Of Dreams and Glory
a short film by Joe Buscaglia
January 2008, cinematographer Joe Buscaglia, made a short film in Buffalo, NY with local cast and crew, with virtually no budget. It’s a suspense thriller paying homage to Hitchcock, called “Of Dreams and Glory”.
Official Withoutabox Film Festival Submission Site:[1]
Synopsis: Submitted for your approval: Meet Homer J. Doyle, a pathetic old man whose meaningless life has slipped away. He's the night clerk, at a hotel for women, from days gone by. Enter Edward Lambert, a likable young man, whose innocent search for his sister turns into a dubious mission.
Set at the Mayflower Hotel for women, in a place that time forgot. 'Of Dreams and Glory' is suspense, thriller that will make you say ”be careful what you wish for.” 
The Process: The idea for “Of Dreams and Glory” came from a phone call from a Buffalo NY producer, while working on the Paramount feature film “Cloverfield” (Additional Photography) and shooting 20% of the movie with a Panasonic pro-sumer camera HVX-200. As a matter of fact, in the March 2008 issue of American Cinematographer Magazine the director does make reference to Joe Buscaglia solving a technical problem and executing it in the film. After it wrapped, he met a filmmaker in Buffalo that owns the Panasonic HVX-200 and offered to let him use it.
As a result, they wrote the screenplay, as a tribute to the storytelling of Rod Serling, and most of all the suspense of Alfred Hitchcock. The original name of the hotel was “ The Willoughby” as a reference to the Twilight Zone, episode: “A Stop at Willoughby”, a town where time stood still and still remains in the final script, registered with the WGA (West).
He also directed, was the cinematographer and shot 16 pages in 1 night on location in Buffalo, NY with a 5-man crew. He also, edited most of it in Final Cut Pro and After Effects, rendered and exported on a MacBook computer (and yes it took forever), authored, burned and did all the artwork for the DVD (disc and box), as well the poster, flyer, post cards and brochure.
OD&G was accepted as an official submission at:
Sundance Film Festival
Hamptons International Film Festival
Austin Film Festival
Palm Springs International Shortfest
Rhode Island International Film Festival
Moondance International Film Festival
Terror Film Festival
"This movie was made without anyone’s financial participation. Everyone involved generously donated their time, services and equipment because they believed in the project. We wanted to show the tenacity and talents of the actors and filmmakers involved and made this film, as a tribute to independent filmmakers everywhere -- to illustrate that if you have a story and a vision, it can be done. It’s not easy but in the end, it's worth all of the begging, borrowing and sweat, especially when you find the right people, that share a passion: making films at any cost. Not because you want to, but because you have to."
--Joe Buscaglia.
A NOTE FROM THE PRODUCER: Justin Sammarco
"BRAVO! This is something to be truly proud of!
Upon receiving an email entitled "Lets Shoot it in Buffalo", it was a few days before Thanksgiving when we decided to shoot "Of Dreams and Glory". With a deadline fast approaching, we had only a script in hand, no location, no actors, and no crew. We set out on foot each morning 2-3 times a week in the blistering Buffalo cold to find each piece to our puzzle.
We knew that we had to lock in our location, and we knew that wasn't going to be easy. We needed a location that had all three of the following elements: front desk, elevators adjacent to the desk and an old fashioned elevator indicator. Each of the 35+ buildings we looked at had only 1 of the 3. We looked high and low, we contacted and exhausted all of our resources in the scouting department. Time was closing in on us and we had, at this time, 2 "doable" locations. The holidays came and went and we were still without a location. Auditions were set for the following week. Joe had an actor in mind in which he worked with on another shoot. Knowing we couldn't get him he described his look and ability and we set out to find our Edward Lambert. Putting out calls, notices and phoning in more favors, we get all of 8 people to show up.
One by they came and went. Getting frustrated, our last actor arrived just before we were due out of the building. In walks Edward Lambert; James Heffron the very actor in which Joe worked with previously, the very actor Joe wanted from day 1, walked through the door and blew our socks off! We had found Edward Lambert!
1 piece of the puzzle and many more to go. Setting back out to the streets looking at building after building, exhausting hour after hour we still never found the right place. I called a few management groups that managed a few buildings in the area, describing what we needed and what we already saw. The list they gave we already had scouted, no good. The final two buildings they listed; Bryant and The Mayflower which happened to be right down the street from one another. Bryant, too 'classy', no desk but yet the elevator and indicator we needed. A possibility!
The Mayflower: not expecting much we strolled over to check it out. Upon walking in, we both knew it was the right place. Upon walking in you felt as if you walked back into the mid-50's. From the decor, to the fine marble floors, this was our place! We discussed the shoot with the management, the owner came out and gave his blessing!!!
2 pieces of the puzzle, time running short. I placed a call to an old friend and mentioned "Of Dreams and Glory" and just happened to slip that we were still in search of another actor. She just so happened to know someone that might fit the bill. Gerry Maher she says. "Who?" "Oh he's perfect for the character you're describing, and just so happens to be performing in "12 Angry Men". I made a phone call to Gerry, introduced myself and he politely invited Joe and I out to see his opening performance of "12 Angry Men". We didn't need much convincing, we had found our Homer J. Doyle!!!!
Gerry was a delight, extremely talented and very humble. Gerry is what most actors strive to be, professional, on mark, prepared and most of all a pleasure to work with. Our 4th and final actor was in place, we had our location, now we had to finalize our crew!!
We locked in our shooting date for January 20th, with a call at 8am. We arrived on location, and started to build...the rest is what you see today on the screen.
My hats off to the vibrant work ethic of Joe Buscaglia, and how diligent he worked to get this made! 16 pages is unheard of for one night!!! Each one of the crew was a pleasure to work with, without any ONE of them this wouldn't have gotten made! Evan came through and found a replacement HiDef camera and we both can't say enough for Jack Cummings; a real professional that was always a step ahead and a brilliant troubleshooter!
Thanks to everyone that devoted their time and energy for the greater good of the craft, for believing in Joe and I and helping to make the best possible picture we can!!!! Thank you!!!"