Staten Island Catapult
The Staten Island Catapult is a 2005 documentary about a disgruntled commuter and his proposal to build a catapult that launches individuals from Staten Island to Downtown Manhattan in 5 minutes. The film was written and directed by independent filmmaker Gregorio Smith.
| Staten Island Catapult | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Gregorio Smith |
| Produced by | Gregorio Smith |
| Written by | Screenplay: Gregorio Smith Story: Gregorio Smith |
| Starring | Joe Grappone Lesley Evans Jaime Mercado |
| Edited by | Gregorio Smith |
Running time | 51 minutes (Director's Cut) |
| Country | United States |
The film won a Verrazzano Award for Best Documentary Short at the inaugural Staten Island Film Festival (2006).
Plot summary
Dom Giotti, founder of the Staten Island Catapult Development Committee (S.I.C.D.C.) maintains that the commuting needs of Staten Islanders have long been underserved by a cost-prohibitive dichotomy of bridge or boat. In his opinion the outermost New York City borough is a trove of history and culture that remains largely untapped due to a lack of mass transit alternatives.
To that end, Dom proposes a "seminal transit alternative" for the Staten Island community. Under the rallying cry "Where mass transit has failed…physics shall prevail!", Dom spearheads an initiative to build a large-scale catapult that launches commuters back and forth from Staten Island to downtown Manhattan in five minutes.
Although his vision is initially met with bemusement and doubt, Dom soldiers on and eventually develops a prototype.
Bootleg This Movie
Bootleg This Movie is a 2007 documentary short written and directed by Gregorio Smith. This unofficial sequel explores the worlds of both video copyright infringement and self-publishing, as the director creates a bootleg DVD of Staten Island Catapult and hires an actress to sell it on the streets of New York City.