“Gasper & Son” Trailer – LIVE! + RAFFLES!

We began filming Gasper & Son over a year ago and are so proud to debut the film trailer and website today!

Thanks to everyone who helped produce this film, our kickstarter donors and all the talented people who came together to make this happen. It has been a truly collaborative effort and has come together brilliantly!

Please watch the trailer and let us know what you think. We have been submitting Gasper & Son to national film festivals and will announce screenings soon.

We will also be screening the trailer this Sunday at our Greenpointers Holiday Market. Buy $5 raffle tickets with the chance to win prizes from the following local businesses who are generously supporting the film:

Human@Ease, Five Leaves, Nights and Weekends, Punk Rope, Paulie Gee’s, The Diamond, Eastern District, Kennaland,  Sparrow Salon, Nitehawk Cinema, Greenpoint Fish & Lobster Co., Adelina’s, Dusty Rose Vintage, Home Coming, Violet Pepper, Duke’s Liquor Box, The Splendid Spoon, Cafe Grumpy, Usha Veda Yoga, El Born, The Habitat, Silk Road Cycles

If you want to help us cover the post-production costs please make a donation to Gasper & Son via paypal (in $5 increments). Funds raised will go toward producing the trailer, music licensing, sound mix and festival submission fees.

About the film:

Gasper & Son is a short independently produced documentary about the dying art of neon sign making told by father Gasper and his son Robbie, who is carrying on the craft against the backdrop of a well loved but often unforgiving NYC. Decade after decade, through thick and thin, this business has become their life’s work because they’ve put so much of themselves into it. With only a handful of neon sign makers left in the US, Robbie’s kind is rare, but his struggle as a small business owner in an increasingly difficult economy is not. What he carries on is more than a skilled craft, it’s an important family tradition.

Instead of enrolling in college courses, Robbie goes into his father’s neon sign shop called Aristic Neon in Queens, seeking apprenticeship. Without question his father says, “Son, let’s go into the fires.” After a tough 5 year apprenticeship and now over 25 years of experience, Robbie reflects on what neon is today, after it’s “hey day” when he began work in the 70s.

Running a small business in NYC is tough as it is, but burning fingers while bending glass is the least of Robbie’s worries as he tries to navigate a city engulfed in mass produced and cheaper lighting technologies that threaten his livelihood, the craft of neon sign making and the light it sheds on NYC.

Gasper & Son is produced by Greenpointers.com, Ugly Art Room, LLC & Freckless Productions.

The film was co-directed by Jen G. Pywell, Hannah Jayanti & Miguel A. Rodriguez.

Music in Trailer:

“Let” Written and Performed by Gracie & Rachel, Courtesy of ARMS © 2014 Gracie & Rachel

“Longtooth” Written and Performed by Zongo Junction © 2014 Zongo Junction

Please LIKE Gasper & Son on Facebook.

Thanks in advance for your support and interest!