EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE RHODE ISLAND FILM AND TELEVISION OFFICE , CRANSTON : RESPONSIBLE FOR BRINGING HOCUS POCUS 2 TO THE OCEAN STATE
How did you first get into film ? I got into film at seven or eight years old . My dad was a sixth grade teacher , and he saw what I loved . I started making Super 8mm films , Claymation and hand-drawn animation . Every summer , living in Garden City in Cranston , I ’ d go , ‘ It ’ s so boring , can we make another movie ?’ And my dad would say , ‘ You come up with the story . You direct it ,’ and I ’ d get all my friends together . I did Charlie Chaplin meets Mr . Hyde . I did James Bond . I always knew I wanted to be a film director since I was a child . Then I went out to Los Angeles and UCLA and [ University of Southern California ] film school , traveled around the world , and made a few movies and came back home in 2004 . That August of 2004 , I brought “ Brotherhood ” from Showtime here and that became a series for three seasons . have the same stuff as Salem . We have historical streets and we can double for that . Whether it ’ s Newport or Lincoln , and we have availability in North Kingstown to do some stage work . I said you are going to need a place to stage the flying sequences . I said what a wonderful asset we have , we have the Cranston
How did Hocus Pocus 2 come to film in Rhode Island ? I ’ ve been working with Disney since we started our program . I think the first project we did was Underdog . We developed a great relationship , specifically with Mary Ann Hughes ( vice president of film and television production planning at Walt Disney Company ) and Jerry Ketcham ( senior vice president for feature production at Walt Disney Pictures ). We are always in touch . If I go out to L . A . I always see them . I let them know what we have going on and ask if there are any opportunities for us . We talked about new opportunities and Hocus Pocus 2 came up . Hocus Pocus 2 was supposed to be filmed in Salem . I said we
80 80 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l FEBRUARY l OCTOBER 2016 2022