My life as a movie mogul

You would think that owning and running a hardware store six days a week would take up all my time, and you'd mostly be right. However, since both my brother and my sister are involved in filmmaking I occasionally get a chance to dabble in the film business.

My first experience was as an extra in a movie being filmed on Long Island with a working title of "The Sound". It's written and directed by Roger Majowski and my daughter, my nephew, my sister and I all were extras in the film. Sadly, it's been a few years since the film was shot and it's still in limbo. There have been a couple of test screenings, but my guess is it won't see the light of day.

My more recent experience has been as an investor in a film called The Marconi Bros. My brother knew the writer/director team and they let me invest a small chuck of change in the film. It actually stars some excellent actors, including Jon Polito and Dan Fogler, and amazingly the film is actually done and will premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival. I've seen a few cuts of the film over the last year and it really is quite good. Hopefully it will also get into the Tribeca Film Festival in NY next month, and then who knows.