When director Antonio Franceschi approached 26th Ward alderman Billy Ocasio early last summer for help shooting on location in and around Humboldt Park, the alderman needed some convincing. Filmmakers who’d shot in the neighborhood before had more often than not contributed to its image as an impoverished wasteland of hustlers, heroin addicts, and homeless people.
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So Franceschi sat down with the alderman and went over the script with him. Impressed by the story, which recasts Division Street as a husky, blue-collar Latino bohemia, Ocasio quickly got behind the project, helping arrange shots at a Logan Square el stop, the Humboldt Park boathouse, and the exterior of the 14th District police station, among other sites.
When funding for a $500,000, 35-millimeter version of the movie didn’t pan out, Franceschi decided to shoot on digital video. He hit up his industry connections for donated equipment and convinced his friends in the neighborhood to act, shoot, and edit without pay. The entire project was completed for $5,000.
