NEWS

The Park Theater is ready for her close up

By PAM SCHIFF
Posted 7/19/23

The Historic Park Theater is as famous of a landmark in Cranston, or Rhode Island, as you can get.

Many people can remember seeing their favorite performers there, going to the movies on a …

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NEWS

The Park Theater is ready for her close up

Posted

The Historic Park Theater is as famous of a landmark in Cranston, or Rhode Island, as you can get.

Many people can remember seeing their favorite performers there, going to the movies on a Saturday afternoon or even having first dates there.

There is something special and engrained with most Cranstonians that connect them to The Park Theater.

Now, that The Park has been revitalized, she is back and better than ever.

To prove that point, the theater was recently the set for a Lifetime Movie thriller that will be released next year.

Filming took place over the last week of June, and production used the interior and exteriors of the building.

Ed Brady, owner of The Historic Park Theater, worked closely with producer Chard Verdi Jr. to make the process run smoothly.

Five of 11 shooting days were at The Park Theater, which makes up just about 50% of the movie.

Verdi Jr. wanted to give special recognition to Paul Luba, the producer, and Glenn Ciano, the director, for all their professionalism and assistance on the project.

An interesting fact about Verdi Jr., Luba, and Ciano - they are all Rhode Island natives. Verdi Jr., is from East Greenwich, Luba is from Warwick and Ciano is from Johnston.

Verdi Jr. attended LaSalle and went to Colorado University at Boulder to study History and philosophy.

His film interest started when he was in the eighth grade and was an assistant to his father, Chad Verdi, on the film "Self Storage," starring Tom DeNucci.

"It's a very tough business. I worked 14-hour days with little to no pay. With all the major film companies, I am working very hard to help promote independent films." Verdi Jr. said.

Verdi Jr. is the owner of Hyperborea Productions, with six out of seven films shot in Rhode Island.

"My cast and crew are big fans of Cranston and the state of Rhode Island. We have received countless compliments on how great of a location the theater has been for us. We are also using the head chef from Ed's restaurants to cater all of our meals and our cast and crew have nothing but great things to say about the food," Verdi Jr. said.

Verdi expressed his thanks and appreciation to Brady and his team.

"It was a fantastic experience to work with Ed. Victoria helped so much. They made it so easy and smooth to work here," he said.

Verdi Jr. acknowledges how difficult the film industry is.

"It is a lot of hard work. But, when you see the results there is nothing like it. Plus, I get to work with like-minded people. It's pure entertainment, and you get to create something that is bigger than any one person. You truly get a high from it," he said.

The cast for this film has several familiar names and faces. Erik von Detten, who voice Sid in Toy Story and was on “Law and Order: SVU,” Samaire Armstrong, who was in the TV show “The O.C.” and “Resurrection.” Cameron Jebo is most famously known for playing Orion in the “Power Rangers.”

Verdi Jr. cannot say enough good things about his experience and time in Cranston.

"Cranston is a beautiful and diverse city with so much filming potential. I will say the city has welcomed us with open arms and any filmmaker or studio would be ecstatic to receive such kindness and flexibility that the city has shown us. For that I am very grateful," he said.

To see what is happening at The Park Theater, check their website at theparkri.com

To see what films Hyperboea Production has done, check them out at http://www.imdb.com/search/title/?companies=co0845303

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