Michael Sorvino (Almost Paris – 2016 Tribeca Film Festival Official Selection, Once Upon A Time in Queens, Spike Lee’s Summer of Sam, Lifetime’s Human Trafficking) and Heather Brittain O’Scanlon (Victim No. 6, Blue Bloods) have signed on for the family dramedy Big Enzo’s Wedding, to be directed by Francesco Nuzzi (Star Crossed Lovers). Sorvino, the latest actor to join the cast, will also be coming on board as one of the film’s producers.
The indie focuses on a traditional, Italian-American family that gathers for the wedding of their patriarch, Big Enzo, who is getting remarried, this time to a man, in the backyard of his longtime family home. Over the wedding weekend old wounds are reopened and new conflicts arise. Will the family confront their flaws and shortcomings and biases to rediscover what family is all about, or will Big Enzo’s wedding be ruined by his loved ones?
Written by Nuzzi, Wally Marzano-Lesnevich (forthcoming The Problem with People, Almost Paris) and Lindsay Adkins (Spin Cycle), the film is being produced by O’Scanlon, under her company SOS Productions, along with Nuzzi’s Emiliana Films, with production kicking off in New Jersey in 2023, building upon Jersey’s recent boom in production.
O’Scanlon is repped by Metropolis Artists Agency.
Upon joining the project, Sorvino stated “I am thrilled and honored to be coming onto Big Enzo’s Wedding in such a major role, because not only am I eager to take on the multidimensional challenges of playing ‘Big Enzo’s son ‘Lorenzo’, but I also believe in the provocative, and strangely funny, appropriately arrhythmic heartbeat of this story. Given its high degree of social and emotional relevance — especially in these dangerously uncertain political times we find ourselves in — and the inspired passion and dedication which Heather, Francesco, and my longtime friend and colleague Wally, will make this film with, I can’t think of a more synergistic dynamic for us to ride forward on…”
Sorvino, O’Scanlon, Nuzzi and Marzano-Lesnevich are all based in New Jersey. Big Enzo’s Wedding is Jersey proud with the team pulling from its Italian-American roots, relationships with LGBTQ+ family members and friends, and utilizing New Jersey locations, product placement, and original music. The team feels strongly that Big Enzo’s Wedding has mass appeal for the festival circuit, as well as domestic and international distribution.
In these trying times the team believes this is a film that can offer laughter, tears, empathy – a great night of entertainment – for families of all stripes and sizes.
