The Marble Faun of Grey Gardens (2011)

One truly unique component to this film is the way in which it was produced, with no experience and no budget. Jason Hay and Steve Pelizza were not filmmakers at the time of their first encounter with Jerry Torre in November of '09. No film school background, no previous video projects to speak of. They were merely fans of the original documentary Grey Gardens who happened to get in touch with Mr. Torre. In the ensuing conversations with Jerry, Jason and Steve saw the potential for a story in Jerry's life. Not only from the pop-culture, "where are they now" perspective, but from the socially responsible "this story can have a positive impact on people's lives" perspective. Jerry agreed to lay his life bare for us, so we may learn from his mistakes and triumphs. This prompted the purchase of a camera, which Steve learned to use during the course of this film without any prior "film theory" knowledge. Shooting occurred around the three's own life schedules, over the course of about 16 months. Editing software was purchased and the process of learning how to edit video, sound and creating graphics began. Jason and Steve taught themselves how to edit, the whole creation process was a learning experience right up until the final credit roll. Other than the purchase of the camera and the editing software, no money was spent in the production of this film