'Jersey Devil' makes himself at home in Jersey City 'Hell'

By Chinedum Emelumba/The Jersey Journal
February 14, 2014 at 8:33 PM

Is Jersey City the epitome of the fiery pits of Hell?

In the new indie comedy film, "The Jersey Devil," the answer is yes, say directors Joseph and Billy Pepitone.

"I love the name 'Jersey City Devil' and I thought that there was something comedic about it -- so I thought it would be cool to bring hell to Jersey City" said Joseph Pepitone, a two-time Emmy winner.
The cast and crew are spending 10 days in Jersey City, shooting at landmark locations like City Hall, the Landmark Loew's Jersey Theatre and the Armory.
On Thursday, the Loew's was transformed into the dark dimensions of the underworld, complete with police chiefs guarding the gates of Hell.

The film, being made by Pride Productions, Green Light Films and Diamond Jesus Productions, is a comic take on the end of Lucifer?s reign as Hell?s leader. A new devil arrived in town to shake things up and establish new rules.

"The new devil wants to revitalize Hell to make it edgy, sexy, fun and cool," Billy Pepitone said. ?It represents the changes that Jersey City is going through with the new construction and changes with the new mayor."
At the Loew's, more than 50 people were busy setting up for a long day of filming.

The process of writing the script ?has been a 5-year project to get it to where I want it to be,? said Billy Pepitone.

Television and film actor Keith Collins, 38, best known for his role in "The Meat Puppet," plays James Brunett, the new devil.

"I'm very fortunate to actually be doing this,? said Collins. ?I always knew that this (acting) is what I wanted to do. Now, I'm a full-time working actor and it's a beautiful thing."

The movie filmed at the Brightside Tavern on Tuesday and the Jersey City Armory on Wednesday. Producers say filming will continue until Tuesday.

"Jersey City has everything; you really can mimic anything in New Jersey, Jersey City especially that you can in New York City," said Dorothy Purwin Fucito, one of film's producers and a Jersey City resident. "This should be the new Hollywood."
The cast includes Chris Mulkey (Captain Phillips, Boardwalk Empire), David Chokachi (Baywatch), Jack Mulcahy (Porky?s), Penelope Lagos (Stuck in the Middle) and Joe Sernio (All My Children). The film is scheduled to hit theaters in 2015.

Up next for the Pepitone brothers is an "action drama called "The Phoenix" -- we're hoping that's the next project."

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Jersey City?s New Resident: The Devil

New Jersey Monthly
Tammy La Gorce
February 10, 2014 06:18 PM ET

A new indie film portrays Jersey?s second city as the new hell. We trust it?s a comedy.

If you venture to Jersey City this week and get stuck in traffic or can?t find a parking space or are declined a 7:30 reservation at a favorite eating establishment, take heart: You?re not the first to assume you?ve arrived in hell.

The indie comedy ?Jersey Devil,? written and directed by Manalapan?s Joseph Pepitone and starring Chris Mulkey (?Captain Phillips,? ?Boardwalk Empire?), is being filmed in town through February 18. The premise: Lucifer?s term limit is up, and a new devil wants to shake up hell?s gloom-and-doom, fire-and-brimstone image. He?s after something cooler and hipper. Hell, he decides, should look a lot like Jersey City.

Executive producers Michael Billy and Jarl Huagedal, partners in the Jersey City-based production companies Humanity Pride Productions and Green Light Films, liked Pepitone?s concept and helped bring the shoot to Jersey?s second most populous city. (We?re sure the local citizens feel honored.) Locations include Mayor Steven Fulop?s office, the Brightside Tavern and the Landmark Loew?s Jersey Theater.

?The devil looked at Vegas and he looked at Hollywood. But he thought, nope. Jersey City. It?s coming up right now. It?s sexy,? said Huagedal during a break from shooting this weekend inside the mayor?s office. A crew of about 30 was prepping to film a scene in which the devil?s secretary, played by Evonne Walton, flattens one of his minions for asking for coffee.

Three takes and it?s done, sort of by necessity. ?This isn?t as low-budget as my first film,? says the heavily tattooed Pepitone, referring to ?Stuck in the Middle,? a prequel to ?Jersey Devil? that won best feature at last year?s Down Beach Film Festival in Atlantic City. ?But it?s still a very aggressive schedule,? meaning there?s no time for Hollywood-style obsessiveness.

Billy and Huagedal teamed with a pair of independent executive producers, Dorothy Fucito and Debbie Philips, both of Ridgewood, to pull together funding. If all goes as planned, the roughly $40,000 investment will yield a 90-minute movie, ?probably rated R for some language,? says Pepitone. The team hopes the film will land in theaters in 2015.

Mulkey, who plays God, wasn?t in attendance this weekend; he starts shooting during the week. Mulkey is well-suited for the role. In ?Boardwalk Empire,? he portrayed Frank Hague, the powerful Democratic boss who reigned as Jersey City?s mayor from 1917 to 1947.

Cast as Lucifer is Jack Mulcahy (?The Brothers McMullen,? ?Porky?s?). ?I was attracted to the challenge of the role,? said Mulcahy as cast and crew filtered out of the mayor?s office and into a conference room down the hall, past a gathering of locals celebrating the newly elected president of the Jersey City Filipino-American Chamber of Commerce. In the conference room, a buffet lunch was served.

?It?s the comedy aspect that?s a challenge,? continued Mulcahy. ?I wanted to play it differently. My Lucifer is going to look like Al Pacino and act like Ted Knight in ?Caddyshack.??

The filmmakers couldn?t have chosen a more plausible hell, in Mulcahy?s opinion: ?It makes perfect sense that it?s in Jersey City,? he said. ?Look around ? all the banks are here.? Mulcahy, by the way, is from Manhattan.

http://njmonthly.com/blogs/from-the-e ... w-resident-the-devil.html