In this engaging conversation, Bob Sorrentino interviews director and actress Michelle Danner, exploring her journey from New York to Los Angeles, her film ‘The Italians’, and the importance of family and cultural heritage. Danner shares insights on acting, the significance of food in Italian culture, and her experiences in filmmaking, emphasizing the need for actors to learn their craft. The discussion also touches on personal stories about family, love, and the creative process behind her films.
- New York accents can add depth to characters.
- The film ‘Italians’ explores family love and forgiveness.
- Michelle’s great-grandmother influenced her deeply.
- Food plays a central role in Italian family gatherings.
- Acting requires learning and understanding the craft.
- Shooting on film offers a unique experience.
- Cultural heritage shapes storytelling in film.
- Family dynamics can be both chaotic and loving.
- The importance of finding one’s audience in film.
- Art and heart are intertwined in creative expression.
The craft of acting is as alluring as it is mysterious, and it takes a being of great passion, insight, and determination in order to succeed. But to teach acting – to inspire creative souls to successfully harvest those tools – requires an even greater commitment, to bring out the best in each and every actor one encounters.
That passion and commitment are the hallmarks of the career of filmmaker, acting coach, and performer Michelle Danner, for decades one of the industry’s most respected and successful teachers, and now a successful director who continues to grow and expand her creative universe, hoping to set an example for her students and peers. “The important thing is to keep growing as an artist, to keep raising the bar for yourself,” explains Danner. “In order to be passionate, you have to keep expanding, you have to keep growing, you have to keep pushing yourself.”
For Danner that meant the release of the courtroom drama “Miranda’s Victim” in 2023, wrapping production on the comedy “The Italians,” and beginning production on a new film in Italy.
Podcast
Video
“THE ITALIANS” Premiering on April 10th at Harmony Gold Theater in Los Angeles with star-studded Red Carpet. Available for streaming on April 11th on AMAZON, APPLE and GOOGLE
Movie stars MATTHEW DADDARIO, ROB ESTES, DAVID DeLUISE, PERREY REEVES, OLIVIA LUCCARDI with LAINIE KAZAN and ABIGAIL BRESLIN
Director of Photography: FEDERICO VERARDI
Written By: LISA PHILLIPS VISCA
Produced By: ALL IN FILMS – MICHELLE DANNER, VALERIE DEBLER, BRIAN DRILLINGER, ALEXANDRA GUARNIERI
Janaury 27th- Film director Michelle Danner is releasing “The Italians,” a quirky dramedy about family, love and tantalizing Italian cooking.
“The Italians” shows the Vitali Family, an Italian-American family, as they meet their son’s new fiance who is decidedly NOT Italian.
Director Michelle Danner says: “This is a deeply touching story about loving family, forgiving family and irresistible Italian food.”
“The Italians” is Danner’s eighth directorial project following on the heels of her latest success, “Miranda’s Victim,” which was released last fall and told the incredible true story about the creation of the Miranda Warning after the brutal assault on 18-year-old Patricia Weir.
A renowned acting teacher and co-founder of the Creative Center for the Arts (formerly known as Edgemar Center for the Arts) and the Los Angeles Acting Conservatory, Danner’s list of students has included Christian Slater, Salma Hayek, Gerard Butler, Seth MacFarlane, Penelope Cruz, Chris Rock, Gabrielle Union and Zooey Deschanel.
Cast:
Matthew Daddario, Rob Estes, Michelle Danner, David DeLuise, Perrey Reeves, Olivia Luccardi with Lainie Kazan and Abigail Breslin
About THE ITALIANS
Director and star Michelle Danner on her new film about family, food, and first impressions
Every family has their quirks, some more than others. On the heels of her latest success – the courtroom drama Miranda’s Victim based on the true story of the creation of the Miranda rights following the brutal assault of 18-year-old Patricia Weir – filmmaker Michelle Danner bonded with writer Lisa Visca over the eccentricities of their predominantly Italian families.
“In my family, when you sat down for dinner, you knew at some point the spaghetti was bound to start flying,” says Michelle Danner. “You didn’t know when, but you always felt in your gut that it was inevitable. Despite that craziness, my family was and is so full of love for one another, and showing both sides of those dynamics is really what drew me to Lisa’s script.”
THE ITALIANS tells the story of the Italian-American Vitali family: fiery matriarch Angelina (Michelle Danner), her oafish husband Vincenzo (Rob Estes), and their charming son Nico (Matthew Daddario) who brings his girlfriend Lily (Abigail Breslin) over for dinner to meet his parents. Conflict quickly arises as Lily is far from the traditional Italian girl Angelina dreamed of for her son, and a series of humorous events leads to shocking revelations that threaten to tear both couples apart. Roped into this madness are next door neighbors Min (Perrey Reeves) and Murray (Lan Blayne), Angelina’s short-fused brother Sal (David DeLuise) and erratic mother Lucia (Lanie Kazan), Nico’s overbearing ex-girlfriend Geena (Olivia Lucardi), and their local priest Father Joe (Luca Riemma).
In addition to producing and directing The Italians, Danner portrays Angelina as both an uncompromising force of nature meddling in her son’s love life and a sympathetic central figure dealing with the wounds time hasn’t healed. She’s more than the archetypical traditionalist mom many of us know, but a human being who thinks she knows best and must face that she may not.
“Angelina is a composite of my sister, my mother, and my grandmother; basically my whole family all rolled into one. I felt like I really understood how to make this character come to life,” says Danner. “If I was ever going to direct and act at the same time, this was the perfect film to do so, and I couldn’t have done it without such an amazing cast and crew surrounding me.”
The hilarious and heartfelt cast includes Matthew Daddario as the down-to-earth Nico, Rob Estes as Vincenzo in his third film collaboration with Danner after How to Go Out on a Date in Queens and Hello Herman, and Abigail Breslin as Lily fresh off her starring role in Danner’s Miranda’s Victim. Perrey Reeves, David DeLuise, Olivia Luccardi, and Luca Riemma round out the idiosyncratic ensemble alongside Lainie Kazan as Lucia in a performance that has left audiences laughing, crying, and laughing so hard they cry.
Ultimately it’s a film about the lessons that we must learn and sacrifices we must make to maintain and improve our relationships with our friends, family, and loved ones. No matter what life has to throw at the Vitalis, they stick by one another and are forced to confront the fact that they must accept each other for who they are and be the best versions of themselves they can be if they want their happily ever after. “The Italians is a wonderful comedy about love, forgiveness and the belief that people can change,” Danner surmises. “These wonderful characters are very idiosyncratic, passionate about life and determined to live it fully. It is also nostalgic in the best way because it marks the beauty of the passage of time. I firmly believe in the message of this film and I hope people will laugh and be moved by it. They may also want to eat excellent Italian food after they see it, but more importantly I would love for this film to inspire the audience to go home, hug their families, and spend lots of time with them.”
THE ITALIANS premiered at the ITALIA Los Angeles Fashion and Art Festival in March where Danner was awarded Best Director, and has since screened at the Cinequest Film Festival, the San Luis Obispo Film Festival, and the prestigious Ischia Global Film Festival where it had its international premiere. Its other accolades include Best Actress for Kazan at the Nevada Women’s Film Festival, Best Actress for Breslin and Best Director at the Seattle Film Festival, Best Film at the Berlin Indie Film Festival, Best Film at the Los Angeles International Film Festival, Best Feature Film at the Paris Play Film Festival, and the Award of Excellence and Outstanding Achievement at the Accolade Film Festival. The film releases April 10th, 2025 on Amazon Prime Video, Apple, Google Play, and Vudu.
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Contact:
Lori De Waal
818-817-4444
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