Torrance Colvin

Torrance Colvin

Television pilot shot in Stamford restaurant

STAMFORD -- Television production was the only thing cooking Monday at Ferrante restaurant in downtown Stamford.

Director Torrance  Colvin, founder of 24k Black Films, was serving up the main course -- a TV pilot, titled "New Wall Street," about life on Wall Street, starring Finola Hughes and Hal Ozsan.

Along with his partner and writer executive producer Bob Diforio, who created and wrote the pilot, Colvin has at least two networks hungry for more.

Sources have identified FX as a potential bidder, which Colvin would neither confirm, nor deny.

Although they will produce a tamer version of the pilot, Diforio said the story is shot for a pay-cable audience."It's going to be raw, and it's going to be very real," he said.

Diforio, a Wall Street executive by trade, said the story's protagonist is loosely based on himself. The program aims to showcase the good and bad of working as an investment banker on Wall Street during the tumultuous time of a global recession, he said.

"Wall Street is a very interesting place," said Diforio, a Westchester resident. "I think it personifies America in the sense that everybody gets a chance."

Though life on Wall Street isn't always fair, everyone has a chance to work their way up from the back office to the head of a major company, Diforio said. And when the economy sinks, as it has over the last couple years, the impact can be devastating, both locally and abroad.

The story begins with the audience's introduction to the lead character, Bob DeLuca -- a powerful figure on Wall Street, who juggles family, friendships and work, along with his ties to the mafia.

DeLuca is played by Ozsan, who is best known for his roles as Michael Cassidy in the ABC Family series Kyle XY, and as Todd Carr in the Warner Brother's hit show Dawson's Creek.Hughes, who won a Daytime Emmy in 1991 for her role as Anna Devane on ABC's General Hospital, plays Cynthia Parsons -- head of investment banking at Gefaschte, a German-based bank with branches worldwide.

The scene shot all day at Ferrante's Monday was day six of the pilot's production, which will be shot entirely in Connecticut, said Colvin.

Days one through five were shot in Greenwich, he said. Production throughout the remainder of the week was planned in upstate Connecticut, along with a private residence in Stamford and at Brickhouse Bar & Grill on Bedford Street, said Torrance Colvin.

Shooting should be finished by Aug. 3, at which point post-production will begin, he said.

Colvin, a Washington, DC resident who was born in Massachusetts, said the decision to produce the show in Connecticut was based largely on the state's generous tax incentive program, which offers a 30 percent production tax credit on annual activity and a 20 percent tax credit on infrastructure costs exceeding $1 million.

"Having the tax credit allows us to spend more on the production," he said. "We get more bang for our buck."

Colvin would not discuss the cost to produce his pilot, but said expenses "are not on the high-end."He said he undertook a lengthy audition process, but selecting Ozsan and Hughes for the lead roles "was a no-brainer.We have a great deal of talent here," he said. "I'm really excited."

On Monday, extras took their places at surrounding dinner tables and practiced having pretend conversations, while Ozsan and Hughes prepared for the day's first scene in the center of the dining area.

The scene included a light-hearted dinner between the two main characters, which turned ugly when information that had been introduced by the story's antagonist, Jim Graves, threatens the reputation of DeLuca.

Torrance Colvin and Bob Diforio seem to be a formidable team.  Having seen firsthand the work that they were doing, we look forward to seeing the finished product.