Entertainment veteran Frank Calo has several projects in the works that are guaranteed to engage audiences on both the small and big screens. One of these upcoming titles is Kelly’s Korner, which Calo produced and directed. He was intrigued after reading the first draft, brought to him by producers Natalie Hodge and Joseph Billous. Kevin Hart serves as executive producer. “So we started developing the project, got it done, put it together, and we shot it in five or six days,” he told FM Hip Hop in an exclusive interview. “We just finished editing it now, and it came out much better than I thought.”
The sitcom “is like a modern day ‘Sanford and Son’ and a little bit of ‘The Honeymooners,'” said Calo, emphasizing the cultural significance of the upcoming series. “I think it’s very important for African-American TV, and it takes place in Harlem, and the whole subject matter– it’s a black-owned business in Harlem.” While “Sanford and Son” centered around a junkyard, the primary setting for “Kelly’s Korner” is a bodega and deli. A store in Jamaica, Queens was used for the pilot, and the exteriors were primarily shot around 125th St. and 138th St. in Harlem. Comedian Gerald Kelly is currently attached to the project, and promoted the sitcom on Power 105.1’s “The Breakfast Club” last fall. In addition, comedians Mugga and Kenny Williams appear in the pilot. “It was wonderful,” Calo said of the cast. “It was just a joy to work with everybody. It seems that we all just came together. I’m a stickler for organization and pre-production, and building that foundation. Shooting to me is the easiest part, and then editing is the best part. You can get in the editing room and make magic, and I think that’s what we did with this one.” If picked up, there could potentially be guest star comedians on “Kelly’s Korner” each week, as well as plenty of great roles for actors in the New York area. “It’s so open right now,” said Calo. “There’s so many avenues we can go down; there are so many doors that can open up for us.”
Calo attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and NYU Tisch School of the Arts, studying alongside Spike Lee and Joel Cohen at the latter university. After working for studios such as Lionsgate Entertainment and New Line Cinema, he decided that he would rather focus on his own projects. “It’s a great job,” he admitted. “I was a producer, an executive producer– and if somebody wanted a career in the studio world, it would have been the perfect job. But I kind of stepped back… I believe in the scripts that I have.” He formed FMC Productions in 2004, after serving as a production executive on the critically-acclaimed film “The Believer” with Ryan Gosling. The film won the 2001 Grand Jury Prize: Drama at Sundance, received four nominations at the 2002 Film Independent Spirit Awards, and many other honors. “It was a really big break for [Gosling] and for our company as well,” Calo said.
In addition to his other talents, Calo is also an experienced writer. One script coming to fruition after several rewrites and pauses is a film entitled “Angel Smiles.” FMC Productions is in talks with Benicio del Toro to play one of the main characters, Calo revealed. “It’s a wonderful story. It’s a Spanish family, and we want to shoot this in Spanish Harlem. My background is, I’m Hispanic, I’m from Spain, so I do a lot of diversified projects. This one is about a well-known husband and wife who are salsa singers, and they decide to open up a salsa club in Spanish Harlem.” Just when things are starting to go well for the couple, a fire kills the wife’s best friend, and they become guardians of the deceased’s two sons. “Then the two boys bring this homeless boy that’s been abused from the Lower East Side. So suddenly [the husband is] surrounded by all this family and he thinks it’s a bad thing. What he learns is how important the family unit is. It’s a very heartwarming story.” The film’s title has a sweet backstory as well. “When my daughter was born, I took her to this friend’s place– I was showing her off and stuff,” Calo explained. “My daughter gave a fleeting smile, like babies do, and [this southern lady] said to me, ‘Oh look, she just gave an angel smile.’ I said, ‘What’s an angel smile?’ She goes, ‘Well, angels come down and whisper a joke in their ear to make them laugh.’ That’s where I got the title of the story.” The film is currently being prepped, and is expected to be shot in Spanish Harlem this summer.
There are more projects on the horizon for Frank Calo and FMC Productions, and he remains motivated and focused after decades in the industry. “I believe in the work; I believe in what we do,” he said. “Since I was five years old, I knew what I wanted to do, and that’s what I’ve been doing. It’s all about the work that we do. That’s it.” Keep up with these projects and more from FMC Productions on their website and Facebook.
Brownie Marie | IG: @browniemarie | Twitter: @mz_brownie
