Smoking with Tony del Verde

Before leaving you with the synopsis of the story - written by the author himself, Andrea Alfieri - I would like to introduce myself: I am the director of the short film and my name is Mattia Ceron.

What I immediately liked about this story is the moronic and simplistic voice with which a tragic and deeply serious situation is set up.

My idea is to translate this story into a movie that can convey all the facets and beating hearts that the story puts on paper, working on a universal imagery bordering on the tragicomic's limit.

Looking for an answer to the question: "why this story is necessary?", I prefer to answer with the same provocation that Alfieri made to me: this story, really, is not needed absolutely by anyone.

This story is about the unpredictable, about casualness and how the combination of the two can be frostily cruel. It tells indirectly about the suburbs and the lives that inhabit them, the same suburbs that show how the whole world is sometimes covered by the exact same rust.

This story is of no use to anyone, I repeat, and yet the things that suddenly disrupt our daily lives attract us and, perhaps unconsciously, we are always looking for them.

SYNOPSIS

I don't know if you heard Tony Del Verde's latest, that weasel. He and Marietto found Ugo Frasson's corpse inside Frasson Station the other night. Disaster. Not so much for poor Ugo Frasson, God rest his soul, but because those two got themselves into a truly grotesque situation. But let me explain: from what they told me, the two wanted to call for help, didn't they?

What else could they do with a dead man in front of them? Only the station's telephone wasn't working. So they decided to use the phone box on the other side of the street, because they couldn't just stand there like two poles waiting for someone else to help them. But problem: Tony didn't have any change, while Marietto, an idiot, with all due respect, had spent all his money to get I don't know how many lollipops from the lollipop machine at the entrance. And well, things happen, let's put it that way. But what to do at that point?

Tony suggests taking a few coins from the till, as Ugo Frasson doesn't need them anymore and certainly taking a handful to call for help could never be considered stealing, in a situation like that. We all agree, don't we? Well, while they're digging with their hands in the cash register, the drug-addicted/half-crazy daughter of poor Ugo Frasson enters and naturally, once she sees her father dead on the ground and two morons with their hands in the cash register, she puts two and two together and thinks she's fallen in the middle of a robbery. Result: she accuses the two of having killed her father and, as if that were not enough, pulls out a gun. Disaster, right?

Then I don't know how it ended, actually, I overheard a guy talking about it at the bar, so boh, he left and I don't know how this story ends. But just think, these two guys go through there to do their business, to get gas, I presume, and they end up finding a dead man, and while they're trying to resolve the situation, someone comes in and surprises them with their hands in the recorder, and lo and behold: gun pointed at them. But seriously, what are the chances? It's true that sometimes life goes well, and sometimes very badly. I hope Tony and Marietto got away with it.

"Smoking with Tony Del Verde" is a short story of mine, a sweet and bitter, ironic and grotesque, warm and cold story, featuring two warlike fools, a corpse and a heartbroken drug addict. Nothing more, nothing less. Me, Andrea Alfieri and the director Mattia Ceron want to turn this story into a short film with the support of the Universal Arts School of Valencia and a team of young talents that we present to you below.

WHO ARE WE?

We are a team made up of professionals from the audiovisual sector and students from the UA School, all of whom have experience in this sector.

Here is a part of the team.

Andrea Alfieri (Author) from Treviso, (Italy). Born in 1993, his stories are in "Playboy Italia", "Quanto Magazine", "L'inquieto", "Green PeAple - Eataly" and he is the author of Holden Studios. He likes to read for people, he does it on stage with "Le letture da bagno" and live on Instagram, often in company, with "Le interviste da bagno". He's luckier than you because his parents own a pizzeria and he can eat pizza whenever he wants.

Instagram: @aerodinalfio

Mattia Ceron (Director) from Treviso, (Italy). Born in 1992, he graduated in Media Design at the Nuova Accademia Delle Belle Arti in Milan (NABA) in 2017. He has always been passionate about images, stories and illusion; that's why he chose Valencia and Universal Art School as his new base: to refine and finish his studies in digital cinema and VFX. He has worked and still works as a videomaker, editor and post-producer between Treviso, Milan and Valencia. He has been collaborating for years with artists and record labels of the Italian and international underground scene (David Florio, Ice One, Cali, Bonnot, RGB crew, CU studio, Mandibola Records, Adrián Muñoz, ...), with poets of the Italian spoken-poetry movement and publishers (Paolo Agrati, AgenziaXed, Premio Dubito, Miraggi Editore, ...). He is judge of the video section of the poetry with music award "Premio Dubito" since 2013. In addition to his freelance activities, he has worked in the television world as a camera operator, editor and post-producer for advertising projects, crowdfunding, events and for Italian national television, collaborating with studios such as ZetaGroup, LVS, PrandiTv, Kublai film, lucky to be able to learn and work with many professionals in the field. His latest works include the video clip made for David Florio, "Italy is a Strange Place ", the book trailer "Amore&Psycho " winner of the audience award at the Cortinametraggio festival in 2015 in collaboration with the poet Paolo Agrati, and the music video of "Malegria " for the band of the same name. In 2020, during the lockdown, unable to work, he gave birth to the project "Baciarsi a Milano - an urban embracing ", again with Paolo Agrati and Simone Pirovano on music. A collective project made by sharing videos of an empty Milan, in the hardest period of the lockdown for the Covid19 pandemic.

Instagram: @em.kollo

Andrès Grueiro (first assistant director), Film Director, has won awards for his projects such as 1st prize and special jury prize in Cambridge Shortfilms Contest (UK) and is involved in the latest Virtual Cinema representation techniques. He is currently a member of Utopic Studios, a high performance Virtual Reality and MOCAP technology company. He has worked in the world of Video Games making cinematics for Sunburned Games and is a former president of the AEV, Video Game Students Association. He is currently directing a TV series.

Nuno Figueiredo (Second assistant director)is a filmmaker with more than 4 years of professional experience in the audiovisual sector. He is currently studying Film at Universal Art School, where he already did a screening session of a project in association with Yelmo Cines. Nuno worked as an architectural assistant in the 2D and 3D department. In 2019 he photographed backstage at Lisbon Fashion Week and since then he has been working as a video editor as well. In 2021 he won an award as Best Student Director and was nominated to 5 festivals for Best Short Film. In the same year he worked as an editor at the Madrid Film Festival.

Instagram: @Nuno.vf

Jaime Delmonte (Script), film-maker specialised in montage and direction. He has worked in different areas within the industry, from photography to the composition of soundtracks, in films, short films, music videos, documentaries, etc. His latest work as a director, "Case #2904: Santiago Alcántara ", has been selected in several festivals. He is currently studying Digital Cinema in Valencia, Spain.

Instagram: @critica_nocturna

Gabriela Madariaga (Production director) born in Chile (1997), she graduated in Film Directing at Nucine in 2019. In 2013 she started her first projects, which led her to win her first contests in the audiovisual sector. In 2018 she starts her participation in bigger productions, the film Los Deseados, where she begins to train professionally in the film sector. Currently he continues to work in the Valencian audiovisual sector, participating in major projects such as Cama Para Tres (2018), Una Esperanza Que No Defrauda (2021), Documentary David El Limón (2019), Muñecas (2017)..

Anna Escobar (Chief producer), did her production internship at Teatro Cinema A Barraca in 2013 - a theatre company based in Lisbon -, Since then, she has entered the artistic field, focusing on the audiovisual universe. Photographer by Creative University IADE and with experience in the image industry, in 2020 she published her first book - I've been travelling. She was nominated in 2019 for best director at the Porto Fashion Film Festival, with the film "Today I Feel". And along the way, her interest in the universe of cinema was awakened. Between photographing backstage at the Lisbon Fashion Week and managing social networks for the Portuguese political party PURP, Anna took several digital marketing courses during the same year and delved into network management. She moved to Valencia in the middle of the pandemic to become a student of the Master of Digital Cinema at the UA School and completed her first directorial work called "Nochebuena " which premiered in 2021 at the YELMO cinema. She has photographed for fashion magazines and film festivals in Spain this year and is currently working as a producer and director of photography. Anna Escobar is one of the co-creators of an audiovisual collective for women "Colmeia na Gringa " and is currently interning as a cultural production assistant and working as an audiovisual manager for the Spanish project Banco Colabora.

Instagram: @annaescobar

Elanit Rubalcava (Production assistant), Filmmaker graduated from the Digital Film Production Degree at the University of Monterrey in Mexico. During her career she did academic exchanges at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain and JAMK University of Applied Sciences in Jyväskylä, Finland. In 2021 he completed his Master in Digital Cinema at Universal Arts School in Valencia, Spain. He has worked with different audiovisual production companies such as GroovyChaos Films and Ignorante Studio in Monterrey, Mexico and CG Films in Valencia, Spain. She has also worked as a Director, where her most recent short films "Nos vemos, Elisa", "Un día más" and "Breathe ".

Instagram: @Elannit

Ximo Foix Gellida and Sonia Monllau Sorli* (Art and scenography director) In 2013 they decided to dedicate themselves exclusively to their passion, setting up a modelling and scenography company, making sculptures for roundabouts, reproductions for museums, carnival costumes, decorations for large companies such as Nina Richi, El Corte Inglés, Jean Paul Gautier, etc. always adapting to the client's requests. Since 2018 they have started working with the renowned artist Ripollés, reproducing his figures. They have worked doing the scenography for videoclips such as "Robe" from Extremoduro or "Glitch Gyals". In the audiovisual world they work in the art department, in scenography as in art direction. Many are the short films made, several feature films such as "La Inocencia" by Lucía Alemany, "La Boda de Rosa" by Itziar Bollain, "Una Esperanza que no defrauda" by Cristian Gómez and currently they have been able to be in advance of the art department of "El Juego de las Llaves" by Vicente Villanueva. Since 2017 Ximo combines his work as a set designer with teaching a higher degree of Fallas Artist and scenography construction.

Instagram: @escenografiasxf

Estin Liew (Art assistant) was born in Malaysia (1997), graduated from University of Nottingham Malaysia (2019) in International Communication Studies with Spanish. Therefore, she decided to further her studies on Digital Cinema in Valencia, Spain. She takes on different roles in different projects but her focus is mainly in the Art Department*. She also enjoys writing and is currently on a journey of personal growth.

Instagram: @estinboo

Mario Leclere (Director of photography) born in Cuba (1983), works in the audiovisual and photographic sector since 2001. Director of photography, colourist and VFX. Several times awarded and nominated in several national and international festivals: 7 feature films, 3 TV series. 19 telefilms, 16 documentaries, more than 30 short films. In addition to several collaborations with musicians and advertising agencies, for which he has made music videos and commercials. Some clients: Haztupelicula, Twin Freaks Studio, Vivavisión, iMopic. Discovery (Italy), Nat. Geographic, Sky, Fondazione Umberto Veronesi, La7, Sartoria Caraceni, Espiral, ICAIC, New Faces, Nestlè, Channel24, Canale Italia, AsaPolaris, Artetika, [...].

DemoReel (Dop): https://vimeo.com/357161918

Official Site: www.marioleclere.com

Professional IMDb profile: http://imdb.me/marioleclere

Victor Lucena (Gaffer), born in Guatemala and moved at an early age to Miami (Florida) where he discovered his passion for film. Started as a freelancer photographer and moved his way up to **Director Photography. Moved to **Valencia* (Spain) to achieve his Master in Digital Cinema. Has worked in various production companies such as Sharp sight productions, EverDENSE Media, holding positions as photographer, camera operator and production assistant. Has worked in short films such as Un Regard de Famille which won the first place at the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival. Worked on many others short films such as Code words, The other side, Nightmares, Nos vemos,Elisa, Whiteout, Docephobia, Acuarela. Worked as a Director of photography for his first full length film Una esperanza que no defrauda.

Instagram: @vl_shoots

Eduardo Asensio Gòmez (Electrician)

My journey started at a young age. I loved to draw, so when I had the chance, I studied art from the age of sixteen until I was eighteen. I liked photography and design but I ended up going around the university world until I found what I was passionate about: cinema in its facet as director and screenwriter. I am currently studying a master's degree in digital cinema at the UA School in Valencia, where I have been able to learn all the facets of cinema and where I have had the opportunity to take part in interesting projects like this one.

Instagram: @eduasensiog

Carlos Bellver (Chief of sound) from Valencia born in 1998, graduated in sound at escuela Juan Comenius in Valencia in 2021. He has worked as a pole operator, editor and postproducer in the short films "Thysia ", presented to L'Eliana Cinema 2021 festival and "Acuarela " short film preselected for Cortocomenius 2021-22.

Instagram: @charliebeatle

Josep Antoni Ruiz Escrihuela (Sound assistant), born in Valencia (2002) graduated in the professional music degree at the Conservatorio Municipal José Iturbi in 2020, he is currently studying a film degree at the University of Cordoba and a master in Digital Cinema at Universal Arts School. A few years ago he started making audiovisual projects as a hobby but now he has entered the professional world participating in several short films and video clips and training as a Director*.

Instagram: @Obouzz

My name is Miren (Wardrobe), sometimes, and I've been working in the world of dressmaking since I was 16 years old (dressmaking, Valencian costumes, wedding and party dresses, ...) after 10 years in the sector I decided to formalize my studies arriving in the world of entertainment for the first time, I fell in love, I had found the place where I wanted to be. Thanks to the effort of the last years I have been able to study the Master of Costume Design for Film, TV and Performing Arts in BarreriaA+D and make several projects for both audiovisual media and performing arts, the last one, "Fes-me un lloc " recently premiered at the Teatro Rialto for the Institut Valencià de Cultura.

Instagram: @amaiablablak

Anna M. Sánchez (Make-up), born in Spain (1997), she trained at Ana Salmerón in the higher master of professional make-up, characterization and FX in 2021. Always interested in image, she studied the FP of hairdressing at Alicia Bravo (Córdoba, Spain) in 2018, to then move to Valencia and improve in her field. She is currently doing her final thesis and taking her first steps in audiovisual productions.

Instagram: @annxsanchez_

ACTORS

Lucas Pinheiro was born in the city of Osasco in the state of São Paulo (1981). He graduated in Technology in Audiovisual Production, went on to study Computer Science but left in his third year to dedicate himself solely to theatre. In Barcelona he joined a theatre group called "El Enko " in 2009. After returning to Brazil at the end of the same year, he became part of the cast of Cia de los Imaginarios. On TV he premiered in 2013 the comedy series "Eu odeio meu chefe!", on the PlayTV channel. In April 2014 he debuted in the 18 o'clock soap opera on Rede Globo, "Meu pedacinho de chão". In 2016 he founded, together with actor friends, the Cia dos 13. Cia that has the proposal of staging great Greek classics bringing them to an everyday and futuristic approach. In April 2017 Lucas made his first participation in an international production, in Spain where he participated in the feature film Yucatán, written and directed by Daniel Monzón.

Robert Estrela Estor, born and raised in Valencia, the city where he began his training as an actor. It was not until a few years later when he decided to start focusing on the profession of actor. In 2015 he began to study interpretation, first at the Escuela del Actor and then in a myriad of different centres. What makes his way of acting/playing so unique. Today he writes short scenes and scripts to work on and practice at home, both his acting skills and his imagination.

Vicky Sirera, born in Valencia, is an actress and psychologist/communicator with more than six years of experience in the audiovisual sector and theatre projects. She combines her work as an actress in theatre, cinema and advertising with other projects between Valencia and Madrid. She directs and presents the project VE CINEMA; a community of audiovisual artists in the Comunidad Valenciana, in which she also presents and moderates film and short film colloquiums. Currently she is also venturing into the world of voice-over, hosting a programme on Culture and Cinema on Radio.

THE REWARDS

Once the project is completed, our production team will proceed to send rewards to our backers.

All the digital rewards will be sent as soon as possible after the end of the crowdfunding campaign; about the physical rewards the timing will be the same considering the production time - we ask for few months of patience, depending on the type of reward.

As for the making-of, preview or final viewing of the short film, the delivery will depend of the production of the final product, therefore with an estimated delivery within the first half of 2022 - taking in consideration the participation in festivals and various other events -.

// THANK YOU IN THE CREDITS.

Your name will appear in the final credits of the short film.

// STICKERS

• round sticker (6x6 cm) of the logo of "Smoking with Tony Del Verde".

• Square sticker (7x7 cm) of the official illustration of "Smoking with Tony Del Verde".

// WALLPAPER WITH THE ILUSTRATION

Tony del Verde illustration's screen-saver.

// MAKING-OF

Exclusive link to the making-of, which will document the production process of "Smoking with Tony Del Verde".

// POSTER

Official poster (50x50 cm) with the illustration of "Smoking with Tony Del Verde".

// UNPUBLISHED STORY OF TONY DEL VERDE.

The author, Andrea Alfieri, will write an unpublished Tony's story as a reward, which will be printed on the poster.

// PRE-RELEASE PREVIEW

Exclusive private link to watch the short film once it is finished.

// T-SHIRT

The front of the T-shirt will bear the official logo of "Smoking with Tony Del Verde". And on the back it will have the official illustration of "Smoking with Tony Del Verde".

Free shipping costs in the Iberian Peninsula.

WHAT WE WILL USE YOUR DONATIONS FOR

All the money raised will go solely and exclusively to pay all the expenses generated by the project "Smoking with Tony Del Verde".

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT US?

• Making a contribution through Verkami and choose the prize you like most, every donation is very valuable to us!

• Share this campaign with your friends and family so that it reaches as many people as possible.

• If you are a company and want to collaborate with the short film, send us a message to our email and we will get in touch with you.

To keep up to date with our project and meet the rest of the team, we leave you with our Instagram, where you can get to know Tony better.

Instagram: @TonydelVerde

Email: [email protected]