Notes on the 2024 Hamptons Film Festival: I Saw a Lot & Liked It All

That’s a wrap for the 32nd Annual Hamptons International Film Festival. I saw some pretty terrific films. But the headline is really how many local filmmakers debuted this year. Along with veterans like Amagansett’s David Koepp. Eight films and several parties later, here are the ‘McCuddy Minutes.’

“This is our best film festival ever,” crows Randy Mastro. “Eleven days and what do you think, should we do 11 days again next year?” he asks. He’s the Chairman of the Hamptons International Film Festival and this is the Chairman’s Party. But it’s not his house. “I wish it was,” he says to laughs in the room. Silver Cup Studios’ Stuart Suna’s ex-wife lets him throw open the doors (okay, pitch a tent) in what was once their East Hampton backyard.

It’s all very civilized Hamptons. Suna announces after 32 years, he’s starting another film festival in Jackson Hole. Everyone nods. Does his wife have another house there? No one asks.

Evan Ari Kelman made mostly TV commercials and a few short films in New York before writing and directing the twisty thriller Barron’s Cove. He’s from Bridgehampton, but shot it in Massachusetts. He says the Hamps Fest was very supportive. “We sold out both screenings very quickly. It’s especially important to me because I’ve spent a lot of my life out here. I wrote it in Bridgehampton during COVID. It was very much inspired by the geography here.”

He cast the film at a favorite media watering hole.

“I met my lead actor Garrett Hedlund for the first time at The American Hotel in Sag Harbor. There are so many threads that go through this community into the film. So to premiere here felt this cosmic full circle.”

It turns out Kelman and I share a lot of admiration for Sam Mendes’ Tom Hanks-as-a-baddie film. And like any good filmmaker, Kelman has a twist ending to this tale, too.

“Road to Perdition is a father-and-son movie like mine,” he tells me at a wrap party at il Buco al Mare in Amagansett. “That’s a movie I saw when I was 10 years old in East Hampton. Which is where my new movie premiered.”

A few minutes later, another local filmmaker Sam Pezzullo wanders over. He’s eyeballing the back patio furniture.”I am looking at these umbrellas to take them back to Tutto.” He’s talking about Tutto il Giorno in Sag Harbor where he’s the Maitre ‘d. Although for how much longer is a good question. He shot The Premiere all over Sag Harbor. Most of the action takes place in the Bay Street Theater where a musical version of Scream is underway. It’s a mockumentary in the style of Spinal Tap or Best in Show.  His success wasn’t overnight either. “I shot the film over three years,” he tells me. “A lot of local people and places are featured,” he adds.

“Barron’s Cove? The back of my head is in that movie,” says veteran celeb photographer Rob Rich. He’s holding court in the middle of the Chairman’s Reception. He takes off his hat and turns around to show someone who’s seen the film, she giggles. “Oh, now I recognize you,” she says semi-sarcastically. Demi Moore is a few feet away holding a small dog. She’s also surrounded by well-wishers and a few security folks. Pezzullo is working this room too. He gets a photo with Demi. He can say he directed her! Marisa Tomei is on the other side of the room chatting with filmmakers. She’s also graciously posing with fans.

Colleen McGuinness is originally from Islip. She wrote and directed the short film Loser. She was a writer on Alec Baldwin’s sitcom 30 Rock and saw him earlier in the week for encouragement. But her real local hero is David Rutkowski from John’s Drive-In in Montauk. “He let us shoot a lot of the film there. We put him in a scene and he came to the premiere. I don’t know how we would have made the film without him,” she beams. “We also shot at White’s Apothecary in Sag Harbor and Dive Bar Pizza in Amagansett. Most of them let us shoot for free and we used locals for background cast.”

Like Kelman and Pezzullo, she likes the Hamptons hoods.

“It’s such a creative and free vibe. This was the festival I hoped we would get into above all others. It’s been a phenomenal experience.”

David Koepp has written blockbusters like Jurassic Park and Panic Room. He brought a Steven Soderbergh creepy COVID-shot ghost story Presence to the festival. “I like scary but not ‘jump’ scary.” This film has more of a vibe. And it’s extremely unnerving. “I saw it last year,” says Creative Director David Nugent. “It rewards with repeat viewings.”

Jason Reitman tells us before the Guild Hall screening of the terrific Saturday Night that “Lorne Michaels just called me and wished me well.” He says the goal of the film was to put the audience in the SNL studio on that first night in 1975. Mission accomplished. It’s now playing for the rest of the world and is in Sag Harbor and Hampton Bays. It didn’t make a lot of money nationally this past weekend, but I think word of mouth will help. And a few performances and maybe even the screenplay could sneak into the Oscar nominations. That’ll help, too.

One film I saw that unquestionably will be an Oscar contender is Conclave about the election of a new Pope. It only sounds dry. Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci are both in fine form. Screenwriting, Direction and Best Picture also seem assured.

Finally, there’s always one film that defies any kind of rational description. This year that distinction goes to Emilia Perez. Here goes…it’s about a Mexican drug lord who wants a sex change operation in Tel Aviv so his family can live peacefully in Switzerland. Oh, and it’s a musical. I know what you’re thinking, “Another one?!”

Nugent told the Saturday morning crowd, “I know you must love movies and have seen a lot of them, but I promise this is like nothing else you’ve ever seen before.” He’s always right.

And they’ll do it all again next year. I’ll be in the front row. If I get to the theater too late.

Bill McCuddy writes for Dan’s, New York Post, NY Daily News and a Hollywood Awards website Goldderby.com. In 2015, Vanity Fair dubbed him a “Hamptons Media Satellite.” He has no idea what that means, but thinks it sounds cool.