Couple of Guys

Couple of Guys Downloadable Donation Perks

We’re excited that Couple of Guys was chosen as one of the 79 out of 1,000 films to screen at the prestigious Blackbird Film Festival from April 28 – 30, 2023. Thankful to have been nominated for Best Director and to have won for Best NYS Filmmaker for the Couple of Guys pilot!! Couple of Guys also won Best Pilot at the First Frame International Film Festival in May 2023.

Couple of Guys won “Best LGBTQIA+ Series” at the Love Wins International Film Festival AND “Directors Choice – Best Series” for the 10th Annual Austin Revolution Film Festival!! -2022

Synopsis

A newly divorced attorney comes out and is ready to live it up with a flirtatious rocker who is ready to settle down, and together, they try for a second chance at love. In this later-in-life romantic story, a quiet workaholic, attorney Richard Durant (Sal Rendino) comes out in his fifties and falls in love with heartthrob and former rocker, Jon Graham (Lukas Hassel). They navigate the reality that Richard is ready to start living fully after having raised his children, and Jon is finally ready to settle down and have a family. The story revolves around each man as he steps outside of his comfort zone and interconnects with Richard’s ex-wife, his children, Jon’s groupies and situations that swell within each of their respective professions. Couple of Guys is a half-hour comedy/drama about living authentically, second chances, and falling in love.

We have the first four episodes of Couple of Guys completed, and the remaining two episodes are written and ready to go as funding comes in. We could use your help to film those episodes. We’d love to do this with you! Be responsible for the content you get to see!

The Couple of Guys pilot screened at the prestigious ImageOut Film Festival in Rochester NY, and we received following review from the Festival Director:

“The pilot episode of COUPLE OF GUYS is a breath of fresh air for the LGBTQ+ romantic and coming out genres because the narrative shifts from the usual younger protagonists to men that most gay men can relate to – a little more mature, more established but not necessarily more experienced. The lack of representation for older gay men onscreen and in the film festival circuit makes the promise of a whole series about them an exciting proposition. Our ImageOut audience here in Rochester loved the story of Jon and Richard and we cannot wait to see how their story plays out. Bring it on!”

Michael Gamilla
Programming Director
ImageOut: Rochester LGBT Film Festival

***Here we are folks. With Episodes 1 – 3 completed, we start anew on episode Number 4. This means new locations, new characters, new producers (depending on participation level) and new perks!! As we search for grants and producers, please help us continue filming, because we ARE going to do this!! Motivated by the response we got at our World Premiere at the Queens World Film Festival and then from ImageOut, we know this is a story that people will love. Hop aboard, we’d love to have you join us. Please check out the perks below. Thank you. We love you <3

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Help us get this project made! Click Here!

Episode 1

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Bright-Side-Tavern-FFNominee-Best-Actor-in-a-Long-Short—Sal-Rendino

Bright-Side-Tavern-FFNominee-Best-Actor-in-a-Long-Short—Lukas-Hassel

Bright-Side-Tavern-FFNominee-Best-Director-of-a-Long-Short—Debra-Markowitz

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Queens World 2021 Official Selection laurels

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ARFF-20022-winner-Lukas-Hassel—Best-actor

Meet the Team

Debra Markowitz

Our Writer, Director and Producer

Debra created the Nassau County Film Commission and ran it through four administrations, she also was a founder and programmer for LIIFE, the Long Island International Film Expo, for the past 25 years. She is an award-winning writer and director and producer.

More Info

John Marean

John, co-manager of Intention Films and Media, graduated with his MFA in Technical Design and Production from the Yale School of Drama. He retired as the Technical Director at the LaGuardia High School (The “Fame” school) of Music & Art and Performing Arts in NYC but remains an adjunct professor at City Technical College and a Resident Artist at the LIHSA. He is also a DP, AC, Grip, Gaffer, Sound recordist, AD and Covid Compliance Officer.

Lukas Hassel

Born and raised in Denmark, Lukas is an accomplished actor and writer, having studied at The Samuel Beckett Theatre School, Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. Lukas can be seen in Law and Order: CSI, Blue Bloods, the Sundance award winning short Man About Town and the multi-award winning short Into the Dark. He played the recurring character of Elias Van Dyke during Season 8 (with a Season 9 recap) on The Blacklist. He lives with his awesome husband in Chelsea, Manhattan.

More Info

Trish Apello

Co-Producer (Eps 1 – 3)

Trish Appello, a Long Island/Florida actress and cofounder of Arden & Co. Productions with her husband, Pete, are happy to be on board team Couple of Guys. Trish first heard about Couple of Guys while volunteering at the Nassau County Film Office. She knew it was a story they would want to be involved with as supporting the LGBTQIA community is extremely important to both she and Pete.

Diane Yatauro

Co-Producer (Eps 1 – 3)

Diane is a former Nassau County Legislator, co-owner of CASS Business Telephones, and manages the career of actress/musician Noelle Diane. Diane has been involved with Intention Films and Media since the very first movie.

Marc Riou

Co-Producer

Marc, a partner in The Majors Productions is a multi-talented cinematographer who has shot many of the films in the Intention Films and Media catalog. Marc is also the Director of Photography and Editor on this project. View Marc’s Reel here.

Mara Bush

Co-Producer

Mara is a Brooklyn based filmmaker working in roles such as producer, director, and assistant director. She is also the founder of BeeReel Pictures and a Producer at ABC News.

During the first weeks of the pandemic, a few friends got together to make an isolation, slice-of-life film based our series – Couple of Guys. Enjoy Jon Graham (Lukas Hassel), Richard Durant (Sal Rendino), Julia Graham (Abbie Spies) and Aiden McGlynn (Ciarán Sheehan) in Couple of Guys, Va Va Va Zoom.

And we laughed -so much

Click to View

The Talent

Our cast was very carefully selected highlighting both veteran stage and screen actors as well as up and coming talent. All actors have expressed interest, but schedules or script revisions may add or change roles/actors at the director’s discretion.

Get to know a little bit about the characters below!

Jon Graham

Lukas Hassel (The Blacklist, Blue Bloods) as Jon Graham

Jon’s youth was spent as a touring musician, legitimately filled with sex, drugs and rock and roll. His career later morphed into music publishing and scoring films and television shows. When he meets Richard, it becomes clear to him that he is ready to settle down and have a home life. His wildness is tamed when they marry, and he questions if slowing down will change his appeal to Richard. He desperately wants them to be a “real” family.

Richard Durant

Sal Rendino (The Get Down, Billions) as Richard Durant

A successful divorce lawyer who married his childhood sweetheart right out of college. The college football player left his wife, Tammy, though he never told her the real reason. He finally came out publicly when he got serious with his later in life partner, Jon. Jon brings out the carefreeness in Richard that he’d never known before.

Tammy Durant

Deborah Twiss (Blue Bloods, Kick-Ass) as Tammy Durant

Tammy was raised to be beautiful and attract a successful husband, and she did when she married college football player, lawyer-to-be, Richard Durant. When they had their children, Jenny and David, her life was complete…until Richard left her without acknowledging why. When Jon appears in Richard’s life, Tammy convinces herself that Richard is only experimenting with bisexuality. Convinced she’ll be able to get her husband back once he gets over “this thing,” she maintains a close (and sometimes intrusive) relationship with him and shows up whenever she knows he’ll be somewhere.

Maxine Reed

Joslyn DeFreece (Carl(a), numerous CNN appearances) as Maxine Reed

The band’s business manager, Maxine is a tough business person and one of Jon’s oldest friends. They were lovers when she was still a male. He credits her with “making him everything that he is” in the music world. She pushes him, and deep inside, still has feelings for him.

Julia Graham

Abigail Hawk (Blue Bloods) Julia Graham

Jon’s half-sister, Julia, was a teenaged star. She was a top-ranking actress with a couple of iconic films to her resume. Enter drugs and alcohol and a couple of bad relationships, and her career plummeted in her late twenties. As she works on getting her career back on track, Jon is the person she depends on. She loves getting all the gossip on Jon’s relationships and needs to know that she is the most important person in his life.

Aidan McGlynn

Ciarán Sheehan (The Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables on Broadway) as Aidan McGlynn

Aiden met Jon in high school after he moved here from Ireland, and they quickly formed their first band. Aiden is reluctant to give up his hard partying ways and has never settled down. He’s the rocker who wants to stick to his heavy metal roots even though the business side is demanding they recut songs in different genres.

Jenny Durant

Noelle Diane as Jenny Durant

Richard and Tammy’s daughter. Jenny is a sassy, smart-talking goth girl who loves her parents, though she rebels through her clothes and attitude. She didn’t blink an eye when her father introduced her to Jon; she’s way too cool for that. An aspiring musician, Jon helps her with her songwriting, and she loves the attention she gets from her two Dads.

David Durant

Max Tamarkin (Viral) as David Durant

David, Richard and Tammy’s youngest child, is a genius… literally. He gave up a free ride at MIT to become an actor, despite his father’s urging to at least take acting classes as per of a college curriculum.

Evie Karr

Martha Trachtenberg as Evie Karr

A studio guitarist who works with Jon and Aiden while having her own band.

Gary Charles

Kevin Brown (30 Rock, Sex and the City 2, Late Show with Conan O’Brien) as Gary Charles

Gary is Richard’s college football buddy. He befriends the couple, and he and his wife adore Jon as well, but when push comes to shove, he’s always there for Richard. He has the “family” that Jon would like to have.

Paul Shea

Brian O’Halloran (Clerks, Clerks II, Dogma) as Paul Shea

Paul is a Pastafarian Minister who marries Jon and Richard. He is also a family friend and card shark who believes spirits move him to win at their weekly poker games.

We Need Your Help!

Debra Markowitz has put together an ensemble cast that will surround our Guys and live with them through all the ups and downs of their relationship. You will laugh, you might cry, and you’ll be part of the family throughout. Bringing characters to life is what Ms. Markowitz does best (the actors she casts win awards!), and you’ll enjoy watching the story unfold. What more noble cause is there in art than making your audience “feel?”

Couple of Guys had won some awards before it even filmed! The script for the Wedding Scene was a finalist for the Brightside Tavern Shorts Film Fest script writing award and a nominee for the 2017 Hang Onto Your Shorts Film Festival Best Script Award!

We’re almost at the finish line for Couple of Guys, and your help is so greatly needed, and so very appreciated!

For Episode 5 and 6:

How to donate: PayPal below or to [email protected], Venmo to debramarkowitz1, CashApp at $DebraMarkowitz

Donations of any amount are appreciated!
(and you may send by check also, made out to Intention Films and Media and mailed to: Intention Films and Media, c/o Bellmore Movies, 222 Pettit Avenue, Bellmore, NY 11710)

Donate Any Amount – I want to support Couple of Guys, please accept my donation for _____ , and I know that the team is grateful!

$50.00 – I love helping independent filmmakers, and I love the work of Intention Films and Media. Please accept my donation for $50.00, and I’d love a shout-out on social media

$100.00 – I love Couple of Guys, and I’d love to read the second script! Please accept my donation for $100, and I look forward to getting a digital copy of the second script once the series is completed (plus everything above)

$250.00 – I love Couple of Guys, and I would LOVE to be a part of making this happen. Please give me a “Special Thanks” in the IMDb credits for the current episode (being filmed or to be filmed), plus everything else above.

$500.00– I want Jon to meet Richard, and I want to be a part of that all. Please give me a “Special Thanks” in the credits of this episode (being filmed or to be filmed), plus everything else above.

$1,000.00 – I so want to see this series/movie done. Please give me everything above PLUS an associate producer credit on IMDb for this episode.

$1,500.00 – I want to be a part of this love-filled project. Please give me an associate producer credit in the movie credits themselves for this episode (currently filming or to be filmed), plus everything else above (sans the lower producer credit).

$2,500.00 – I’m at the “let’s get this done!” level, and would love to see any extra episodes filmed, and would love to see any episodes (1) already completed (for three days), plus everything mentioned above.

$5,000.00 – You had me at Intention Films and Media. I’d love a Co-0Producer credit in IMDb, PLUS everything above (sans the lower producer credits) for this episode (being filmed or to be filmed). I’d also love a 20-minute zoom call with one of the leads and/or supporting actors with the director as chaperone!

$7,500.00 – Let’s get this rolling right now! All of the above plus being a well-behaved extra or small speaking part for me or someone I love in one of the episodes.

$10,000.00 – Move me up to Producer level on IMDb and one episode (being filmed or to be filmed), plus all of the above (sans the lower Producer credits)!

For higher level donations, please send a check made out to Intention Films and Media to:

Intention Films and Media

c/o Bellmore Movies

222 Pettit Avenue, Side Entrance

Bellmore, NY 11710

$15,000.00 – All of the above, but please also dedicate one episode to someone I love.

$17,500.00 – All of the above, plus one of the three below perks:

Director will read and give feedback on a script I have written
Director will listen to a pitch idea of yours
Former Phantom of the Opera, Ciarán Sheehan will zoom sing a song to you or someone you love.

$20,000.00 – All of the above, but Producer credits (sans the lower producer credits) for two current episodes (filming or to be filmed).

$25,000.00 – All of the above plus dinner with two of the stars and the director at a NYC restaurant for you and a guest (three choices will be given).

$30,000.00 – All of the above plus a small dinner party (instead of the dinner in the 15 level) on Long Island given with a couple of the stars, the director, and five of your friends.

$40,000.00 – All of the above plus two invites to all Couple of Guys screenings (transportation not included, as long as seating is available). Plus dinner at the 16 level (not at the 15 level)

$50,000.00 – You rock our world!!! All of the above plus a character named after you or a loved one, and an Executive Producer Credit (in lieu or the smaller credits and dinner at the higher level not including the lower level). Signed script of one of the episodes by at least three of the cast members.