Dan Pinto Studios Die For A Life Behind The Scenes

Movie plot:

   While visiting his sister in the small town where he once lived, Steve(Peter Pluchino), calls on his childhood friend, Reese(Dan Pinto). Their reunion along the quiet wooded trails of the Hudson River ends in gunshots and a car chase. Unknowingly, Steve has become involved in a rare coin counterfiet scam headed by deadly killers. His sister Deanna(Catherine Molitor) becomes they're next target. To save his sister, Steve must outsmart the underhanded coin specialist(Andy Laterra). Can Steve deliver the rare coin die in exchange for his sister's life?

   Highlighted with action, suspense and a few interesting plot twists, "Die For A Life" is an independant film production from "Pinto Studios" Approx. running time of 113 minutes.

Basic story of how the movie came to be explained by Dan Pinto:

   By the end of 1993 shortly after the release of a trio of music albums during that year, it was time to do something a little bit different here at Pinto Studios. Inspired by a deeply rooted desire for interest in how films are made and after successfully landing several pieces of my compositional works on national television in the past, the idea for a film was beginning to sound more and more appealing to me. The problem was that there was no film being offered at the time. I had always wanted to write a soundtrack for a motion picture but never had an opportunity. So rather than wait, I decided to create my own opportunity. I outfitted the studio with video recording and editing equipment in an attempt to pull off a short test sample of a movie idea that I had. The project turned out to be anything but short. Im not trying to be a film producer, that's not the goal I set for myself here at all. Of course the knowledge I gained by doing this production certainly didn't hurt. But this experience is vital in understanding what film producers look for when writing a soundtrack. And as a composer, that's very important to me.

   Choosing the topic of rare coins, a subject that I have much knowledge about, I began writing a script with a time frame of about three months to write in mind. Three months quickly turned into one year and what started as a tight circle of friends and a loose imagination turned into a full blown cast and a story that of which still hadn't been completed by the end of 1994. Almost no budget and unpredictable weather was always a problem since half of the movie was shot outdoors.

   It wasn't until after I realized that I was able to get key shooting locations and local town police involvement that the project would seriously escalate and that this video would become the single most intense piece of creative work that I had ever done. Scenes were being rewritten and added with even more attention to detail than ever before. Extensive effort was being poured into researching the most affordable way to pull off the realism of an idea for a movie that had no budget. Effects, props, acting, lighting, shooting locations... it seemed as though every new phone call that was made opened another door for improving on the project which in turn kept advancing the completion date another month and then into another year. Three more years went by with the passing of 1995,6 and 7 and the level of dedication to the completion of the movie had not wavered at all. In fact it was now a mission to finish what I started in 1994. Still at times, it was frustrating and Im quite sure that several people involved had thoughts of it not getting done because of how long it was taking. But the one thing that kept it going was the idea that when it was complete, I would have the vehicle I needed to write what was my long time desire of a full length feature soundtrack.

   The movie was originally shot on Hi-8 video format. The compilation of over 40 hours of raw video tape footage was edited between mid to late 1998. Then after painstakingly finishing the final stages of audio dialog replacements and inserting the hundreds of special audio sound effects, the long awaited process of writing the actual music score finally began in January of 1999.

This project was a true learning experience that I will never forget and would have otherwise never experienced had I not seen it through from beginning to end. It couldn't have been possible if it were not for all the people who so graciously gave their time and effort trusting me to make something of it. Again, I would like to thank everyone involved. I gained a new appreciation for the people behind the scenes. The directors, producers and editors just to mention a few that really work they're ass off to make a 10 second clip of film a work of art. The musical accomplishment of this project represents the "Cherry on top" of a 5 year long wait to complete that which I had always wanted to do.