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Sunnyside filmmakers use Queens as backdrop for a short film about comedian Story by Angela Matua Emilie McDonald and Bruce Smolanoff have called Sunnyside home for 14 years and are now using the borough as the setting for “Muck,” a short film about a Queens comedian. The fictional narrative, which clocks in at 15 minutes, follows Mel, a 20-yearold aspiring comedian who lives with her loving but pessimistic mother after being abandoned by her father. Mel begins to seek out validation from a group of misogynistic male comics as she tries to navigate the comedy scene. Though the film never directly makes mention of which part of Queens Mel hails from, the backdrop features Sunnyside, Long Island City and Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Smolanoff, who grew up in Flushing, said he always pictured Mel living in one of the “furthest fringes of Queens” and used snapshots of residential areas, forgotten industrial spaces and a beloved local venue to tell her story. “I’ve lived in Queens my whole life so it’s a very, very Queens story,” Smolanoff said. “Our main character lives in Queens, she comes from Queens and what can I say, she’s deeply, inherently Queens-ish.” The husband-and-wife duo began collaborating on the script after Smolanoff had an initial idea four years ago. Mc- Donald, an award-winning filmmaker, would give Smolanoff notes and eventually became a co-writer on the film. Filming began in March 2014 and the crew used The Creek and the Cave, a comedy club in Long Island City to shoot Mel’s stand-up scenes. Portions of the film were also shot on 48th Street in Sunnyside near the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, the intersection of Greenpoint Avenue and 45th Street and the 7 train station at 40th Street. Though Mel, portrayed by Tallie Medel, is a fictional character, both Smolanoff and McDonald noted that the struggling comic is a combination of people they know. Smolanoff spent a lot of his time at Surf Reality, a comedy club on the Lower East Side, where he observed talented but lesser-known comedians trying to establish themselves. The film explores the obstacles that keep people from achieving their goals, a problem that the duo encountered while trying to make the short. “The story is called ‘Muck’ and it’s about rising above the things that get in our way,” McDonald said. “And the character has a lot of things to overcome Photo courtesy of Andreea Drogeanu 52 I BOROMAG.COM I MARCH 2016 THE ARTS


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