Bio
VINCENT LEE ACCETTOLA is an Asian American writer/director/producer whoformerly served as Managing Director of the National Youth Orchestra of China (NYO-China), an ensemble comprising the country’s finest classical musicians aged 14 to 22 years old. Among various milestones, the 105-piece symphony orchestra performed with Yuja Wang, sold out Carnegie Hall, played for NPR, andachieved critical acclaim in The New York Times. In his role at NYO-China, Vincent produced concert broadcasts across three continents that have sincebeen streamed or televised to over six million viewers worldwide. As a filmmaker, Vincent’s produced and co-directed for Academy Award-nominated documentarian Christine Choy; and as a screenwriter, his script Blue Comedy won Best Screenplay at the Nashville Film Festival, previously topping The Red List as its No. 1 Drama Feature. Prior to joining the MBA/MFA program at NYU Stern and NYU Tisch, Vincent graduated with a BS from Yale University and an EdM from Harvard University.
Artistic Statement
BLUE COMEDY opens with the super: “This is not a comedy.” While the very first scene – in which a character struggles not to defecate in someone else’s car – seems to suggest otherwise, this disclaimer is accurate. Rather than a broad comedy, or even a dark comedy, this film is a drama. It’s a drama about comedians, the psychological foibles that push them towards that career, and the relentlessly competitive world they inhabit.
The story’s central theme and conflict were inspired by the not-so-uncommon observation of how so many of the most accomplished stand-up comedians fail spectacularly with their personal lives and, as a result, remain remarkably lonely people. I wanted to examine the struggle that comics often face between “being liked as an artist” and “being loved as a person.” And to do that, I created a character study of two comedians at vastly different points in their career – an established celebrity (ATTICUS) who has very much settled on the former, and a struggling newcomer (ANDREW) who still has to choose the outcome that he wants.
To force the rookie into a decision, I introduced an unorthodox love triangle: Atticus has a daughter (KAITLIN), and both father and daughter are interested in the same man, Andrew. The screenplay is then able to explore the dynamic between a gay father who resents the fact that he was compelled into having a marriage and child he never wanted, and a daughter who clearly wasn’t a fan of her father coming out and deserting his family. As the script progresses, Atticus further reveals himself to Andrew (and to audiences) as an abusive mentor. Although we can sympathize with Atticus for his hardships as both a dwarf and a gay man, we cannot necessarily forgive him. Representation of diversity is good. But too often, such characters are presented as either wholehearted heroes or powerless victims (or on occasion, cartoonish supervillains). As a writer, I set out to create a LGBT and disabled character who felt real, despicable behavior and all. In this case, he’s tragic, he’s complicated, but he’s still definitely an asshole.
Apart from examining these characters and how they interact, I wanted to 1) perform a deep dive into how professional comedians genuinely develop their sets and specials, 2) accurately portray the Boston stand-up scene and the city’s many historied comedy clubs, and 3) evaluate common stereotypes about comedy and comedians, such as whether suffering in fact fuels more insightful work, and if comics are actually more depressed than non-comedians or simply more vocal about their misery. Because this is a dialogue-driven character study without any large set pieces, the budget to produce this script should be low. And although Blue Comedy is not strictly a comedy, my intention was that it would be funny throughout. Occasionally, the screenplay can become quite specific about the struggles that arise for stand-up comics. Nevertheless, its lessons about reconciling work, love, suffering, and growth should be meaningful to most mature audiences.
Synopsis: BLUE COMEDY
ANDREW JOHNSON (29) is a law school dropout who daylights as a driver to support his aspirations of becoming an accomplished stand-up comedian. Following a chance encounter in a New York City comedy club, Andrew comes under the wing of ATTICUS BALZAK (53), an internationally celebrated comic with Achondroplastic dwarfism who just recently came out of the closet. Before long, the two of them decide to travel to Boston, Atticus returning to his hometown to develop new material for his next imminent special, and Andrew set to tour the local clubs and learn from one of the greats. Never made explicit but understood by both, Atticus has feelings for Andrew even though only one of them is gay. Ultimately, both relent to the idea that they might be leading the other on.
In Boston, Andrew discovers that Atticus has a daughter – KAITLIN (25) – who has taken up residence in the home where they’ll be staying. It’s readily apparent that father and daughter do not get along, with Kaitlin despising Atticus for previously abandoning her with her abusive mother, and Atticus resenting Kaitlin on account of being pressured into having a wife and family in the first place. Over the next few months, two more developments happen: 1) Atticus becomes increasingly demanding – if not cruel – towards Andrew in a relentless effort to push him to become as good a comic he can be, and 2) Kaitlin begins fostering feelings for Andrew, which are later reciprocated. Soon enough, Atticus grows jealous of his daughter and maneuvers Andrew into a situation where he must choose between Kaitlin or his career. Andrew chooses his career.
The two comics leave Boston, set to proceed with a cross-country tour in which Atticus will continue to refine his material in front of larger and larger crowds, this time with Andrew signed on as his opening act. Professionally, Andrew is doing well, but after a particularly tumultuous evening, he makes a late-night visit to Atticus’s hotel room. There, Atticus tries to teach Andrew that his suffering is useful and necessary for becoming a great comic, and that he’s actually lucky that so much anguish has come to him for leaving Kaitlin. Eventually, they finish their tour with a successful special recorded at Carnegie Hall, and backstage, Atticus invites his student for one more opportunity – a five-minute set and interview on The Tonight Show, to whichnAndrew reluctantly agrees.
A week later, we see Andrew memorizing a speech while driving. Atticus waits for Andrew to arrive, but he never does. Instead, Andrew’s on his way to Boston. And he’s not rehearsing a set, but rather an apology to Kaitlin, one in which he acknowledges that if he needs to be in pain to be a good comic, he’d rather just be happy (and even so, that comedy can be about all parts of life – not just the bad, but also the good). Andrew knocks on Kaitlin’s door and waits.
Email: vincent@asteria-pictures.com
Instagram: @asteria.pictures