Massapequa Actor Makes First Short Film

Massapequa resident Richie Allan recently made his first short film "Knucks," which he unveiled at the Long Island International Film Expo in Bellmore last month.

Allan, who is an actor and member of the Screen Actor's Guild, says this is his first venture into creating an independent film himself. "Making a first movie, I wore a lot of hats," Allan said.  "I made the props, this and that… it was something."

He also faced the challenge of editing the film, which turned out to be quite an ordeal. "I lost one of my key people and my wife, myself, my son, and the cameraman, all had to do the editing in my living room and it was kind of scary," he said. "But we ended up with enough footage and we ended up with 'Knucks.'"

Allan's short film, which he wrote, executive produced and starred in, is about four friends who used to play the card game knucks when they were young boys in the Bronx.

The characters, now in their 60's still get together to play poker. "Then by accident while waiting for one of the guys to come, they began fooling around with the game of knucks, which opens a whole Pandora's box. Lots of stuff came out that they were harboring throughout their lives," the director said. 

Allan says it was a pleasure to share his first film with a Long Island audience, since most of them could relate to game played in the movie. "Lots of Long Islanders come from the Bronx, Queens, Staten Island or Brooklyn. And it's a New York City card game. And the reaction of the people. Oh, I played that when I was a kid and I've still got the scars," he said.

Although some said it was a strange topic for a film, Allan says the art of great filmmaking comes down to key elements "Four old guys getting hit with a deck of cards till their knuckles bleed is kind of weird, but you can make a story about pea soup if the characters are good and the story is alright."

Allan is looking to distribute "Knucks" soon. For more information about the film and to see how you can get a copy, check out his website.

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