Post by CW .org .info .net on Mar 29, 2023 13:51:28 GMT -6
2004
Former pro wrestler prefers Hollywood ring
Chicago Sun-Times, Nov 21, 2004 by Cindy Pearlman
The year was 1988 and the place was Chicago's International Amphitheater.
Oak Lawn native Tony Montana was playing a villain on the Windy City Wrestling circuit.
"I had a long ponytail and this Mafioso personality," says the man who shares the same name
with Al Pacino's infamous "Scarface" character.
Tony from Chicago didn't shoot people. He simply beat them up.
"When some big guy would throw a good-guy wrestler out of the ring, I'd hit him in the head
with a violin. That was my part of the show," says Montana, who at the time was an aspiring actor.
One night the fans sought vengeance and Montana was tossed into a rather savage audience.
"Suddenly, a whole bunch of fans at the Chicago Amphitheater started punching me and kicking
me like they were possessed. I was getting really hurt, so I got loose from there and just ran."
Montana eventually ran all the way to Hollywood, where he directed the documentary "Overnight,"
which opened Friday. The film is about the rise and fall of bartender and wannabe filmmaker
Troy Duffy. This time, the ring is Hollywood and the theme of the piece is about the hard knocks,
punches and kicks delivered by the movie business.
"Wrestling was down and dirty," Montana says. "It helped prepare me for the movie business."
If you want him to elaborate, he says aspiring filmmakers should take note: "You can't learn the
movie business in film school. You can't read about it in a book. You gotta just live it."
Advertisement
At first, he moved to New York City to study acting and then to Los Angeles with the intent of
getting a few roles. "Shortly afterward, I met Troy Duffy. We became friends. Half a year
later, I was shooting a documentary about the man." For many, the name Troy Duffy is not familiar.
He's one of those great entertainment stories in that he was your standard twentysomething guy
working as a bartender. You know the type. He was the guy who told all of his customers that
someday the script he was writing would be made into a movie and he would make it big in Hollywood.
Uh-huh.
In 1997, Duffy struck gold when Miramax hired him to direct a $15 million movie called
"Boondock Saints," based on his script. What's the old saying about something sounding too good to
be true? Miramax eventually threw the project into turnaround (aka movie purgatory) and Duffy's
dreams landed with a thud. Montana and his partner, Mark Brian Smith, have directed a documentary
based on the behind-the-scenes action of the movie biz as it applied to the Duffy fiasco. At the time
the documentary began, Montana was still thinking of his own acting career but was intrigued with
the idea of producing and directing a movie. One meeting changed his acting aspirations.
"Troy invited me to a casting meeting at the William Morris Agency," Montana says. "It was unreal.
All the agents hug you like they love you because I was with Troy. But then I listened to the way agents
talked about actors. Like pieces of meat. They talked about how interchangeable stars are - even the
ones with long resumes and who had done great things. "I was sitting in a room where an actor would
never be sitting, and it was very intellectually stimulating."
Even more stimulating was filming Duffy's story.
"The quote at the end of our film says it all: 'Success doesn't change you. It acts like a truth drug
and brings out what was always inside of you.' By showing Troy's behavior, we demonstrate that."
Montana thought he might have to wait forever for his movie to be seen. It was screened in Seattle
in 2003 as a work in progress and eventually landed at the Sundance Film Festival, where it was a
Midnight Movie standing-room-only sensation.
"Prior to Sundance, we set up a courtesy screening for Harvey Weinstein. He saw it. Since then
he has never commented on it. And that's fine. Our film came to the surface when the book Down
and Dirty Pictures came out. I guess he was feeling a little bit beat up by the book," Montana says.
"I think that was the reason he didn't talk about our movie."
ThinkFilm eventually picked up the rights to the project.
"From the beginning, we hoped for a theatrical release. Now that it's happening, it's very rewarding
and challenging," Montana says. "On one hand, we had a bunch of friends in the room recently watching
the 'Ebert & Roeper' review. We were cheering when we got two thumbs up.
"Five seconds later, we got a business call that was very negative and it changed the mood. I don't want
to make the same mistakes Troy Duffy made. I want to handle things as professionally as I can."
These power moments weren't the expected lifestyle of the Oak Lawn High School grad whose real last
name isn't Montana. "That was my grandfather's stage name. He was a vaudevillian. I took his name when
I got into show biz many years ago," he says. Yes, it's the same name Al Pacino has in "Scarface."
"People ask me about it all the time, but at least they remember the name," he says. And he always wanted
to be a name. "I grew up in Oak Lawn, but I always knew that I didn't want the kind of life where I went
to work, came home and watched TV in my den. "At 11, I started going to movies and editing them in my
head while I watched them," he says. "I just always had an inkling I'd do something in Hollywood because
I'd watch a film and think, 'No, no, no, cut here.'" He attended Loyola for 21/2 years. "But the only class
I really liked was political science," he says. "I always liked watching how politicians handle very
stressful problems and keep their composure. It was another good lesson for dealing in Hollywood
someday."
As for his film, he says, "I don't think the public has any clue about the real workings of show
business. The entertainment shows make it seem like one big red carpet with celebs kissing and hugging.
There is another, far nastier side of business that people don't get to see, but it's just as interesting."
These days, Montana is working on a new idea and he won't quit even though he dubs the new project
"another controversial one."
"You have to stick it out," he says. "Most people leave Hollywood after two years of trying to make it.
The veterans will tell you that you need to put in 15 years. I've done 12 already. "I've been told that you
must have a high threshold to deal with the negative while you put in your time." Has he made it?
"I've arrived," he says, cautiously. "Made it? I don't know. All I know is that I have a high threshold,
so time will tell."
Former pro wrestler prefers Hollywood ring
Chicago Sun-Times, Nov 21, 2004 by Cindy Pearlman
The year was 1988 and the place was Chicago's International Amphitheater.
Oak Lawn native Tony Montana was playing a villain on the Windy City Wrestling circuit.
"I had a long ponytail and this Mafioso personality," says the man who shares the same name
with Al Pacino's infamous "Scarface" character.
Tony from Chicago didn't shoot people. He simply beat them up.
"When some big guy would throw a good-guy wrestler out of the ring, I'd hit him in the head
with a violin. That was my part of the show," says Montana, who at the time was an aspiring actor.
One night the fans sought vengeance and Montana was tossed into a rather savage audience.
"Suddenly, a whole bunch of fans at the Chicago Amphitheater started punching me and kicking
me like they were possessed. I was getting really hurt, so I got loose from there and just ran."
Montana eventually ran all the way to Hollywood, where he directed the documentary "Overnight,"
which opened Friday. The film is about the rise and fall of bartender and wannabe filmmaker
Troy Duffy. This time, the ring is Hollywood and the theme of the piece is about the hard knocks,
punches and kicks delivered by the movie business.
"Wrestling was down and dirty," Montana says. "It helped prepare me for the movie business."
If you want him to elaborate, he says aspiring filmmakers should take note: "You can't learn the
movie business in film school. You can't read about it in a book. You gotta just live it."
Advertisement
At first, he moved to New York City to study acting and then to Los Angeles with the intent of
getting a few roles. "Shortly afterward, I met Troy Duffy. We became friends. Half a year
later, I was shooting a documentary about the man." For many, the name Troy Duffy is not familiar.
He's one of those great entertainment stories in that he was your standard twentysomething guy
working as a bartender. You know the type. He was the guy who told all of his customers that
someday the script he was writing would be made into a movie and he would make it big in Hollywood.
Uh-huh.
In 1997, Duffy struck gold when Miramax hired him to direct a $15 million movie called
"Boondock Saints," based on his script. What's the old saying about something sounding too good to
be true? Miramax eventually threw the project into turnaround (aka movie purgatory) and Duffy's
dreams landed with a thud. Montana and his partner, Mark Brian Smith, have directed a documentary
based on the behind-the-scenes action of the movie biz as it applied to the Duffy fiasco. At the time
the documentary began, Montana was still thinking of his own acting career but was intrigued with
the idea of producing and directing a movie. One meeting changed his acting aspirations.
"Troy invited me to a casting meeting at the William Morris Agency," Montana says. "It was unreal.
All the agents hug you like they love you because I was with Troy. But then I listened to the way agents
talked about actors. Like pieces of meat. They talked about how interchangeable stars are - even the
ones with long resumes and who had done great things. "I was sitting in a room where an actor would
never be sitting, and it was very intellectually stimulating."
Even more stimulating was filming Duffy's story.
"The quote at the end of our film says it all: 'Success doesn't change you. It acts like a truth drug
and brings out what was always inside of you.' By showing Troy's behavior, we demonstrate that."
Montana thought he might have to wait forever for his movie to be seen. It was screened in Seattle
in 2003 as a work in progress and eventually landed at the Sundance Film Festival, where it was a
Midnight Movie standing-room-only sensation.
"Prior to Sundance, we set up a courtesy screening for Harvey Weinstein. He saw it. Since then
he has never commented on it. And that's fine. Our film came to the surface when the book Down
and Dirty Pictures came out. I guess he was feeling a little bit beat up by the book," Montana says.
"I think that was the reason he didn't talk about our movie."
ThinkFilm eventually picked up the rights to the project.
"From the beginning, we hoped for a theatrical release. Now that it's happening, it's very rewarding
and challenging," Montana says. "On one hand, we had a bunch of friends in the room recently watching
the 'Ebert & Roeper' review. We were cheering when we got two thumbs up.
"Five seconds later, we got a business call that was very negative and it changed the mood. I don't want
to make the same mistakes Troy Duffy made. I want to handle things as professionally as I can."
These power moments weren't the expected lifestyle of the Oak Lawn High School grad whose real last
name isn't Montana. "That was my grandfather's stage name. He was a vaudevillian. I took his name when
I got into show biz many years ago," he says. Yes, it's the same name Al Pacino has in "Scarface."
"People ask me about it all the time, but at least they remember the name," he says. And he always wanted
to be a name. "I grew up in Oak Lawn, but I always knew that I didn't want the kind of life where I went
to work, came home and watched TV in my den. "At 11, I started going to movies and editing them in my
head while I watched them," he says. "I just always had an inkling I'd do something in Hollywood because
I'd watch a film and think, 'No, no, no, cut here.'" He attended Loyola for 21/2 years. "But the only class
I really liked was political science," he says. "I always liked watching how politicians handle very
stressful problems and keep their composure. It was another good lesson for dealing in Hollywood
someday."
As for his film, he says, "I don't think the public has any clue about the real workings of show
business. The entertainment shows make it seem like one big red carpet with celebs kissing and hugging.
There is another, far nastier side of business that people don't get to see, but it's just as interesting."
These days, Montana is working on a new idea and he won't quit even though he dubs the new project
"another controversial one."
"You have to stick it out," he says. "Most people leave Hollywood after two years of trying to make it.
The veterans will tell you that you need to put in 15 years. I've done 12 already. "I've been told that you
must have a high threshold to deal with the negative while you put in your time." Has he made it?
"I've arrived," he says, cautiously. "Made it? I don't know. All I know is that I have a high threshold,
so time will tell."