“Frat Haze,” a feature film by Rumson resident Siobhan Fallon Hogan, producer, screenwriter and actress, was filmed in Rumson and surrounding areas.
Photo by Lynne Ward
By Eileen Moon
On a recent Saturday night, dozens of actors, extras and crew members huddled in the autumn chill on a sloping lawn in front of an elegant mansion on Navesink River Road, ready to play their parts in a critical scene being filmed for the movie “Frat Haze.”
As the cameras captured the action, the rumble of a helicopter crossing the skies above invaded the scene. “Cut!” crew yelled.
When Hollywood comes to a small town on the Navesink, it pays to expect the unexpected.
For her first feature film as producer and screenwriter, veteran actress Siobhan Fallon Hogan of Rumson – just like Blanche Dubois in “A Streetcar Named Desire” – relied heavily on the kindness of strangers, not to mention friends.
Hogan, whose career took off with her debut on Saturday Night Live in 1992 and has continued with roles in dozens of box office giants including “Men in Black” and “Forrest Gump,” recently did a film with Johnny Depp called “The Professor.”
She decided to step behind the camera long enough to produce her first feature film, based on her screenplay titled “Frat Haze.”
The topic of Hogan’s screenplay is all too timely: A young man dies as a result of a hazing incident at a fraternity house and a devastated family and community is set on its heels by the loss. Though the incident in this film is fictional, the circumstances that surround it aren’t far removed from reality.
Hogan plays the mother of the victim, whose family faces the tragedy with the particular blend of humor and grief familiar to Irish families. “I’m from an Irish Catholic family of five,” Hogan said. “Basically, when there’s tragedy, there’s a lot of humor that comes into play, and that’s the way you get through it.”
Once she had her screenplay completed, she began reaching out to colleagues and friends in the industry. In the space of a few days, the film was picked up for production and the work of fundraising and logistical planning began.
Working on the film with Hogan are noted cinematographer Mathias Shubert and director Vibeke Muasya.
Two River area residents will recognize familiar faces and places in the film “Frat Haze,” which tells the story of a young man who dies as a result of a hazing incident at a fraternity house.
Photo by Lynne Ward
A number of Hogan’s neighbors and friends helped by investing in the project. Others volunteered their homes and businesses for interior and exterior filming, stepped up to house and feed the actors and crew from out of town and generally made the project happen, Hogan said.
Hogan’s entire family also got into the act – literally. Her husband Pete Hogan plays a bartender in the film. “Life imitating art,” he joked. The Hogans’ son, also Peter, appears in the film along with several of his real-life fraternity brothers from West Virginia University.
The bar scenes were filmed at Val’s Tavern, which the Hogans said went out of its way to welcome the cast and crew. The owners, Chris and James Smith and Kevin Feehan, also provided the movie team with an office above the restaurant for the duration of the film.
The lead actors in the film include Jake Weary, Robert Patrick and Brian Halloran. “Jake Weary is unbelievable. He’s the main hazer,” said Hogan.
Surrounding the professional cast are many other familiar faces – but the kind of familiar that means you’ve seen them at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School or Victory Park, Brennan’s Deli, Richie’s Exxon or Val’s Tavern.
Hogan happily recruited cast members and extras from the local community. Several are aspiring actors whose work on the film may well open the door to the career they’re seeking. Others just enjoyed the fun. All in all, there were 50 actors and 43 crew members engaged in the 22-day shoot.
Rumson resident and former American football linebacker Phil Villapiano has a prominent role as president of the fictional college where the fatal hazing incident takes place.
Local musician Kyle Ward, son of The Two River Times’ People Page editor Lynne Ward, will be headed to Denmark soon to work on the sound editing for the film as the post-production cycle gets underway.
Several local families’ homes were used for interior and exterior filming. Hogan rattles off a long list of the locals she wants to thank – the Yarboroughs, the Wards, Traci Turi, Lisa Luckett, the Gmelichs, George Hall, the Osters, the Cornettis, Drew Pagano, the Melia family, Forrestdale School, the Annarella family, the Rumson Police and First Aid, Riverview Medical Center – she’s sure she’s forgetting a few.
Even the Rumson Police Department and EMT crews got into the act. “They were fantastic,” Hogan said.
Other families offered spare bedrooms and home-cooked meals for the cast and crew.
In short, it really did take a village to make this film. “Everyone was insanely generous,” Hogan said.
A long list of area businesses, including Val’s, Brennan’s and Cups and Cakes, pledged meals and treats for the out-of-towners as well.
Now that the filming is over, Hogan will be going to Bordeaux for the editing phase of the film right after the holidays. “We’re going to get it ready to enter in the Cannes Film Festival. That’s the goal,” she said.
