L.A. Filmmaker To Shoot Movie About Growing Up In Hometown

HOMETOWN, IL — A Los Angeles-based filmmaker is coming home this summer to make a movie based on his childhood in Hometown. Niko Vitacco’s autobiographical film, “Guys Night,” about the struggle of divorce, is based on a year in his family’s life during the 1980s.

Vitacco, 43, started working on the script for “Guys Night” years ago, but took advantage of the pandemic to bring his screenplay through several revisions before finally finishing it.

“The good thing about Hometown was there were tons of kids. It was the kind of place where you could ride your bike, make friends and cause trouble, but you were always looked after,” Vitacco said, looking back. “Mothers and fathers knew each, Hometown always looked out for its own. It had the feel of a small town in the middle of a big city.”

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The film is a comedy-drama that takes place in 1985, chronicling the effects of divorce on a family, exploring the lives of three boys getting into some mischief and their stoic father’s journey of love, loss and acceptance.

Like the characters in the movie, Vitacco’s father, Frank, was in his early 30s when he gained custody of Vitacco and his older and younger brothers, while his mother went to find herself. His paternal grandparents played an instrumental role in the boys' upbringing, who helped with meals and housekeeping, and made sure there was an adult in the house after school, when his father was on the road making sales calls for a trucking company.

“Writing this script opened my eyes to the reality of divorce from my parents’ perspective, especially my dad’s,” Vitacco said. “I feel this story will reach a large audience, and can help add perspective to those going through, or have gone through, a similar experience but never had an outlet to express themselves or had a true understanding of why their parents' divorce really happened.”

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Vitacco is playing the lead role of the father, called Anthony Vitello in the movie, who, like his own dad, is working hard for a trucking company to provide stability for his family. He’s been through some marriage hardship but pushes on trying to be a good role model for his sons– his own way. While Anthony seeks the support of both his parents, he eventually succumbs to his father’s advice, which isn't always what he wants to hear, but all he needs to hear.

Helen Vitello is Anthony's wife, a vulnerable young mother of three boys who can’t seem to tame her free spirit. Feeling trapped, she wants out of the responsibilities of marriage, and wants to live the single youthful life that she feels she missed out on.

"The mother is not the antagonist," Vitacco said. "Divorce is the antagonist."

Tony Vitello, age 8 in the film, is the oldest and self-proclaimed leader of the three brothers. He hides his feelings about his parents’ divorce and its effects on him. Like many big brothers, he gives his younger brothers a hard time.

The youngest brother, Vinnie, 6, is carefree and says whatever comes to his mind. He sees his parents’ divorce as an opportunity to have “two of everything.” The divorce hasn’t affected him the way it has his two older brothers. Vinnie often turns out to be the voice of reason.

Finally, Dominic, the 7-year-old middle child and the most sensitive of the three boys, is having a difficult time processing his parents’ divorce. He struggles to come to accept that his family will never be whole again, which leads to a risky decision to be with his mom.

“I blamed my father for my mother being gone,” Vitacco recalled. “It was a very confusing time. I thought he drove her away, and I hated him for it.”

Rounding out the cast is the grandfather, Frank, a man in his 60s with a larger-than-life personality, a tough but gentle Italian-American, who prides himself on the stable family life he had built. His wife, Lorraine, is reserved but has no problem speaking her mind, especially when it comes to Helen and keeping “a house a home.”

Known as Nick growing up in the 8800 block of South Kilbourn Avenue, Vitacco was given the name Niko after hanging out with some Greek girls when he first got into acting. His best friend was Brian Semmler, who’s probably put a roof on three-quarters of the post-World War II duplexes in Hometown.

“[Former Mayor] Don Roberton was our pack leader in Cub Scouts,” Vitacco said. “We were in sports with his sons. Hometown kids would be on Loretto’s teams as well.”

He transferred to Oak Lawn Community High School from St. Laurence to ease the financial burden on his father.

“I got into theater at Oak Lawn, it really impacted my life,” Vitacco said. “Tom Dzurison was the head of the drama department and directed all the plays.”

Hometown Mayor Kevin Casey has green lighted the project and supports the movie being shot in Hometown. Last month, Vitacco and his team – producer Andrew Baird, director Dave Eichhorn, and Louis Powell, cinematographer – visited Hometown to film exterior shots establishing the change in seasons. “Guys Night” hits all the local landmarks, the baseball field (“Four Fields”) behind Advocate Christ Medical Center, Our Lady of Loretto Catholic Church, city hall, the Hometown VFW and the Hometown Shopping Plaza.

"I'm very fortunate to have Mayor Casey's support," Vitacco said. "As our former basketball and baseball coach, he always wanted the best for Hometown kids growing up."

Little has changed in Hometown’s appearance since Vitacco grew up there in the 1980s and 1990s. A house on 89th Street was used for the Vitello house, and a second home where the mother character lives, although another town is referenced. They will be shooting interiors in two separate houses in Hometown, a planned suburban community with affordable tract housing for returning GIs from World War II.

“We’re using all the original Hometown landmarks,” Vitacco said. “There is a shot of the dated wooden welcome sign that has Kevin Casey’s name on it.”

Vitacco and his team plan to come back in mid-to-late summer to shoot the rest of the move. They are presently lining up funding. They’ve also been in talks with name talent to play the leads of the mother and grandparents. For the roles of the three young brothers, Vitacco wants to cast local actors.

“Guys Night” also includes memorable, small, quirky speaking parts, such as a convenience store manager who tries to be hip with the kids, a teacher, and an attendant at Haunted Trails in Burbank, as well as non-speaking extra roles.

“I want to cast as many Hometown residents as possible,” Vitacco said. “I made my core group of friends attending Our Lady of Loretto School. Growing up in a divorced family and being raised by a single parent, I think the church and town raised me, and made me the man I am today. I want to give that back to the community.”

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