Meet Nick DeSimone: The Eyes Behind 'Two Boroughs'

Nick DeSimone may live over the bridge now, but growing up, he was just a boy from Eltingville with a love for acting, writing and film.

With a hefty background in acting, DeSimone decided to try his hand at making his own film and he's been hooked ever since. After scoping the Internet for festivals to submit his work to, he came across Richmond City Media's Staten Island Filmmakers Showcase, happening this Sunday at Edgewater Hall.

"It really thrills me that people are moved by it," said DeSimone when talking about his featured film Two Boroughs. "It was difficult, but it's difficult to make any film, I wanted to get everything right."

Two Boroughs takes place in Staten Island and centers around a relationship between father and son being rekindled. The two boroughs mentioned in the film are Staten Island and Brooklyn. Gerard, the son, lives in Brooklyn and works for the MTA.

What started as a comical idea later turned into a drama as DeSimone went digging into his own family history. DeSimone's grandfather, at 102 years, starred as the father in the film. He says he wanted to include his grandfather in the film somehow, so he gave him a lead role.

DeSimone's grandparents-- Sam and Mary Sciarretta -- were longtime New Dorp residents.

THE POWER OF FILM

DeSimone says his uncle, a.k.a his grandfather’s son who was estranged from all the family, went into a coma after the film was completed.

After not seeing each other in years, DeSimone visited his uncle with a copy of the finished Two Boroughs.

He says after that, his uncle woke up and watched the film. He was so moved by it that he decided to visit his father and reconcile with him.

"That in and of itself was worth making the film," said DeSimone.