Bronx fi lmmaker hits a home run with ‘Bottom of the 9th’
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BY ALEX MITCHELL
A Bronx fi lmmaker hit
some record numbers this
summer with his new baseball
fi lm, ‘Bottom of the 9th.’
Arthur Avenue’s own Robert
Bruzio wrote the new fi lm
while doing much of the production
work on the baseball
drama as well.
It stars Joe Manganiello
and his wife, ‘Modern Family’
star Sophia Vergara throughout
the story of redemption,
second chances and baseball,
but the movie features another
A-lister as well, the Bronx.
His independent project,
which popped up to the
top sports movie on iTunes
in July, follows the story of
Sonny Stano, a Bronx baseball
prodigy who’s career was cut
short after getting in a street
fi ght and doing prison time as
a teenager.
After 17-years behind
bars, Sonny returns to his
home borough where he reunites
with his love interest,
Angela Ramirez. An opportunity
arises where he gets
one fi nal crack at a shot in the
big leagues by trying out for
a New York Yankees affi liate
team.
Bruzio’s personally touching
plot caught the eye of
Manganiello, who said he was
deeply affected by the screenplay.
“He had to produce and
star in this fi lm, and aided
with casting, including the selection
of the fi lm’s love interest,
Sofi a Vergara,” said a representative
for the fi lm.
Meanwhile, Bruzio’s interest
in writing the fi lm came
from his own upbringing on
Arthur Avenue. He had witnessed
a family member essentially
endure the same
hardships as Sonny.
“To me it’s a story of second
chances and that means a
lot to a lot of people,” he said.
“I also wanted to include as
much of the Bronx as I could
on this, because it’s a borough
that’s starting to get a second
chance,” Bruzio added, mentioning
how much of his Belmont
roots are refl ected in the
fi lm.
He and his fellow producers
that previously worked on
fi lms in the Rocky franchise
shot much of ‘Bottom of the
9th,’ on and around Arthur
Avenue’s famed ‘Little Italy’.
One spot on the block that
they fi lmed in was Catania’s
Pizzeria and Café, a place that
Bruzio’s family has owned
for some generations back.
He recommends the mini calzones,
which make a cameo in
the fi lm.
In addition to the Arthur
Avenue Retail Market and the
storefronts in the city’s downtown
Little Italy, of course
East 161st Street made its way
into the fi lm as well.
“Growing up I loved the
Yankees so of course they had
to put the team in the fi lm,”
Bruzio said.
He and the crew decided
to fi lm near Stan’s and Billy’s
Sports bars in addition
to many other notable Bronx
bomber spots around River
Avenue.
Bottom of the 9th isn’t the
only home run that Bruzio
has been working on this year,
though.
He’s also working on a
documentary about the Teitel
Brothers’ journey to success
as Jewish merchants on Arthur
Avenue, so keep an eye
out for that.
Robert Bruzio on the set of ‘Bottom of the 9th.’ Robert Bruzio