SilverSizzle

  • Director

    Brian Russell

  • Country, Year, Length

    United States, 2024, 13:35

  • Category

    Narrative Short

  • Format

    Digital

  • Festival Year

    2025

Synopsis

Two recent widowers enlist the aid of a cemetery caretaker to find new love among widows visiting their departed spouses.

Widower Buddy has some experience being alone when he meets Jamie while visiting the graveside of his recently departed wife. Engulfed in loneliness, Jamie gets pulled into life in all its messiness when Buddy tells him about getting old, “the options are not kind. Loneliness, irrelevance, invisibility.” SilverSizzle embarks on an absurd exploration of older people living life right up until the end.

Film Screening & Ticket Information

When & Where to See this Film!

BLOC: Salvaged: 6 Films that piece together new futures.

KAS Zukor Theatre
3:45pm Friday, November 14th

Films in this Bloc:

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Film Information

From the Director

Director Statement

Older adults are among our most valuable citizens. But as Buddy says in the film, “the options are not kind. Loneliness, irrelevance, invisibility.” Too many older people are discarded, and for me this film was an exploration … albeit an absurd one … of the need to keep living right up until the end. I was also fortunate to have two Tony-Award winning veterans who who wanted to be part of this wacky little movie. Making it even more fun, the widows in the film are played buy the real-life spouses of Gaines and Naughton. We hope you come along and enjoy the ride with these delightful old timers.

Director Biography

Brian Russell grew up in Connecticut, and then worked in business, business, business for what felt like forever. In 2009 he accidentally started shooting and editing video. Along the way, he became a multi-award winning director and cinematographer. Russell has worked with the likes of Edwards Burns, Zoe Kravitz, Arianna Huffington, and has even profiled the entire cast of Saturday Night Live. He was the cinematographer of the Tribeca Film Festival selection The Counterfeiter, which was later broadcast on ESPN. In recent years, his writing and directing has garnered dozens of film festival awards. In addition to his narrative filmmaking, Russell is also a sought-after writer and director for Fortune 500 companies and non-profit fundraising.

Credits

    • Brian Russell
      Director
      Past Prologue, Not the Same Clarence
    • Brian Russell
      Writer
      Past Prologue, Not the Same Clarence
    • Ross Popick
      Writer
      Past Prologue
    • Lisa DeTullio Russell
      Producer
      Not the Same Clarence, Past Prologue
    • Brian Russell
      Producer
    • James Naughton
      Key Cast
      “Jamie”
      Chicago, City of Angels, Gossip Girl, Hostages, Planet of the Apes, Not the Same Clarence, The Accidental Wolf, And Just Like That
    • Boyd Gaines
      Key Cast
      “Buddy”
      The Heidi Chronicles, She Loves Me, Contact, and Gypsy, Heartbreak Ridge, Funny Games, One Day at a Time
    • Mike Boland
      Key Cast
      “Tommy”
      Yo Andrea, Tommy & the Guru
    • Kathleen McNenny
      Key Cast
      “Kathy”
      Morning Glory, School of Rock, Music & Lyrics
    • Sara Sessions
      Key Cast
      “Sadie”
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