The Crusaders
The result is The Crusaders, a modern love/crime story set in New York’s East Village. Featuring legendary actor Peter Greene — notorious for villainous roles in films like Pulp Fiction and The Mask — alongside Downtown icons like Sophia Lamar and newcomers like actress (and Jack Nicholson’s daughter) Tessa Gourin, the film’s two recent screenings, which felt more like a Hollywood premiere than a Downtown short, quickly sold out. "We've shown it twice, following it up with a party afterwards. It's a good time. There's a good buzz going on right now in the city. People here will have a couple more chances to see it in New York. Bands here play too often sometimes, the same fucking songs, but still it's fun. I'm taking this approach with the film. show a film, bring people together, then let’s party.”
We sat down with the new filmmaker to discuss taking on such a massive venture without any experience, how New York’s underbelly is always just at arm’s length and some of the craziest shit one encounters when running a tattoo shop on St. Marks.
Tell me about yourself. Where are you from?
Growing up, my mom lived in Richmond, Virginia and my dad lived in Brooklyn a block up from Biggie's on St. James. Having both cities provided my sister and I the comfort that a slower city offers, and far thought which New York imparts. We grew up in Jackson Ward: "Harlem of the South," which is rich in southern Black culture. By the time I was old enough to walk around my neighborhood solo, Richmond hit a decade of being the most dangerous city in America. I saw crazy shit.
What've you learned living in New York?
I've been in New York for 16 years. If you're born here — not Jersey or Long Island — you have a whole crackpot of shit you have to live through. If you chose to live here, then you missed the boat and gotta catch up! There's an endless amount of knowledge and experience to gain here. You have to go to work. Then get to work again when you have a moment for yourself. I'm a selfish, impatient person and I live in the right place for that. This is a personality trait, choosing to live here. Choosing to deal with this shit? Well you have your bodega with Tylenol Maximum two blocks away, 24 hours a day, cocaine delivered to your couch if you roll like that, most types of food that the Earth has, and personally, I have a beautiful girlfriend from London. So it's cool. But then you get a sandwich at the deli and the tomatoes are a pale pink, almost clear. It’s wild here. The world gets smaller living in New York City. We're lucky to experience that.
I'm sure you meet all kinds of characters owning Fun City alone. Any good stories?
Couple months ago this young handsome guy walks in. Looked well to do. Wanted to tattoo panda eyes around his eyes. Ran his own business so we did it. A couple weeks ago his wife comes in and wants the same thing: big black panda eyes around her human eyes. She had a cute summer dress on. When she was done they were both super happy. Was some old St Mark's crazy shit. It’s rare these days, but it happens. Fun City is happy to make people happy.
What was the impetus for making this, your first film?
I was at Strand and picked up a book called, "The Big Goodbye." It's about the writing that went into the Chinatown script. Super cool shit. Then covid happens, followed by the world's lockdown. I ordered a bunch of books — not from Amazon, Thriftbooks is it — about writing movies. If you learn a lot about how to do something, and you don't, you're trippin’. I had too much knowledge after all that to just sit on my ass. I had zero experience but my brain was buzzing with info. I had to see what I could do with it. Thank you Robert Towne.
Where’d the story come from?
It was natural for me to tell. It’s a love story, and as the French New Wave guys said, “Throw a gun in when you need a hand from the story's world,” and voila. I love Westerns; I love a good Mexican standoff. Those are hard to write: getting three characters to the same place, same time, all ready to rock. How do I modernize or add something to that ending Western fans are familiar with? Watch the movie and you'll see how I did it. It's good. And then writing a story set in New York is easy. If you need a character, you can find it in someone you know, or someone you have met, heard about, read about, whatever the fuck it is. Imagine writing a story set in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Blackbelt shit making that an interesting story.
How'd you get such incredible talent?
The cast is great; I'm blessed. The first call I made was to my good friend Skamdust DMS. Skam's a wizard on the streets. I'd hung out with him and Peter Greene together a couple times over the years. They have a beautifully intense relationship, a bit cantankerous at times but always with love. If you've seen the movie Mikey and Nicky, it's similar to that. These are wild guys that understand respect. Perfect guys to play two crooked cops. I called Skam, sent him the script and told him I wanted Peter to play his counterpart. After reading the script Peter said this movie would either be complete shit or a hit and he was willing to take a chance on it. He was right. It's a bit of a strange script to read. The story isn't anything new but the way I tried to tell it is a bit different — fierceness followed by levity, again and again, like “Hamburger Hill” into “Step Brothers.” After Peter agreed to take part it all fell into place. It was easy to get other people to hop on to the show. Peter Greene is one of the best actors of our time. He has immense power on screen.
Tell me about working with actors of differing experience.
Making a movie is very difficult. Directing one is the toughest position and I had no experience. Plus a couple of the actors had never been in front of a camera before. I own a tattoo shop. My partner Big Steve and I have been telling tattooers what to do for 10 years. That’s a hard lot to work with; people that wanted to act would be easier is what I told myself in order to find confidence. You're dealing with a lot of personal opinions on the same script. It’s really two magnets of opposing poles the whole time from my position. Me trying to get what I envisioned the story to be, while everyone else is doing the same. These are some of the hard parts. Great parts? Everyone helps each other. Experienced actors helped the less-experienced. No one wants their scene to be fucked up so you're better off helping someone. Regardless, I had a feeling everyone would pull it off and they did. Thanks to them.
The Crusaders focuses on the underbelly of downtown; do you think things are similar today as they're presented in the film?
There's always an underbelly. Forever there will be lots of people that come from less that use crime to forward their life. It's not a matter of morals. Sometimes it's the best option to jump brackets. You gotta have a panoptic view on this. It is what it is. The bigger the city, the bigger the scope. New York is kickin’. You gotta be open-minded to find this shit though. It's here.
Advice for emerging filmmakers?
If you want to make a movie, find a good producer. My producer Brendan Brulon was another first-timer. He's got a good brain for organization and making things happen, and he made this movie happen. Thank you Brendan. You don't need experience to do anything for the first time. "I’ve never done it before," well sure. So what? But yes, find a Brendan. That's the first move and it rolls from there. It's been the hardest thing I’ve ever pulled off and it’s only 25 minutes. But I have more knowledge now. I can’t sit back with this shit buzzing again. The Crusaders is the closest thing to me I've ever made. But besides that, I'm still figuring out what this has all compounded into.
Catch the upcoming screening at Under St. Marks in New York on June 1st, and in Paris on the 19th of July.
