Gus Trapani said he always rooted for the bad guy in movies.
Now, the 21-year-old Bronx-born first time film producer is bringing his villainous visions to the big screen.
And in his movies, the good guy doesn’t always necessarily win.
“I love horror,” Trapani said. “My favorite character was always the bad guy in movies. I don’t know why, I just always loved horror movies. I’ve always loved getting scared. I still do. So, just naturally I figured my first movie would be a horror movie.”
While still a student at the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles in 2011, Trapani decided to forego his second year of school and take $10,000 of his tuition money and put it into a production budget.
“I think the training helped, but I felt my money would’ve been better spent else where,” he said. “I think it was kind of taking a risky route, but I always try to be optimistic about everything.”
Trapani then gathered a cast and produced his first feature film “Bad Vs. Worse” in less than 30 days.
The film was shot over several weekends from May through June 2012, written and directed by Trapani.
“Bad Vs. Worse” is the story of two brothers who find themselves in some money trouble with the wrong people and decided to rob a string of homes to get themselves out of debt, only to find the second house on their list is occupied by a sadistic serial killer.
“ I came up with the idea from a movie called ‘People Under The Stairs’ that was made in 1991,” he said. “It sparked an interest because it was about a family living in the ghetto that wants to rob their spoiled rich landlords and what they find out is that they are crazy and have been kidnapping people and hiding them under stairs, so I thought it was interesting – the idea of robbing people that are crazy.
Trapani’s movie features Rick Rodgers, Stephen Velichko, Pablo Andrade, Myles Forster, Victoria Zito and Reale, and was filmed in Westchester.
“Great thing is its a very diverse cast, people from Australia, Venezuela, so I ended up finding great talented people,” Trapani said.
“I am impressed with it, I know I am on the right track when I did something I am proud of because I am my worst critic. The fact that it was made for $10,000, I even said how did I do it? I think it looks very nice.”
The film was supposed to be screened at the Pelham Picture House on Tuesday, Oct. 30, but has to be rescheduled to Dec. 4, due to Hurricane Sandy.
Trapani said his advice for anyone headed down the same path he is would be “don’t be realistic. Be optimistic and charge forward.” “It’s crazy when I tell people that, but I didn’t think and plan as much as one would because I didn’t want to think too much because there are so many odds against you when you are making your first movie. I was afraid if I thought too much I wouldn’t do it so basically it’s just act. Just act on it is what I would say.”
Kirsten Sanchez can be reach via e-mail at ksanchez@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 742-3394
