There is a place where great screenplays go to die.  Dialogue that had been analyzed for days – three or four words that had been written and rewritten to get the feeling just right – can meet its gruesome death on the lips of an unprepared actor that wasn’t right for the role to begin with.  That beautiful moment between the protagonist and his mother (a pivotal point in their relationship where they realize they can get along after all) dies in the arms of a gaffer who is also the assistant director and script supervisor and doesn’t know how to light a scene for shit.  An emotional monologue meant to soften our views of a villain isn’t even given the chance to live because it seems the audio file was deleted when the stressed director/editor realizes he is out of memory and formats a hard drive prematurely.

While I’ve seen many screenplays that were terrible on their own before it hit the set of a student film, I find that even some of the best scripts I’ve read can suffer under the often stressful and hectic conditions of a student shoot.

So, when a student film comes out that was not only able to preserve the integrity of the original screenplay but goes so above and beyond that it should really no longer be labeled a student film, a nice round of applause isn’t really enough.

Adriano Valentini graduated from NYU’s undergraduate film program in 2008 – the same year he produced his short film, Clubscene, about a turning point in the life of twenty-something Montreal bartender, Gabe.  I had the pleasure of reading the script before it went into production and held my breath in hopes that the shoot would do the script justice.  Adriano turned out to be as good at directing as he is at writing and the movie went on to receive the Wasserman/King Finalist Award and NYU’s First Run Screenwriting Award the following year, allowing Adriano to present his film at the DGA Theater in Hollywood.  He chose not to abandon the project upon graduation like many film students do and continued to work with the characters of Clubscene, releasing even shorter short films focusing on one character at a time – specifically “The Bartender” and “The Underager.”  His hard work was rewarded with The Bartender becoming an official selection at the Brooklyn International Film Festival this year and becoming a finalist for The Chris Columbus/Richard Vague Fund to pursue directing a feature.

Perhaps it’s envy or perhaps it’s awe, but something was needling me and prompted me to find out what goes on in that brain of his.  What set Adriano apart from the other students (myself included)? Below, we talk a little about inspiration, the writing process, cultural influences, and how the characters make the story:

ME: What inspired the story behind Clubscene?

ADRIANO: Clubscene started off with just a bunch of funny pieces of dialogue that would happen between me and my friends. For example, the scene when Murray and Cal [the high schoolers trying to get into the club] are behind Club Touch waiting for Gabe to let them in and they’re arguing about trying to get into the club and Cal’s accusing Murray of sucking up to bartenders and DJ’s… that was basically me and my buddies when we were 18.  Then there were the same kind of little things from when I was 21 or so, and those became Gabe’s moments… Basically, I would jot down these funny pieces of dialogue or moments of self-realization or exchanges – a lot of that stuff in the movie is lifted right out of real situations.

Actor Aaron Colom as Delduca

I chose to write about Gabe because I knew people like Gabe, never closely, but I just knew of people like that and I thought it was interesting to explore their lifestyle and the fake people they are surrounded by and the realization they must come to at some point in time.  Every single character I write has me in them, it’s just a part of me or an idea or something stretched to the extreme.

Like Delduca [the club promoter] for example – that’s the side of me that likes to joke around and thinks disgusting, funny stuff – and most of the time I won’t say it, but it doesn’t mean I couldn’t say it if I wanted to.  Delduca, though, is a guy who will say whatever he wants whenever.  I think people were a little scared and disgusted when I brought in my scripts to class and we would all read it together.  I was just this quiet Italian guy who sat in the back.  They probably thought I couldn’t even speak English (laughs).

Adriano on Set

ME: I think a lot of the time, mainstream entertainment tends to find a very specific place for us [Adriano is Italian-Canadian and I am Chinese-American].  I think the experience is a lot more complex than the way people portray it onscreen – forget the stereotypes – I’m talking about anyone who is a “Dash-American.”  We know we experience both worlds, but perhaps not in the angsty fashion that we see it on television sometimes.  Of course, our ethnic backgrounds will find its way into our work – how does your Italian background play a role in your writing?

ADRIANO: I think it plays too much of a role, I have a hard time escaping it (laughs).  You and I have talked about this once before, how it always seeps into our work.  I have a big family and my community was very full of Italians/Europeans.  I lived in this very specific community and my culture finds its way into everything I do from the food I eat to the music I listen to, the way I talk, et cetera.  So how can it not influence my writing? A lot of the dramatic and comedic parts of my life and my experiences stem from my culture and those are the stories I’m drawn to tell.

ME: But what I really respect about the way you use your ethnic background in your writing is that you do it rather seamlessly.

ADRIANO: Well I never go out of my way to try to write a story about an Italian-American.  Clubscene could be about anyone in any culture anywhere in the world but for me it’s the tiny, cultural details that make something really good.  For example, when Gabe’s uncle is giving him shit, I knew he had to have an espresso in his hand and drop a few frustrated words in Italian.  And in The Underager, all four guys are sitting around eating pasta… aglio e olio is just pasta with oil and garlic and something Italian people will make really late at night when they’re hungry.  It has NOTHING to do with the story but it’s important because it adds culture and realism because it is real to me.

Adriano went on to say that his classmates did help quite a bit in the writing process and that it comes down to having the right group giving proper feedback.

ADRIANO: I do have to thank my class because they didn’t judge me – they were honest and told me when I had gone too far, which sometimes I did.  Or more than sometimes… but yes, you need proper feedback because sometimes you bullshit yourself and you need someone to call you out on it.

ME: What do you look for in feedback other than honesty?

ADRIANO: If I can make someone laugh.

ME: Which is interesting because you wouldn’t necessarily categorize Clubscene as a comedy even though there is definite humor there.

ADRIANO: I’d characterize it as a comedy the same way I characterize The Sopranos as comedy.  The Sopranos is hilarious but you laugh at the realism – ‘cause life is funny.  When I find a dramatic situation or an awkward situation in real life funny, then I know it’s worth writing down.

Adriano is also a believer in the changing landscape of film distribution – which lucky for you, means you can find the movie online.

To learn more about Clubscene and Adriano’s future projects, become a fan on Facebook.

Actor Carmine DiBenedetto as Protagonist Gabe Garibaldi