Bridge and Tunnel (film)

Bridge and Tunnel is a 2014 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Jason Michael Brescia and released by Glacier Road Productions. The film stars Ryan Metcalf, Mary Kate Wiles and Annet Mahendru and tells the story of a group of twentysomething millennials coming of age in Long Island, New York.[1] The film highlights the psychological impact of the September 11 attacks on the generation that grew up in the early part of the twenty-first century, the effects of the great recession on America's youth, and the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy.[2]

Bridge and Tunnel
Film poster
Directed byJason Michael Brescia
Written byJason Michael Brescia
Produced byHamza Ahmad
Bob Burton
Ben Levitt
Sean Murray
Douglas Torres
Adam Lawrence
StarringRyan Metcalf
Mary Kate Wiles
Arjun Gupta
Annet Mahendru
Joe Murphy
Chris Viemeister
CinematographyTrevor Wineman
Edited byAlex Oppenheimer
Music byRyan Hunter
Distributed byGravitas Ventures
Glacier Road Productions
Release date
  • May 30, 2014 (2014-05-30)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot edit

The film begins on New Year's Day as six Long Island natives: Sal, his wife Meghan, Terry, Nate, Eric, and his girlfriend Lina discuss the pro's and con's of going into Manhattan on New Year's Eve. The group spent the holiday in Nassau County going to bars, and Terry makes the decision to drive home while intoxicated, resulting in a DWI arrest.[3]

The first part of the film takes place from New Year's Day 2012 to the beginning of Spring and the main tension revolves around the characters struggling to cope with the transition to adulthood. Terry still lives at home with his mother and now has no vehicle due to his DWI. Sal and Meghan are debating whether or not they want to start a family, Nate is unemployed, and Eric and Lina's relationship is tested as Eric struggles to pay off his student loans while Lina desperately wants to leave the "change at Jamaica crowd" for the glitz and glamor of New York City.[4]

The film then transitions into the spring and summer where the characters attempt to situate their love lives. Sal and Meghan decide that they're going to try to have a child, but are struggling to conceive. Nate tries to solve his relationship woes through online dating, while Eric finds a new love in Christine, a hair salon owner. Meanwhile, Terry begins courting Kelly, a classmate of his from a drunk drivers education course, while Lina moves into the Manhattan and begins working at an art gallery.

As the Summer transitions to Autumn, the male characters develop problems of their own amongst one another in the wake of the loss of a loved one. These differences are tested when Hurricane Sandy destroys Sal and Meghan's Long Beach apartment and brings everyone into the same room for the film's climax.[5]

A year passes from the film's opening scene when on December 31, 2012, Terry, Lina, Nate, Eric, Sal, and Meghan make plans to go into Manhattan to visit Kelly at her new apartment for a New Year's party.

Cast edit

Production edit

The first shooting date of the film was December 1, 2012, thirty-two days after Hurricane Sandy ravaged the shores of Long Island.[6] Initially the storm was not part of the script, but Brescia incorporated it into the film days after the events, understanding that the event was a major part of life on Long Island in 2012.[7]

The film was shot throughout Long Island in both Nassau and Suffolk County. Some of the movie was filmed at the Rockville Centre Long Island Rail Road station.[8]

The production was shot in increments to give the feeling of seasons changing. The second shooting installment was in the spring of 2013, followed by a shoot in June. On August 19, 2013 the principal photography of the film wrapped in Long Beach, New York on the new boardwalk while it was being built in place of the one that was destroyed in Sandy.[9]

Release edit

"Bridge and Tunnel" was scheduled to make its World Premiere in April 2014 at the Lewiston-Auburn Film Festival in Auburn, Maine but those plans deteriorated when the festival was cancelled after the arrest of its founder, Joshua Shea.[10]

Beginning in May 2014, "Bridge and Tunnel" appeared in several regional film festivals including; Catskill Mountains Film Festival, New York City International Film Festival, Sanford International Film Festival, Laugh or Die Comedy Film Festival, The Other Venice Film Festival, Hoboken International Film Festival, Long Island International Film Expo, Emerge Film Festival,[11] Long Beach International Film Festival, Temecula Valley International Film Festival, Paterson Falls Film Festival, Northeast Film Festival,[12] Central Florida Film Festival, Minneapolis Underground Film Festival, Maryland International Film Festival, Williamsburg International Film Festival, and Harrisburg-Hershey Film Festival.[13] The film would win several awards during its film festival tour.

On September 26, 2014 "Bridge and Tunnel" opened its theatrical run in Beverly Hills, California[14] at the Laemmle Theatres Music Hall.[15]

On September 11, 2015, the film opened for its second theatrical run in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania at Midtown Cinema after a special September 11 screening of the film as part of the Harrisburg-Hershey Film Festival, which was founded by "Bridge and Tunnel" producer Hamza Ahmad in order to bring independent film to the capital city of his home state of Pennsylvania.[16]

The film was released across video on demand platforms such as iTunes, Amazon Video, Verizon, Cox, Google Play, and AT&T U-verse on February 2, 2016.[citation needed]

Reception edit

Accolades edit

Festival Award Recipient Result
Central Florida Film Festival (Orlando, Florida) Best Feature Film Nominated
Hoboken International Film Festival Best Cinematography Trevor Wineman Nominated
Laugh or Die Comedy Festival (Chicago, Illinois) Best Supporting Actress Annet Mahendru Nominated
Long Beach International Film Festival (Long Beach, New York) Best Picture Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Annet Mahendru Nominated
Best Made in New York Film Won
Best Original Song "Here Comes the Wolf" by John Nolan Nominated
Best Director Jason Michael Brescia Nominated
Long Island International Film Expo Jury Award for Best Picture Nominated
Jury Award for Best Director Jason Michael Brescia Nominated
Jury Award for Best Long Island Produced Film Won
Technical Award for Best Original Song "Here Comes the Wolf" by John Nolan Won
Maverick Movie Awards[17] Best Picture Won
Best Director Jason Michael Brescia Nominated
Best Original Screenplay Jason Michael Brescia Nominated
Best Animation Joe Dietsch Nominated
Best Actor Ryan Metcalf Nominated
Best Actress Natalie Knepp Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Arjun Gupta Won
Best Supporting Actor Chris Viemeister Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Brianne Berkson Won
Best Performance Entire Cast Won
Best Editing Alex Oppenheimer Nominated
Best Original Score Ryan Hunter Nominated
Northeast Film Festival (New Jersey) Best Picture Nominated
Best Director Jason Michael Brescia Nominated
Best Actor Ryan Metcalf Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Annet Mahendru Nominated
Best Ensemble Cast Won
The Other Venice Film Festival (Venice Beach, California) Best Original Score Ryan Hunter Nominated
Best Original Song "Here Comes the Wolf" by John Nolan Won
Williamsburg International Film Festival (Williamsburg, Brooklyn) Best Actor Ryan Metcalf Won
Best Screenplay Jason Michael Brescia Won

Soundtrack edit

The movie includes original music by John Nolan of Taking Back Sunday, Vinnie Caruana of I Am the Avalanche, Happy Body Slow Brain, Bayside, and NGHBRS.[citation needed]

In July 2014, John Nolan's original song for the movie entitled "Here Comes the Wolf" was awarded with the "Best Original Song" honor at the Long Island International Film Expo.[18] The song was also nominated for the same award at the Long Beach International Film Festival and The Other Venice Film Festival in Venice, California.[19]

On October 21, 2014 the soundtrack was digitally released through Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, and other online digital retailers. The digital release of the album does not include "Indiana" by Bayside or "Hold Up Girl" by NGHBRS, because those two songs had previously been released by the artists themselves.

After a soundtrack release show at Webster Hall headlined by John Nolan and Vinnie Caruana,[20] the soundtrack was released by Enjoy the Ride Records on December 30, 2014 with the following track listing:[21]

No.TitleArtistLength
1."My House is an Empty White Box Too"Ryan Hunter3:01
2."Here Comes the Wolf"John Nolan4:45
3."Indiana"Bayside2:57
4."Hold Up Girl"NGHBRS3:15
5."The Old Barman's Song"Giants at Large3:39
6."Captain Kidd's Theme"theMOUTH1:33
7."It's Been Way too Long"Vinnie Caruana3:49
8."Wild Hogs"Dan Pursino1:43
9."Residue"Happy Body Slow Brain4:37
10."Round and Round"Gabriel the Marine feat. John Nolan3:42
11."Subways"Ryan Hunter2:42

Score edit

The original score for Bridge and Tunnel was composed by Ryan Hunter, the former lead singer of Envy on the Coast. Hunter's score was engineered by his former bandmate Brian Byrne, and also features guest appearances by Isaac Bolivar and Dylan Ebrahimian. In creating the score Hunter stated, "I started watching the film a lot, picking out scenes that I wanted to make music to. I also decided upon making music for those scenes that the music might not even end up there ... I knew before going into it, it needed an organic and imperfect approach to it. I called Brian Byrne to help me produce it and to engineer it, his studio has a lot of cool old toys and half broken instruments to work with and that's kind of what this called for."[22]

The score was released digitally on September 16, 2014[23] with the following track listing:

No.TitleLength
1."Springs, LI"4:52
2."Was It Worth It?"1:27
3."When the Beach Met the Bay"3:09
4."Resolutions"1:13
5."Springs, LI pt 2"2:07
6."A Stoner's Tribute to Scott Joplin"1:39
7."Subways"2:59
Total length:16:04

References edit

  1. ^ Bell, Mark. "Review: Bridge and Tunnel". filmthreat.com.
  2. ^ Guzman, Rafer. "Long Island International Film Expo 2014 lineup: 'The Historian,' more". www.newsday.com.
  3. ^ Scancarelli, Derek. "'Bridge and Tunnel' gets Long Island right". underthegunreview.net.
  4. ^ Packham, Chris. "Bridge and Tunnel". VillageVoice.com.
  5. ^ Bloom, Karen (July 3, 2014). "Summer sizzle at the Long Island International Film Expo".
  6. ^ "Superstorm Sandy blamed for at least 11 U.S deaths as it slams East Coast". CNN.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-20. Retrieved 2014-10-03.
  7. ^ Berov, David. "Bridging the Gap: On Set With Jason Brescia & Bridge and Tunnel". AfterTheCut.com. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
  8. ^ "Bridge and Tunnel". MoviesfilmedonLongIsland.com.
  9. ^ Ortiz, Jovanni (24 September 2014). "Catching up with Jason Brescia". lipulse.com.
  10. ^ McLaughlin, Ryan (20 March 2014). "Auburn magazine publisher charged with possessing child pornography".
  11. ^ "Emerge Film Fest to kick off with horror double feature". TwinCityTimes.com.
  12. ^ "NORTHEAST FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES THEIR 2014 FESTIVAL SCHEDULE AND LIST OF NOMINEES". 29 August 2014.
  13. ^ Melville, Sammi Leigh (31 August 2015). "Life, Nothing More: "Bridge and Tunnel" A Must-see at the New Harrisburg-Hershey Film Festival". TheBurgNews.com. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  14. ^ Berov, David. "Bridge and Tunnel: 2/3rds of the way to Three Before 30". Archived from the original on 2014-09-13. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  15. ^ Goldstein, Gary (September 25, 2014). ""Bridge and Tunnel" Leads Nowhere".
  16. ^ Melville, Sammi Leigh (31 August 2015). "Life, Nothing More: "Bridge and Tunnel" A Must See Selection in the New Harrisburg-Hershey Film Festival". The Burg News.
  17. ^ "Maverick Movie Awards 2014 Winners and Nominees". maverickmovieawards.com. Archived from the original on 2021-01-28. Retrieved 2014-10-16.
  18. ^ Mansmann, Julie (July 23, 2014). "Bellmore rolls out the red carpet for LIIFE". Long Island Herald. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  19. ^ Tate, Jason (29 February 2024). "Stream John Nolan's "Here Comes the Wolf"". AbsolutePunk.net.
  20. ^ "Bridge and Tunnel Soundtrack Release Show". Last FM.
  21. ^ Lantinen, Chris. "Tracklisting for 'Bridge and Tunnel' revealed". modern-vinyl.com.
  22. ^ "Ryan Hunter Discusses Scoring Bridge and Tunnel, Solo Project & More". dailyslicemag.com.
  23. ^ "We're excited to premiere". tablethreemedia.tumblr.com.

External links edit