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Posts Tagged ‘Coney Island’

Fiji Mermaid Horror Film Set in Coney Island Seeks Backers

Posted in film, tagged Coney Island, Fiji Mermaid, fundraising, horror film, Russell Richards on December 12, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Filmmaker Russell Richards was inspired to make a horror short about mermaids after seeing a Fiji mermaid –a monkey’s head sewn onto the body of fish–in a history museum. “I dug into the history and folklore of mermaids and discovered they were not the good guys portrayed by Disney movies,” says Richards. “They tended to be sinister seductresses that lured sailors to their doom.” In April, the Charlottesville, Virginia resident plans to shoot in Coney Island, where he says most of the action takes place.

Pledge $1000 or more to the project, which is currently on Kickstarter, and you’ll receive a one of a kind Fiji mermaid made by Richards, an artist with some training in special effects. Pledges of $25-$500 will get you a movie poster, DVD of the film when it is completed, T-shirt, original etching or your name in the credits.

One of the mermaids that appears in "Fiji Mermaid." Photo © Russell Richards

With 59 backers and 57 hours left on Kickstarter, the project has already exceeded its $5,000 goal, but Richards says the film will end up costing three or four times that amount. “A big part of any money raised will go towards film, development and telecine, a high-resolution film scan,” according to the filmmaker. “I live and work in Virginia, so it would also help bring my cast and crew to Coney Island to film for a few days.”

Richards is aiming for a summer 2011 completion date. In the meantime, check out the video compilation of some of the effects and design work he has done so far, including a peek at the new “sideshow banner” and animation.

One of the mermaids that appears in "Fiji Mermaid" Photo © Russell Richards

Photo of the Day: Demolition of Coney Island’s Shore Hotel

Posted in Photo of the Day, Redevelopment, tagged Coney Island, demolition, Lindsay Wengler, Shore Hotel, Thor Equties on December 10, 2010| 4 Comments »

Shore Hotel Demolition. December 9, 2010. Photo © Lindsay Wengler/Single Linds Reflex via flickr

This week Thor Equities’ demo crew continued to wreak havoc on historic Surf Avenue. By Thursday afternoon, they had knocked off the top story of Coney Island’s approximately 107-year-old Shore Hotel. Photographer Lindsay Wengler also got some apocalyptic shots of the rubble that once was the Bank of Coney Island and a bulldozer poised to attack on Henderson Walk. War is hell. Oh wait, we mean Coney Island redevelopment is hell.

For photos and stories of the Shore Hotel in its glory days as well as its seedy days, see Vanishing New York’s post from August 2009. Thor’s ownership destroyed the building. As VNY wrote: “Plywood went into the windows in the summer of 2007, as Thor and the city aimed to blight Coney in preparation for its demolition. When the City’s Plan goes through, a massive high-rise will stand here.” The City’s rezoning of Coney Island, passed by the City Council in 2009, allows four high rise hotels of up to 27 stories along the south side of Surf Avenue.

In the other out-with-the-old in Coney news story of the week, this morning’s 10 a.m. court date for the eviction of the “Coney Island Eight” was adjourned till January 10, 2011.

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New Music Video: Little Silver’s Where We Met

Posted in Music Video, tagged Coney Island, Erika Simonian, Little Silver, Steve Curtis, The Stolen Souvenir, Where We Met on December 7, 2010| 1 Comment »

Erika Simonian and Steve Curtis of the Brooklyn band Little Silver just released the EP The Stolen Souvenir featuring this hauntingly lovely single “Where We Met.” The music video by Jim Collier was shot this past summer in Coney Island.

See there
We met where
The sojourners found
A small bit of permanent ground

Did the couple, who live in Windsor Terrace, meet in Coney? “We did not meet in Coney Island,” Erika Simonian tells ATZ, “but from the window of our apartment on clear days, you can see the parachute drop. This is where we began together, in this apartment.”

“The first shot of the video is the parachute drop, and our window with curtain is the second,” says Erika, “We chose Coney Island to shoot the video because it’s an evocative place – that we see from our apartment. Plus all the life there – the beach, the boardwalk, the gulls, the awesome mixture of humanity….”

In addition to the Parachute Jump, you’ll catch glimpses of the Cyclone, Wonder Wheel and Luna Park’s Mega Disk’O, Air Race and Brooklyn Flyer. For more info on Little Silver and Tuesday night’s release party at Sycamore Bar in Ditmas Park, visit their website.