THE PROJECT, A Feature Film about Child Abuse in the United States

DOES AMERICA REALLY NEED THIS FILM? The point of view of the writer-director

By Daria Trifu

The first production meeting of the feature film THE PROJECT took place today at the North American headquarters of the film.

As a Producer and Executive Producer of the movie, I have attended this meeting together with, Bruno Pischiutta – Writer, Director, Producer, Executive Producer, Elio Dell’Unto – Production Manager, Greg Farrow – Director of Photography and Kevin Wedge – 1st Cameraman. Gratiela Cujmir, Executive in Charge of Production, was not present. She is based in Romania and she in on vacation until the end of the month.

Elio Dell’Unto has been working in production and with Bruno for more than 20 years. Elio started as a Production Assistant and went on to become the Production Manager on the feature film PUNCTURED HOPE.

Greg Farrow was the 1st Camera Assistant on PUNCTURED HOPE. He has worked on numerous films throughout his long career and he is a veteran of the film industry in Canada. Bruno and Greg had a great working and creative relationship when making PUNCTURED HOPE in Africa and Bruno was impressed by Greg’s expertise and professionalism. As a result, Greg has been hired as Director of Photography on THE PROJECT.

Gratiela Cujmir is a talented Romanian Journalist and Writer. She has been working with Toronto Pictures for the past year. Through her diligence, hard work and natural talent she has gained the trust and respect of all of us at Toronto Pictures.

Kevin Wedge is a young and emerging Cameraman who is on his way to building a successful career in the film industry.

At the meeting, we have discussed details related to:

– The production of THE PROJECT, – The making of the featurette about THE PROJECT, – The making of the pictorial book about THE PROJECT and – The making of the extended DVD feature (120 minutes) about THE PROJECT’s actors.

After the meeting, I spent some time with Bruno and talked about this movie. I wanted to get his thoughts about the importance of this film.

“I believe that the topic of THE PROJECT is very important because I have had the chance to read the horrifying statistics about child abuse in the United States. Before deciding to write the script, I’ve had my staff checking and inquiring about the numbers in detail.”

Most of the information that reaches the mind of the American people comes from the TV and the movie screen. Few people read newspapers and only a very, very small percentage read books. In fact, in the US, we reach a 35% illiteracy rate. Until now, no one brought the numbers related to child abuse to the attention of the American public through a main stream feature film. The media is not promoting the numbers related to this phenomenon. The facts that we show in the film come from the American Department of Justice. They are horrific!