The Parking Spot: Short Film Parodies Common Brooklyn Issues—Parking and Gentrification
The struggle of finding a prime parking space on the streets of Brooklyn can be mundane, frustrating, contentious—and humorous?
Bay Ridge actor and filmmaker Mario Corry thinks so. He recently wrote and starred in The Parking Spot, a short film satirizing this common dilemma that many Brooklynites are all too familiar with.
Inspired by an actual event Corry witnessed one day while circling around his neighborhood looking for parking, he explains over the telephone, “As I was looking for a spot, I found somebody who was arguing about a spot and I said, ‘This is such a great script!’” He immediately thought, “Let me write a whole script on the parking spot and how it can evolve into something else.”
The “something else” the situation evolves into is another common topic in Brooklyn—gentrification. “It starts off as the parking spot, finding the spot…but it develops into…the gentrification that’s happening all over New York City…. I took the parking spot and gentrification and melded them together,” he says.
https://youtu.be/1jHx8WBGg0Y
Born in Italy and raised in Bay Ridge, Corry previously owned Baci, a neighborhood Italian restaurant, before becoming an actor. A classically trained singer, he’d often regale diners with an Italian opera piece or a Neapolitan love song. An original rendition of Corry singing Ole Sole Mio is included on The Parking Spot soundtrack.
After selling the restaurant 8 years ago, the natural performer decided to try acting, getting the first role he auditioned for in a short directed by one of his favorite directors, Darren Aronofsky. He’s also appeared on Law & Order and Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies.
With an impressive cast including Cathy Curtin (Orange is the New Black), Johnnie Mae (Boardwalk Empire), Dave T. Koenig (Nurse Jackie), and, Margaret Rose Champagne (Inside Amy Schumer), Corry and crew filmed The Parking Spot over 4 days in December on 17th Street, on the border of Park Slope and Windsor Terrace.
Corry selected this location because he felt it clearly illustrates a typical gentrified neighborhood. “This could be any neighborhood in Brooklyn as far as gentrification goes—like Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Park Slope, or Windsor Terrace. These areas that are being gentrified, this particular block showed that in the shots. This could be any place.”
While the 15-minute comedy good-naturedly pokes fun at Brooklyn and its residents, Corry says it does contain a serious message. “Through certain things, like a parking spot, we can reach an agreement. In other words, different nationalities, different races, can come to an agreement…because of a certain thing, like a parking spot. Or something similar to that, where you’d say, ‘I need that just as much as you do,’ and through that we can come together…because we have that in common. We have that same need…. We find common ground.”
After Corry’s conversation with BKLYNER, he was off to Starbucks to work on final edits on the film. He still needs to work on the sound, the soundtrack, and the advertising, all of which “cost a lot of money to do,” so he’s started an Indiegogo page to raise funds to complete the project and submit it to upcoming film festivals.
Check out Indiegogo to learn more about The Parking Spot and how to donate.
