The Empty Building (2004)

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Director:

Giovanni Sanseviero

Writer:

Giovanni Sanseviero

Stars:

Giovanni Sanseviero, Michael Maldonado, Tony Ryan

15 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Giovanni Sanseviero	...	Benny as Adult
Michael Maldonado	...	Benny at 14
Tony Ryan	...	Frank
Ricardo Valdez	...	Benny @ Twenty (as Ricky Valdes)
Rebecca Burr	...	Mother
Molly Molino	...	Older Daughter
Rebecca Molino	...	Younger daughter
Jeanine Maldonado	...	Benny's Mom
Joe Maldonado	...	Benny's Dad
Tom Fahey	...	Green Beret
Jeff Grow	...	Card Dealer
Victor L. Mancini	...	Mr. Andy
Kimberly Rehfuss	...	Frank's wife
Brandon Michael Arrington	...	Adult Dancer
Gene Biscontini	...	Child Dancer

Storyline

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Taglines:

Random People, One Building... Random Pasts, One Need.

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Genres:

Drama | Short

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Details

Official Sites:

Offical site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 February 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Empty Building Short Stories

Filming Locations:

243 West 60th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$170,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Empty Building Production Corp.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

24 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Grand Goldie Award for Dramatic Short Film, 2004 Palatka, Florida

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Crazy Credits

The Director extends his deepest gratitude to Steven Newman of Columbus Circle Cab Company, NYC, for allowing two weeks use of an empty building and tolerating the two years that followed. Thank you.

User Reviews

Where everybody knows your demons.

For the past few years, there has been a monthly screening of short films from New York State "Emerging Filmmakers." I saw The Empty Building at the October 31, 2005 screening and it was not only one of my favorites from the series, but one of my favorite short films of all time.

It speaks of the horrors of our modern lives. It speaks of the things in each of our pasts that hold us back -- the subtle and the dramatic traumas that choke off the capacity to live our lives, demanding our attention to try and solve the unsolvable puzzle of how to unchain our present selves from the past. The answer is to change ourselves to accept what happened, but that's not such an easy path.

Thus, there is an empty building where we relive our fantasies and hash out that acceptance. Where we can go to embrace ourselves and our past selves and our successes and our failures. It's where those demons live and where we can look them straight in the eye and say goodbye.