500 S. Warren St. is now the main segue between Hollywood and Syracuse.

The bridge between the Emerald City and Tinseltown will be through a simple, run-down hotel from the 1930s known as the Hotel Syracuse. With the hotel’s name as its title, the film ‘Hotel Syracuse,’ a psychological thriller, will be filmed in Syracuse sometime later this year.

Strengthening those bonds with the West Coast, Owen Shapiro, a Syracuse University professor of transmedia film, co-wrote the screenplay with award-winning Israeli filmmaker Haim Bouzaglo. Bouzaglo’s films have won international awards and have been featured at the Syracuse Film Festival. The film will star two-time Oscar nominee John Malkovich.
     
The thriller tells the tale of a mathematician, Adam Zeller (Malkovich), in town for a conference focusing on the Syracuse Problem, an unsolved equation that was coined in Syracuse in the 1960s. During his stay, Malkovich is taken to Hotel Syracuse, where he discovers all of the people from his life already there.

As the plot unfolds, Zeller has to come to terms with the seemingly impossible reality he’s found himself in and unearth serious issues of his past.

‘There are love interests, family, past psychological problems and professional problems all revealed,’ Shapiro said.

Shapiro said he got the idea for the film in 2007, and soon after started discussing plot possibilities with Bouzaglo. Having been friends for a while, the two co-wrote the screenplay for what would eventually be ‘Hotel Syracuse.’ Bouzaglo and Shapiro also worked together on adapting the 2008 film ‘Session,’ starring Bar Rafaeli, Tom Bower and Steve Bauer. Malkovich’s production company and Bouzaglo are producing ‘Hotel Syracuse’ as well.

Working with the film’s complex and original reality was challenging, Shapiro said, but the payoff was worth it.
     
Shapiro said he chose to locate the film in Syracuse because production costs are much lower than in larger cities, and the area offers tremendous talent resources in acting and technical support. He also said that Syracuse’s natural and human assets, architecture, and climate will all greatly contribute to the film.

 ‘Visualizing how it could be done was a lot of fun,’ Shapiro said. ‘I’d write, send to Haim and then we’d go back and forth until we both liked it.’
   
Since the recent announcement of the film, the two have been constantly contacted by people who want to be involved, including actors, technical workers and extras. For those interested, Shapiro recommended going to the Syracuse Film Office and registering to be involved with the film.

Though he is not involved in the production of the film, Shapiro plans to hang around the set and stay up to speed during the filming, something he believes to be a massive undertaking.

The shoot is estimated to last between six and eight weeks and will have a large cast. Shapiro said the shoot will employ many Syracuse residents for transportation, food, technical work, extras and more — affecting Syracuse’s economy.
   
Thomas Barkley, an assistant professor of finance at SU, is not sure if the film will have a profound effect on the local economy. In relation to the recent film ‘The Express,’ also shot in Syracuse, he found that most of the actors, cameramen and others employed by the film came from out of town.

‘Unfortunately, I don’t think ‘Hotel Syracuse’ will produce sufficient numbers of people or investment in the city to make any type of economic impact on our municipal budget,’ Barkley said.

Barkley also said he believes any significant increase in the economy will be temporary. He said he hopes he will be proved wrong.

Patty Suh, a senior television, radio and film major, said she is excited about the production and disappointed she won’t be around while it’s happening. Suh is familiar with both Malkovich and Bouzaglo.

After studying at SU for four years, Suh has come to find that Syracuse is an underrated city. She’s optimistic about what ‘Hotel Syracuse’ will do not only for the local economy but for its overall reputation. She said the film will bring attention to the talent and beauty of Syracuse, which are often overlooked.

Regardless of whether the film sparks the Syracuse economy, Suh believes it will have a positive effect.

‘Having two great names in film coming together to use Syracuse as their backdrop will be great for the city.’

rssaxon@syr.edu
 

Published on May 3, 2010 at 12:00 pm