Interviews
Lee Sbardellati (Production Supervisor)
Turtle Bay: How did you become involved with Stephen King's Gotham Cafe?
Lee Sbardellati: I have known Julie for many years. It was only a matter of time before we got involved in a project
together.
Turtle Bay: Are you a fan of Stephen King?
Lee Sbardellati: I think I qualify.
Turtle Bay: You were given the demanding role of Production Supervisor. You were involved with planning the shoot since February '04. You spent many
long hours assisting the producer. Your role was unique in
this production in that you wore many hats and made sure things did not get
behind schedule. When the producer was in front of the camera or in
makeup or dealing with other facets of the production you acted in her
stead to facilitate that the script was shot. Tell us about
this challenging, unique experience.
Lee Sbardellati: I have worked on many projects of
this type. It is rare to find the quality cast and
crew that Julie Sands put together. This project was
very ambitious and it was a joy to see everyone put in
110% giving the film a terrific production value. I
had fun.
Turtle Bay: How did you get started in this business?
Lee Sbardellati: I was a film student in the late seventies and worked in the industry for a time
before starting a business in a different field. This lasted about ten long years before I came to my senses
and returned.
Turtle Bay: Prior to production the difficulty of filming the time lapse cigarette shots was discussed since they would eat into
valuable production time. You solved the problem of filming the
time lapse cigarette shots with an invention where a cigarette is
consumed at hyperspeed in real time. Tell us about that.
Lee Sbardelati: It's a secret. A little old school effects thing.
Turtle Bay: You worked with the great John Frankenheimer for many years. How did that come about?
Lee Sbardellati: My brother Jim was John's 1st AD. When I returned to the film industry I had the good fortune of working with some of the best people in the industry.
Turtle Bay: What were some of the memorable things for you about working on Gotham Cafe?
Lee Sbardellati: Seeing the dedication Julie, Lori and the entire cast and crew had on this film. Day one
was great to get us started and the end of day six
having finished on time knowing we had all done a
great job.
"Lunch at the Gotham Café" © Stephen
King
Used by permission. All rights reserved