Staten Island Catapult
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| Staten Island Catapult | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Gregorio Smith |
| Produced by | SMITHKRAFT Productions |
| Written by | Screenplay: Gregorio Smith Story: Gregorio Smith |
| Starring | Joe Grappone Lesley Evans Jaime Mercado |
| Editing by | Gregorio Smith |
| Running time | 51 minutes (Director's Cut) |
| Country | United States |
The Staten Island Catapult is a 2005 documentary about a disgruntled commuter and his proposal to build a catapult that launches individuals from Staten Island to Downtown Manhattan in 5 minutes. The film was written and directed by independent filmmaker Gregorio Smith.
The film won a Verrazzano Award for Best Documentary Short at the inaugural Staten Island Film Festival (2006).
[edit] Plot summary
Dom Giotti, founder of the Staten Island Catapult Development Committee (S.I.C.D.C.) maintains that the commuting needs of Staten Islanders have long been underserved by a cost-prohibitive dichotomy of bridge or boat. In his opinion the outermost New York borough is a trove of history and culture that remains largely untapped due to a lack of mass transit alternatives.
To that end, Dom proposes a “seminal transit alternative” for the Staten Island community. Under the rallying cry “Where mass transit has failed…physics shall prevail!”, Dom spearheads an initiative to build a large-scale catapult that launches commuters back and forth from Staten Island to downtown Manhattan in 5 minutes.
Although his vision is initially met with bemusement and doubt, Dom soldiers on and eventually develops a prototype.
[edit] Bootleg This Movie
Bootleg This Movie is a 2007 documentary short written and directed by Gregorio Smith. This unofficial sequel explores the worlds of both video piracy and self-publishing, as the director creates a bootleg or pirated DVD of Staten Island Catapult and hires an actress to sell it on the streets of New York City.
