A U G U S T 12 L E H A V R E N E W S Gerald Celente and his big screen portrayer Andrew Koss BY STEPHEN VRATTOS “‘Zizi and Honeyboy’ has just won the award for Best Biographical Drama at the Manhattan Film Festival,” writer, co-producer and star, Andrew Koss, announced to nearly 100 whooping and applauding friends and family members shortly before a private screening of the short movie at the Towers Cinema in late June. Based on “What Zizi Gave Honeyboy,” the autobiography by American trendsetter, Gerald Celente, the film stars Doris Roberts, 4-time Emmy Award winning actress for her portrayal of Marie Barone on the long-running hit series, “Everybody Loves Raymond,” and Koss as the titular world-renowned prognosticator Celente. In the late 90s and early 21st Century, Celente was the darling of the financial world, a modern-day Nostradamus noted for his predictions about the global financial markets and other events of historical significance, such as the fall of Soviet Russia. He was a New York Times Bestselling author and appeared daily on such high-profile television shows and networks as CNN, The Today Show and The Oprah Winfrey Show. But all that success and fame came to an abrupt halt after 9/11 when Celente predicted that the U.S. would lose a war with Afghanistan, flying in the face of the jingoistic fervor that gripped the nation after the attacks. President George W. Bush’s proclamation, “You’re either with us or against us,” made anyone even 12 LEHAVRE COURIER | AUGUST 2015 | WWW.QUEENSCOURIER.COM questioning American retaliation a traitor. Suddenly, Celente was persona non grata, blackballed by a media that mere moments before his fateful pronouncement were clamoring for the Bronx-born’s attention. Facing sudden financial ruin, Celente sought solace and advice from his aunt, affectionately referred to as “Zizi,” a common term for “aunt” in Italian families. “Zizi and Honeyboy” tells that story. It was the personal element of Celente’s story that most attracted Koss. “He was so hot,” the Queens native explains. “But literally overnight, with this one prediction, his life was over. He went from being the world’s advisor, someone whose every word was heeded, to a nobody, ultimately finding answers through the advice of another.” Before any work on the film could begin, however, Koss had to convince Celente that he would do a good job adapting his story to the screen. Given the trend-predicting author’s history with the media, it was understandable Celente might be a bit resistant to sign off the rights to a part of himself. Koss made frequent trips to Celente’s home in Kingston, New York, with his producing partners, longtime Bayside resident Elizabeth Liberatore and Astoria native Dominick Ciardiello— known for directing the popular PBS cooking show, “Lydia’s Italy— detailing their vision for the movie. Liberatore and Ciardiello were Koss’s connection to Celente and eventually the three cajoled the trendsetter and author into signing over the rights to his story. Koss financed the film in part by launching an indiegogo.com crowd-funding campaign to raise $37,000 little more than a year ago. He completed the 15-minute short in time to make the 2015 indie movie circuit. Submitted and shown in nearly twenty different festivals around the country, the movie has already generated lots of buzz and several awards and nominations, including the aforementioned Manhattan Film “ZIZI” TOPS Andrew Koss on the set Queens fi lmmaker wows the 2015 indie movie circuit Photos courtesy of Andrew Koss and by Stephen Vrattos
LH082015
To see the actual publication please follow the link above