Lackawanna County is betting nothing in hopes a documentary filmmaker can transform a failed movie that cost taxpayers $500,000 into a winner.
The county is helping filmmaker John Mikulak, who sees the production of “The Trouble with Cali” — with its “over-the-top” nature and its famed father-daughter acting duo — as such a good story, he’s producing a documentary about its making.
“It’s such an insane story,” Mikulak said.
With nothing more to lose, the county — which Mikulak says was one of the original movie’s largest investors — has agreed to let him use clips from it for free so he can include them in his documentary.
Rare unanimity
The three county commissioners — Chris Chermak, Bill Gaughan and Brenda Sacco, at odds on plenty lately — voted unanimously Wednesday to approve the licensing deal.
“The hope is that this (documentary) may generate some interest in the movie, which may result in a larger contract, maybe with like ... a Netflix or a Paramount or something who may want to show the movie on streaming or something of that nature,” county general counsel Don Frederickson said.
'A monumental film'
When Frederickson described “The Trouble with Cali” as “a monumental film” as he explained the licensing deal, more than a few people at the commissioners meeting chuckled.
Frederickson said he’s had “the un-distinct pleasure of watching the movie twice.”
“And the more you watch it, the funnier it gets. It's kind of like a 'Monty Python' type situation,” he said, a reference to the famed British comedy series and movies.
Gaughan said he had not seen the movie but heard a lot about it before Mikulak asked for permission to use the clip a few months ago. So, he watched it.
“I'm not a film buff, but this is the worst film, the worst movie. It has to be the worst in the history of movies in the world. But it's so bad that it's funny,” Gaughan said. “So apparently, this documentary filmmaker wants to make a documentary about how bad it is, in the hopes that it will become viral and take off. And if it does, which I think we're all praying for, we will receive money for it.”
'A cult classic'
Chermak views the documentary as a chance to mirror the international publicity provided by the TV show, “The Office,” which is set in Scranton.
“So that's a cult classic as well, and it brings people here. So, who knows?” he said.
“Hopefully, it'll generate some revenue for us,” Sacco said.
Seeking film festival frenzy
Mikulak hopes to debut his still untitled documentary at a film festival and create enough buzz to foster competition for distribution rights. The streaming service that airs it may then become interested in airing the movie that spawned it, he said.
All About Cali
“The Trouble with Cali” was a project developed by Paul Sorvino, famed for his role in movies such as “Goodfellas” and as one of the early detectives on the long-running TV show, “Law and Order.”
His daughter, Amanda Sorvino, wrote the script. Another daughter, Oscar-winning actor Mira Sorovino, played the role of a ballet master. Cali is a ballerina.
After talking the county into helping fund the movie, Sorvino promoted the potential for opening a film studio in Lackawanna County.
That idea flopped.
Cali screenings rare
After a 2012 debut at the Sedona Film Festival in Arizona, the movie flopped, too. For years, the county didn’t even have a copy of it. In 2015, Sorvino sent the county three Blu-ray DVD copies. The county kept one, gave one to the Lackawanna Historical Society and the other to the county library system.
A few screenings took place at the Scranton Cultural Center in 2015. The system allows people to watch it only in a library but does not allow borrowing for fear the DVD won’t be returned.
Mikulak, once an Emmy-winning filmmaker at WVIA and later producer of a documentary about polka king Jan Lewan that spawned a feature film, avoids saying Cali is so bad, it’s good.
“Some people might say it's so over the top, it's good,” he said. “A lot of cult films, they say that ... It’s very melodramatic, and it's just, in my opinion, very entertaining.”
What was Sorvino thinking?
His documentary will try to explain Sorvino’s interest in Scranton, where part of filming took place, why the county provided him $500,000 across 2005 and 2006, why he took so long to finish the film and other facets.
Mikulak dislikes that “The Trouble with Cali” mostly sits locked away in a library system safe.
“I really think it has, like a cult film potential,” Mikulak said. “And so, my goal was always like, well, let's see if we can get this film released ... Because if you could create a compelling documentary about it, people are going to want to see the movie then, and that's when you could maybe start developing a following like ... these other ... fun films that have just, you know, become kind of cult films over the years.”
Here we go ...
Already, stories about the licensing deal have sparked renewed interest.
Scott Thomas, the chief executive officer of the Scranton Public Library, said no one has asked to see the movie at the library in about two years, but two people asked after word of the licensing got out Wednesday.
“We’re going to schedule a viewing of it,” Thomas said. “It shows up now and then and now it’s back.”
