BACKSTORY

"Off the Hook" is based on the true story of Lorenzo Lewis, the brother of Narine Lewis and friend and rap partner of Walter Velasquez. Lorenzo was shot and killed in 1996 in the South Bronx after he walked away from a group of men who had confronted him. The filmmakers took some liberties with the story line (Walter and Narine's son knew his uncle in real life, for example) to bring the story to the screen, but the Lewis family was supportive despite the fact that the process was painful for them. In one of the final scenes in the film, the little boy tossing the baseball to Walter is actually his and Narine's son, Deion Velasquez.

Production

Velasquez coached kids in an after school program along with Watstein. One day Velasquez came to work and told Watstein that his friend had been killed. He asked Watstein to write a newspaper article about Lewis' death, and Watstein decided to write a script.

Filming for "Off the Hook" officially began in the South Bronx, NY with a crew of three and a cast of four. It was a one-day test to see if Walter Velasquez had natural instincts as an actor, and if Watstein could produce a low budget film with a tiny crew. Although the day was unsuccessful, the seed of possibility was planted deeply enough. A hand-held camera proved effective and suited the subject matter. Velasquez provided his home for locations and as a holding area, and had friends also grant locations and support around the neighborhood in the Forest Houses of the South Bronx.

Since Velasquez did not have any training as an actor, Watstein wanted him to be able to work directly with the actors. He wanted Velasquez to feel as though he was interacting with the actual person in his real life both physically and emotionally.

The production was planned for four shoots over four seasons.  Producer Jennifer Lyne worked the project into her schedule as a location scout and freelance paralegal, and Watstein continued as a waiter at New York's Barney Greengrass.  He would often work there after filming all night with no sleep, and he parked the production van, full of equipment, in front of the restaurant so it would not be stolen.

Lyne and Watstein bought re-cans of film, in cash, from a re-can house, where features that were shooting in the city sold their leftover film.  Although it was relatively cheap, they ran the risk of getting a bad can a film, and not knowing it until after they'd spent all day shooting.  Luckily, this didn't happen.  When the re-can house called, they'd have less than an hour to get there, cash in hand, and buy it.  (In Lyne's opinion, the only thing worse than this was that Watstein paid the editor of the film in cash in the bathroom of Barney Greengrass.)

Rikers

Velasquez’s co-star in the role of Lorenzo Lewis was to be played by an actor other than Jamal Mackey. After three weeks of rehearsals, the original actor for Lorenzo’s character missed the final two rehearsals without calling to explain. It didn’t make sense; he had attended every rehearsal for three weeks. Watstein could not pay the actors and understood that they needed to take advantage of opportunities to work, but couldn't understand why he hadn't called; shooting was to take place in two days. Finally, the actor’s wife admitted that he had been arrested and was at Riker’s Island. Watstein and producer Jennifer Lyne drove to the Brooklyn Correctional Facility to try to bail him out. Watstein had the entire shoot’s cash and credit card checks in his pocket, but without the required information, they could not bail the actor out of prison. The time was 1 a.m….call time was in five hours. Watstein went home without a lead actor to a living room full of film equipment and the dream of making a film over. He cancelled the shoot.

The next morning, Watstein changed his mind.  He and Lyne decided that Jamal Mackey, cast as one of the drug dealers, could play the lead.  He immediately called Mackey and told him the part was his. The shoot was on, and the day was only half-lost. Three twenty-hour days and thirty-three script pages later, the first shoot was in the can.

Another catastrophe averted

Watstein went to pick up the man to play Lord, the Jeep-driving drug dealer, only to discover that Velasquez’s friend was nowhere to be found. They were already an hour behind schedule first thing in the morning, and there was no actor for the upcoming scene. Trying to get back to Velasquez’s apartment, Watstein contemplated giving in to the stress of the whole thing and quitting. He asked the crew to meet on the street, and promised them that a plan would be made from there. As Watstein exited the van, he stepped out of the way of a large and scary man; perfect for the part. Watstein followed the man into the deli and tried to start a conversation, but he didn't respond. Watstein said to him "I’m making this movie, our actor didn’t show up and, I think you would be great. Do you want to be in a movie?" "What do you mean?" he asked. "You ever act before?" "No," he said. But he stopped. "Come on, you’d be great. If it doesn’t feel right to you, we don’t have to do it." "I’ve got to bring this baby formula back to the house for my aunt." They shook hands. He was back in fifteen minutes. Although Aaron Francis couldn’t drive the jeep, he did a marvelous job in the scene. Interestingly enough, he called his brother Austin and asked Watstein if he could be in the movie as well. Aaron’s brother Austin was so intrigued with the acting experience that he walked into MTV studios and was placed on several "Five Angry Viewers" episodes.

Dailies from the first shoot solidified the fact that "Off the Hook" was something different. Looking back, Watstein feels that the key to the execution of both the photography and performances was preparation. Five times the crew assembled over the course of the year for a shoot. Between each shoot, Watstein prepared ruthlessly. Three weeks before each shoot, the actors would rehearse. In total, Watstein slated about fifteen weeks worth of rehearsals for the production. The cast and the crew devoted themselves to the making of "Off the Hook", and the team as a whole is responsible for the film’s success.