Shooting a Hollywood movie typically takes between three and eight months. “Sunday Sunday Sunday”—a mobile-shot feature about drag racing—took five years! Long-Island-based filmmaker Anthony Natoli recounts the saga in the interview following the movie’s trailer and making-of video.

Interview with Anthony Natoli

MobileMovieMaking: What motivated you to become a filmmaker?
Natoli: I had a dream a number of years ago where I watched a whole movie in a theater with just myself. When I woke up I wrote everything I could remember down and kind of put it in the back of my desk. When the iPhone 5S came out that’s when I really started thinking about making a feature-length film.

MobileMovieMaking: How did you develop your moviemaking skills?
]Natoli: My training is mostly off of youtube to be honest, but there are just so many great resources out there like No Film School and pages like that. I also read a number of books about independent filmmaking which really helped me prepare for the battle ahead.

MobileMovieMaking: Are there any filmmakers who inspired you?
Natoli: Before I knew who Steven Spielberg was he made all my favorite movies as a kid. Once I figured out he was the director I started seeing the scope of his work and honestly, I just love how easy it is to digest his films. I think he was probably the first director I really fell in love with, but I also grew up down the block from Ed Burns who made a movie on my street called The Brothers McMullen. That really always inspired me beyond filmmaking just seeing someone who went to the same school as me and drank the same water rise to such heights as an artist.

MobileMovieMaking: What gave you the idea for “Sunday Sunday Sunday”?
Natoli: When I was a kid I would listen to the radio all the time and there was always this great commercial for a dragstrip in New Jersey called Raceway Park and they would always shout “SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY” to get people hyped up. It certainly worked for me. It’s been around for a while but finding the title was the easiest part of the movie because in my dream that’s what the movie was called and I really just thought that was so perfect.

MobileMovieMaking: How did you plan the shoot?
Natoli:  When planning the shoots for this movie we were kinda rogue and a little all over the place. My old boss used to say “You make plans, and God laughs..” and boy that has always been true for me. Many things went wrong during our shoots but we did everything we could before each shoot day to be as prepared for anything that came our way from weather not cooperating to actors having to bail out. I never really did storyboards but I did use Pinterest quite a bit. It was really helpful to communicate with the actors or my camera people to understand what I was going for either tonally or even with wardrobe.

MobileMovieMaking: Could you talk about how you cast the movie?
Natoli: I cast my film with family and friends. I grew up as a musician and have played with so many incredibly talented people that it just seemed like some of them would be the perfect fit for certain roles. When I decided to really flesh out the script I wrote it with them in mind before I even pitched it to them. I figured that way they could read it and actually visualize themselves in the role. Perhaps that is putting the cart before the horse but it seemed to work well for me. Some of the actors came from a local coffee shop where they happened to become friends with me there and I discovered they were actors like Jacob Bitzer who played Joey in the film, or Uncle Pete played by Sal Lumetta. These were really the only two trained actors in the film for the most part although some of the other cast members had some theater and acting experience to a degree. I never even wanted to be in the movie but after a while, I realized that I needed to do it to empathize with the cast and become a better director. It’s a whole different ball game to be on the other side of the lens.

MobileMovieMaking: The locations are exciting. Can you tell us how you found them?
Natoli: The locations in the film are all places I grew up going to. They meant a lot to me and fit the aesthetic of the film perfectly. I had no cars after 1975 in the movie so the locations needed to fit that vibe. The pizza place we eat at is the one I’ve been going to my whole life, my parents and family go there, my grandparents did too so that was a blast to shoot. The All American Burger location was one I always wanted to shoot a scene at. It just gave me that American Graffiti feeling and when they closed one night the manager let us park a few classic cars in the parking lot and shoot a quick scene. That was so exciting to edit because it was one of the first times I felt like we had something super special going.

MobileMovieMaking: What gear did you use?
Natoli: We shot the whole film on an iPhone. In fact, we used phones from a 5S all the way up to an 11 because the film took five years to shoot. Sometimes I would just tape an old phone to the front bumper of my car and take it for a ride to get a low-to-the-ground look which was scary but fun. We used Filmic Pro the whole movie, it just really gave us so much room to become more cinematic and get the phone really dialed in. At one point we were having issues with color correction so we decided to take a cheap ND filter and just glue it to the phone and it really worked pretty well. It caused some issues like doubling the image slightly in certain lights but hey we were living and learning. Now the iPhone filmmaking equipment out there has really stepped up so we are taking a little different approach to the next movie.

MobileMovieMaking: What are the advantages of shooting with a mobile device rather than a traditional camera?
Natoli: Shooting with an iPhone really was special because I felt like we were able to do a lot of things that a bigger setup wouldn’t allow. One thing in particular was that no one was really going to bother us as we filmed in locations where we could have gotten some resistance. People just thought we were messing around so they never bothered us for the most part. The other thing I loved about it was just how many places we were able to jam that thing into. It’s thin and small so you can really do a lot with very little. I think the biggest thing I wanted which I didn’t get was depth of field. It can definitely be done, and probably could have been better but that’s something we’re bringing to the table on this next journey. We already tested out some new anamorphic lenses that are absolutely competing with our Blackmagic Design cameras we use professionally.

MobileMovieMaking: How long did the shooting take?
Natoli: We shot the movie on and off for five years. Almost the entire film was shot on Sundays so it was really a weekend warrior type of project. We were at the mercy of people’s schedules which was a bit difficult and would push things back further than I anticipated. I also went on tour a few times which killed some time but I was actually riding in a van with Zach Kirsimae, Mark Eriksen, and John Nolan who were all in the movie as well so it gave us time to bond and when it came time to shoot it probably made things even better.

MobileMovieMaking: During the shoot, did you encounter any unexpected problems?
Natoli: We had more problems and things go wrong than went right. I think that’s part of the learning process at this level. Footage got corrupted, actors had to bail halfway through filming, it rained when it was supposed to be sunny. All these things are opportunities not obstacles. You need to be modular, if the key in the song is changing then move with it. That’s why Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You is so good, it’s all about that leap into the unexpected. So when that stuff happens just make it work to your advantage. There’s always a way around, over, under, or through a problem you just need to try something new.

MobileMovieMaking: How did you create the soundtrack?
Natoli: I scored the entire film, sound effects, music, songwriting you name it. It was a dream come true for me and if it wasn’t for the pandemic I don’t know if we would be talking about a finished movie today. During lockdown I got to work in my studio creating the sounds for the film and I was really enjoying the process. During filming I kind of already had key, tempo, and lyrics in my mind for each scene. When I’d sit down with the guitar or piano I already had an idea what I wanted to do. Since these brothers have no money I decided to score all their parts on the cheapest guitars I had, so that I needed to squeeze all the juice out of the lemon. I think it worked well.

MobileMovieMaking:  Could you talk about your approach to editing the movie?
Natoli: To edit the film I used Adobe Premiere. My biggest mistake was being kind of unorganized with files and I think I’ve learned my lesson. I sort of had folders with weird names and clips all over the place. If I can suggest one thing for people out there who are not familiar with editing and are going to take that voyage is to get really organized before you start. It will make life easier later. My buddy James Morano who is a wizard with color correction and editing helped me take all the scenes I had edited and put it into one massive timeline and that’s where the movie really started coming together. I think this is a dangerous part of the journey because most likely your movie won’t feel like a movie until you’ve reached the very end. As we started splicing these big scenes together I was still asking myself “Why did you do this?” because it felt like it just wasn’t going to work, but I also had some faith. I heard from other directors that this experience is normal and just stay the course. I remember the first time I watched the complete cut I cried because it was the first moment where I thought this could be good.

MobileMovieMaking: How do you feel about it? Would you do something different next time?
Natoli: I feel really confident about the work we put into this project. I’m sure people will find my flaws and that’s good because that means they are paying attention. No movie is really perfect (maybe a few are) but I always accepted that my film was going to have rough patches. When you film over five years and are marrying moments from day one of shooting to the very last day you’re going to sense a difference, however over time I don’t really even see the issues I once had. That’s the magic of good storytelling. If you can get into the story then some of that other stuff falls away. I’ve had the opportunity to watch the film now a few times with hundreds of people and I truly get goosebumps at some of the least exciting moments because I cannot believe we accomplished what we set out to do and sometimes the little moments bring me the most joy. I am excited to take what we learned from the first one and apply it to the sequel while attempting to avoid the mistakes we made in the first round.

MobileMovieMaking: Is there anything else you want to say about the production?
Natoli: When I go to the movies I want to have fun. I don’t care if it’s a documentary or a drama. I want to have fun watching the magic of cinema. It’s so special to be moved by any art and I think that was something I set out to do for myself. Be selfish in your dream because when you’re creating something you need to feel something good coming out of you or no one else will connect. I get postpartum depression when it’s over usually because I just feel exhausted from the birth of these things. It takes a lot out of you so the biggest take away from such a massive project with so many ups and downs is to stay vigilant and be gentle with yourself. How do we eat an elephant? One bite at a time. You’ll get there.

MobileMovieMaking: How can people see your feature?
Natoli: The movie is available for sale on our website. We are selling USB sticks that are shaped like a car key and come with a keychain as well. It’s just a fun way of putting it out there for people without breaking the bank. The money from these sales will go in the pizza fund for the sequel which we just started filming.

MobileMovieMaking: What’s the best way for readers to keep up with your music and your moviemaking?
Natoli:  If you’re interested in seeing more about the film you can head over to Facebook or Instagram. Our handle is SundaySundaySundayFilm, or you can jump on the website www.SundaySundaySundayFilm.com

# # #

The editors of MobileMovieMaking have chosen the trailer for “MondayMondayMonday” as the Mobile Movie of the Week.