FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

 

New York, New York - Independent distributor Artistic License Films announced today the opening of If I Didn't Care Friday, August 3rd in select New York City and Long Island theaters, followed by a national rollout.  The feature film, written, directed, and produced by brothers and Hamptons natives, Benjamin Cummings and Orson Cummings, premiered at the 2006 Hamptons International Film Festival.  If I Didn't Care proved a festival favorite, with Gene Seymour of Newsday writing of the film, “A neat-and-nasty little gem!”
     If I Didn't Care is a Hitchcockian film noir/thriller set in the exclusive resort community of The Hamptons starring Bill Sage (Hal Hartley's Flirt and Simple Men; Gregg Araki's Mysterious Skin), Academy AwardÆ-nominee Roy Scheider (The French Connection, Jaws, All That Jazz, Naked Lunch), Susie Misner (The Hoax), Noelle Beck (Darren Starr's soon-to-be ABC broadcast Cashmere Mafia, television's Loving), and Ronald Guttman (Hunt for Red October, The Guru).  The film weaves the tale of trophy husband David Meyers's ill-fated attempt to produce an heir that leads to infidelity and murder.  The film was shot entirely on location in New York and the Hamptons. While filming, the Cummings brothers made every effort to capture the picturesque setting and watering holes of the Hamptons to create the feel of a classic film noir in the style of the '40s and '50s.
     “We have always been fans of film noir, films that in the Cold War were a Hollywood standard where none of the characters could be described as heroic and everyone's motives were suspect,” says Ben, who, like his brother, attended The Lawrenceville School, Hobart College, and the North Carolina School of the Arts Summer Film Program.  “From Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity to the Coen's Fargo, we love them.”
     Continues Orson: “We love the subject matter, the paranoia, the characters' serving their base instincts with little regard to the law.  These are movies we love to watch and filmmakers-especially those who write and direct their own material as we do-are simply setting out to make a film that they themselves would like to watch. Also, many of the films from this genre have been made on limited budgets. Save for the odd bit of gunplay and a bit of driving, films noir consist mainly of people sitting in a room talking-albeit talking about how they're going to have someone killed.”
     “Ben Cummings and Orson Cummings have made a compelling, beautifully acted film that is both stylish and subtle,” says Sande Zeig, president and founder of Artistic License Films.  “As co-writers and directors they have created a unique aesthetic that showcases their great command over the genre.”

 

 

 

It all started with an impromptu interview over Cuban cigars with Hamptons resident Alec Baldwin in the famous whaler’s grog dispensary, Murph’s Backstreet Tavern. Mr. Baldwin had seen an earlier work by the Cummings Brothers and asked   them to write something for him as, at the time, the Hamptons were his primary residence. When thinking of what to write when presented with this opportunity Ben declares: “We have always been fans of Film Noire, films that in the Cold War were a Hollywood standard where none of the characters could be described as heroic and everyone’s motives were suspect. From Billy Wilder’s ‘Double Indemnity’ to the Coen’s ‘Fargo’, we loved them.” He continued, “We must have watched every one ever made, or at least it felt like it: ‘Sudden Fear’, ‘Asphalt Jungle’ and ‘The Killing’ or any noire with either Sterling Hayden or Gloria Grahame in it for that matter; you name it, we watched it, until we started scraping the bottom of the barrel.” We thought Alec would like the chance to do a noire in his backyard so we set out to write our own.

 

Orson continued: “We loved the subject matter, the paranoia, the characters’ serving their base instincts with little regard to the law. These were movies we loved to watch and filmmakers, especially those who write and direct their own material as we do, are simply setting out to make a film that they themselves would like to watch. Also, many of the movies from this genre have and can be made on limited budgets. Save for the odd bit of gunplay and a bit of driving, films noire consist mainly of people sitting in a room (or car) talking - albeit talking about how they’re going to have someone killed.” So the brothers set out to cast and shoot the picture in October/November of 2005. “Alec was good enough to read it and show interest; but he was very shortly out of the picture with other obligations so we knew we were going to have to work with limited resources,” added Ben.

When asked about the screenplay, Benjamin explains: “In the writing we were determined to stay true to the genre. Without giving away any vital plot points, let’s just say things don’t go well for any of the characters, unlike, say, ‘LA Confidential’,  a recent studio attempt in which the main character rides off into the sunset with the hooker with the heart of gold.” At this point Orson pipes in that “This is NOT NOIRE.” Benjamin pauses and nods in agreement before going on:  “The same was true for the look while filming. Whenever, for the sake of expedience or cost savings, it was discussed that a scene might be shot during the day rather than night, the French First AD, Yann Sobezinsky, would pipe in: “C’est ne pas un film blanc, c’est une film noire”. Nearly every thing was shot in the classic film noire half light. The characters are almost literally operating in the shadows.

In closing Orson summed up: “Finally, we chose the Hamptons as a setting not solely because that’s where we live and where we grew up but because, in accordance with the theories on tragedy constructed by the ancient Greeks, the Hamptons were an ideal fit. If the proceedings in the story involve the rich and privileged, the audience  can declare, “Those silly rich people. They’ve got everything and they just act so stupidly and throw everything away.” It makes the viewer feel a whole lot better about their own lot in life.

 

Bio - Benjamin Cummings & Orson Cummings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Hamptons served two purposes for the Cummings Brothers in the making of If I Didn’t Care: first it was an ideal setting for the telling of a film noire story; second it was logistically advantageous for the directors to shoot in their hometown.

As far as the telling of the story, a perverted version of the American dream is always at the core of the classic films noire. As locals The Hamptons is a place the Cummings Brothers are proud to call home; but they acknowledge that amidst all of the recent development and growing population there is a dark current running underneath the tide of rich and famous. Ben observes that “all of these people didn’t make all of this money by being the nicest, most upright citizens in the country.” Orson adds that “while exposing the dark underbelly of the American suburb has been done and might be a bit cliche, the Hamptons are not an ordinary suburb. They are extraordinary. In the film we aimed to make the Hamptons not only the setting but a character in the story. We want the viewer to feel a sense of place in every scene. And it is set in the off-season, which gives it a little bit of an edge that the summer crowds don’t get to see. When the hoards are gone it’s a little easier to appreciate the beauty of the natural landscapes and the light; but it’s also a very long off-season as locals know and it can be difficult to manage at times. It is this pressure of the off-season that helps to isolate our hero, Davis, and push him toward some poor decision making.

Logistically the Hamptons allowed us to use our local connections to secure locations and help facilitate deals. First of the Cummings Brothers met their Executive Producer, Kathy Lieb, in Bridgehampton. She and her husband, Mark, own Lieb Family Cellars on the North Fork and live year round in Bridgehampton. Kathy has always had an interest in film and after meeting on the tennis court and subsequently reading the script she agreed to help the writer/directors find the funds needed to shoot If I Didn’t Care. Shooting at home also made it easier to obtain permission to shoot on Main Street in Southampton, on a Hampton Jitney, and in the local restaurants Barrister’s, Shippy’s and Suki Zuki. A good friend of the Cummings Brothers, local painter Darius Yektai, let them use his house for the protagonist’s home (no small favor as half of the film takes place in this house). Plus Roy Scheider, Noelle Beck and Ronald Guttman all have houses in the Hamptons and appreciated that at the end of the day they could go home and sleep in their own bed.

 

Speaking with Bill Sage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When asked what he thought the film’s message was he replied, “The message of the film? I don’t know. Like all these movies and books (I read Double Indemnity and The Post Man Always Rings Twice by James M. Caine), I suppose you should be happy with what you have. The moment you decide to strive for more you’re gonna get into trouble. But that’s impossible because this is America and we’re all striving for more. So I guess we’re all gonna find ourselves in trouble. That’s why this genre, the film noire, is so American.”