The Boulevard of Broken Dreams painting may have unfortunately surpassed the art it imitated but Edward Hopper's painting, Nighthawks, always captured my imagination. Italian filmmaker, Aurora Ovan, asked me to perform in this two-person short depicting her interpretation of the circumstances surrounding the famous painting and its mysterious diners, particularly the couple. I was very fortunate to work with the extremely elegant and talented Kirsti Bryan who had a wonderful classic look. Aurora assigned the names John and Juliet to their painting counterparts. Her concept was explained this way: Juliet is a “suicide-killer" who can be contracted to kill someone wanting to commit suicide but can't go through with it. Juliet conducts a ten-minute interview to determine whether or not to take the job. If she decides to commit, the murder will take place without the victim/client's knowledge.

The original location was an eating establishment that backed out at the last minute -- very typical in low-budget NYC filmmaking. After some script adjustments were made, we shot at an apartment in Washington Heights. Preparation for The Nighthawks was almost entirely provided by Ovan who drew up, not only character bios, but character arcs, objectives and super objectives. Dialogue subtext was also provided. She essentially did our work for us.

The Nighthawks was written, directed and photographed entirely in New York City by Aurora Ovan on a Sony Alpha a7 II in 4K.

Running time: 5:30.