Alliance Taps Auteur Brothers to Give Downtown a Touch of Hollywood on the Hudson
Following a months-long “Filmmaker in Chief” competition that drew 432 entrants from 17 countries, the Downtown Alliance has selected brothers Andrew and Remy Neymarc to create a cinematic portrait of the community that occupies the square mile at the southern tip of Manhattan.
Raised in Paris and currently based in Hoboken, the Neymarc brothers first gained indie renown for their viral short “Happy Valentine’s Day,” which garnered two Webby Awards. They were selected as Filmmakers in Chief on the strength of their proposal for a short film, “Dreamscape,” about a talented but undiscovered dancer who faces eviction unless she is able to land a role during a life-changing audition. The film will be impressionistic fairy tale “set amidst the urban symphony of the Lower Manhattan streets,” according to the Alliance. The duo are slated to begin production this summer, funded by a $50,000 grant plus a stipend, along with two months of free lodging at 70 Pine Street’s Mint House.
Their project was selected from among six finalists by a jury of Lower Manhattan cultural leaders that included Pete Torres (chief operating officer of the Tribeca Festival), Khady Kamara Nunez (executive director of the Perelman Performing Arts Center), Kwame Amoaku (Deputy Commissioner at the City’s Office of Media and Entertainment), and Downtown Alliance president Jessica Lappin.
Melanie-Working-Girl image
Seeking to leverage Lower Manhattan’s long history as a location for classic films—such as “On the Town,” “The French Connection,” “The Godfather,” “Die Hard with a Vengeance,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” and “Working Girl” (Melanie Griffith, at right )—the Alliance put out a call in January for an emerging auteur whose work would showcase Lower Manhattan as an iconic filming destination.
“The Neymarc Brothers’ film will show how Lower Manhattan is home to strivers, dreamers and artists,” Ms. Lappin said. “Their film treatment is dramatic and exuberant. We are excited to see how their enormous technical skill will bring a great story to life on screen.”