Local coffee shop seeking extras for upcoming Bronx movie

In conjunction with Cinema on the Sound in City Island, Clipper Coffee is seeking extras for a new Bronx-based movie.
In conjunction with Cinema on the Sound in City Island, Clipper Coffee is seeking extras for a new Bronx-based movie.
Photo courtesy Jerry Landi

In the summer of 2022, Cinema on the Sound opened its doors at 270 City Island Ave., becoming the only independent movie theater in the Bronx. Over the years, they have served as an arthouse and hub for filmmakers and likeminded creatives with a focus on building community. Now, they’re making a movie and local Bronxites have a chance to appear in it.

“It’s kind of like a casting call for extras, but then I’m going to talk to people and see if anybody’s interested in playing a speaking part in one of the other episodes that we’re doing,” said Jerry Landi, the cinema’s manager and curator.

Inspired by the everyday, overheard conversations of patrons gossiping over a cup of Joe, “Tales of Clipper Coffee” will be a fictional anthology film, much like a modern-day reimagining of the “The Twilight Zone.”

“As we were working, you had so many crazy things happen and you’d say, ‘well, that would make a great movie,’” said Peter Gennari, who is set to play the Rod Serling type and is owner of both Cinema on the Sound and the six-year-old Clipper Coffee shop which sits next door to the theater.

In keeping with the same values of community that the cinema was founded on, other Bronx filmmakers will have the opportunity to write and direct episodes of the film anthology as well.

Cinema on the Sound at 274 City Island Ave. opened in May 2022 and serves as an independent movie theater and hub for local creatives.Photo ET Rodriguez
A movie poster of “Bloodmarsh Krackoon” by Jerry Landi sits in the window of Cinema on the Sound at 274 City Island Ave.Photo courtesy Jerry Landi

Opened in 2018, Clipper Coffee always had a vision to foster an environment where artistic individuals could congregate. Over the years, they have hung the art of locals on the cafe walls and hosted poetry and movie nights. Soon, Clipper Coffee became known as a place where Bronxites could come together. Last year, they won Best in the Bronx for best art gallery and best coffee shop. Landi, a filmmaker himself, who also worked at Clipper Coffee, realized the lack of a communal space where people like him could share ideas.

“We were finding a lot of Bronx-based artists, filmmakers and creators that needed a space to do things for the Bronx and present their work,” Gennari told the Bronx Times in an interview just before Cinema on the Sound’s launch. “It just seemed natural when this space opened up to move here and do it on a grander scale.”

The theater sits in an old antiques store that became vacant when the owner, J.W. Foley, died at the age of 42 due to ongoing health issues. Since opening, the cinema has hosted plays, comedy shows and independent movie screenings by Bronx directors, being a cultural center for the community and the borough at large. With the recent closure of the Multiplex Cinemas on 161st Street, leaving only one commercial theater in an area twice the size of Manhattan, a space like Cinema on the Sound becomes all the more important. And with a recent generous donation from Amazon, it will continue to serve the brilliant and talented people of the Boogie Down.

“Tales of Clipper Coffee” will be screened at the theater when completed and individuals interested in being an extra or helping out in creating a movie about the Bronx, by the Bronx and for the Bronx, should line up outside Clipper Coffee at 274 City Island Ave. on Friday, July 19, at 5 p.m. or reach out to Landi on Instagram @cinemaonthesound. And while the gig is not paid, it could serve as a networking opportunity for people looking to get into the movie-making business and there will be “coffee and cookies for everyone,” according to Gennari.


Reach ET Rodriguez at etrodriguez317@gmail.com. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes