington, who’s currently working on another locally-shot directorial debut, Ben Affleck’s “Gone, Baby, Gone.” “Dave knew he writing a million dollar movie when he wrote it. He thought about limited locations and the number of times you have to move the company.” No plane crashes or car chases in a film this size, Harrington advised.

“On Broadway” seemed all ready to roll in the fall of 2005, but suddenly the bucks fell through. On to Plan B. Charlie Harrington shopped the script around and they found Henry Bertolon, of Beverly, who made his fortune as a semiconductor entrepreneur. He and his wife Donna retired early and “had been looking to do a movie,” they said. The first-time movie mogul agreed to bankroll a first-time director.

“We liked the fact it was going to be produced right here in Boston,” Henry Bertolon said, on location as an extra at Waltham’s Skellig pub. Recouping the $1 million investment wasn’t the goal, he said, but it wouldn’t hurt. “This is either the first and last film we do, or one of many.”

“On our next movie, the food will be better,” Donna Bertolon added, looking at the craft table strewn with donuts and coffee percolators. To keep costs down, the production leveraged connections. Local restaurants donated catering at cost, RV centers sent trailers, hotels gave bargain rates, the mayor’s office helped expedite the process to shoot in places like the Public Garden.

“Everyone’s generosity and kindness was incredible,” said Meyer, who along with Poehler and assistant director Greg Smith went to BC with McLaughlin. In fact, BC is lending use of their high-end Avid Adrenaline equipment to edit the film this summer. “All that money we’re saving goes back into the film in post-production.” Ideally, the film will be done by Labor Day, in time to enter film fests like Sundance.

The final element that fell into place --- just in time --- was the Massachusetts Motion Picture Tax Incentive. “On Broadway” was one of the first films to take advantage this new law giving production companies tax credits for shooting in the Commonwealth (and, hopefully, keeping the next $90 million blockbuster, like Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed,” from skipping town.) Even low budget, Boston-bred movies generate money for the local economy, said Sean Lawlor. “Everyone eats lunch at that restaurant next door.”

“Kris will tell you we’re shooting a $5 million film for $1 [million],” said Mark Hankey. “Dave is just such a genuine guy that people want to jump in and help.” Everyone, it seems, gushes about McLaughlin. Most actors, like Poehler’s husband Will Arnett, took pay cuts from their usual going rates to be part of a McLaughlin’s vision. The side benefit? Being closer to home.

“My family is still in Burlington,” said NYC-based Poeheler. “It’s a great reason to come back. Boston for me means my family.”

Eliza Dushku said that since being back in Watertown, she’s been spending the night in her childhood bed. Her mother is a political science prof at Suffolk University and her father, also a teacher, owns a convenience store in Southie. “After eight years in LA, I miss … the certain sense of honesty [here]. [In LA], there’s the forced smile. There’s no B.S. [in Boston]. People here have formed real bonds.”

On the set, the cast and crew connected quickly during the 20-day shoot. “There’s a lot of Boston people. So we really gelled having that as a commonality,” said Lance Greene. “And those who didn’t, they fit in. Even if they are Yankees fans.”

Family bonding helped when shooting ran after hours. “Yeah, we have a lot to do … We have to.” LA-based Joey McIntyre said on day 18, flipping chameleon back to the accent of his youth and reflecting on how far he’s come. “Career-wise, it’s nice to have a role like this and be ready for it,” he said. “To be back in Boston and in your own hometown, it’s so much better that it happened this way.”

For Mike O’Malley, working on “On Broadway” was another kind of homecoming. “That’s the bonus of doing a movie like this --- you get to come back with people you have a shared history with. That’s kind of what this movie is about.”