Review Fix Exclusive Queens World Film Festival Coverage: Inside ‘Searching for Fortune’

Review Fix chats with “Searching For Fortune” director Joseph Matarrese, who discusses the motivation, creation process and goals for his film.

Review Fix: What was the inspiration for your film?

Joseph Matarrese: We looked at a lot of American films from the 1970s, films like “Five Easy Peaces”, “The Deer Hunter”, and most notably John Huston’s “Fat City”. We drew a lot of inspiration from those films and that time in American cinema, not only on the look and style of the film, but how they were made. Much the same way Coppola made The Rain People, we loaded up a few vans with camera a lighting equipment and drove through four states with our cast a crew making a film in real locations with real people.

Review Fix: What did you learn about yourself while making?

Matarrese: I was surprised to learn that I don’t like to cut the camera and I don’t like to rehearse much. We shot on film and most people are scared of “waisting” a single frame because the cost feels too high. I thought we were going to rehearse a lot more and I was going to cut fast and only shoot what we needed. To my surprise, I would have the actors block, then we would light, do one, maybe two camera rehearsals and then shoot. When the scene was over I would wait to cut because our cast would keep going and the performances were wonderful. That’s the beauty of working with theater actors, they seem to be less sensitive to when the camera is rolling and when it’s not, so they simply continue even after the scene is over.

I also learned that I have many wonderful friends. Every day was humbling to be on set and look around at all of my friends who were willing to drive across states, getting paid peanuts, working with little equipment on an oil rig or the side of a mountain with a smile on their face and enthusiasm in their step. I learned I am a very lucky person.

Review Fix: What was the most challenging part of making it?

Matarrese: Everything that goes with shooting on film, across four states, with a crew of nineteen on a small budget in the mountains and oil fields of Colorado sounds like there would be a very challenging film to make. But some how it all felt like going to summer camp with your friends while making a film. I think the most challenging part for me was to try not to take on the responsibility of making sure all of my friends were having a good time. Fortunately our wonderful producers (Phill & Mandi) took care of everyone, so we were covered there.

Review Fix: How do you want it to be remembered?

Matarrese: As an immersive film. We took our actors and put them in real locations surrounded by real people and turns a camera on them. I want the audience to feel like they are there with real people, experiencing what the characters are going through. I think our actors did an amazing job at blending into their real environment and I hope the audience does as well.

Review Fix: How does it feel to be a part of the festival?

Matarrese: QWFF was an amazing experience. Not only are Katha and Don’s passion for cinema palpable, every single volunteer was helpful, happy, and enthusiastic about being there. I was blown away by every single film I saw and it was an honor to be included with them. Everyone who was a part of the festival worked so hard to make it happen and it was so inspiring to be part of a film festival that was so flooded with passion and excitement.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Matarrese: My twin brother and producing parter Phillip and I are working on several scripts that we are going to co-direct. It’ll probably also be shot on film on the side of a mountain somewhere taking actors and folding them into real locations with real people and invite all of our friends along to make it with us. That seems to be a common thread with how with like to make our films.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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