By Sunayana Prabhu
RED BANK – The borough is gearing up for another red carpet event, bringing a little bit more Hollywood to the Two River area.
Rumson resident Siobhan Fallon Hogan’s film “Shelter in Solitude” will premiere Sept. 21 at Red Bank’s Basie Center Cinemas.
The film is about a God-fearing Catholic washed up country singer who works as a prison guard, played by Hogan, and her unconventional relationship with a death row prisoner, Emmy-award winner Peter Macon (“Othello,” “Orville”). The film also stars veteran actors Robert Patrick (“Terminator,” “Yellowstone”) and Dan Castellaneta (“The Simpsons”) in pivotal roles. The film is directed by Vibeke Muasya.
Hogan has brought many notable characters to life in some iconic films and television shows, including “Forrest Gump,” “Men in Black,” “Seinfeld,” “Saturday Night Live” and more. She wore multiple hats on “Shelter in Solitude”: actor, producer, writer and distributor.
Hogan also played a prison guard in “Dancer in the Dark,” the critically acclaimed movie by filmmaker Lars Von Trier which won the prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. That film provided both inspiration and background for “Shelter in Solitude,” along with the intriguing stories about prisoners that her father, an attorney in Syracuse, New York, shared with her.
But there is also a “huge element of humor” that defines Hogan’s writing, the actress said, explaining how she married the drama of a prison movie with levity. “There’s sort of joy in this journey of his (Macon’s) last 10 days of life, and is he going to the chair or not,” said Hogan.
“Shelter in Solitude” has already garnered awards at film festivals, including Best Actress and Best Cinematography awards at the 2023 Boston International Film Festival. Last year it was the opening film for Kevin Smith’s SModcastle Film Festival in Atlantic Highlands.
Hogan also wrote and produced the 2021 movie “Rushed” which was filmed in Rumson. “Shelter in Solitude” was shot entirely in Syracuse and Cazenovia, New York; sets were designed to replicate the outskirts of Tennessee.
Hogan said she wanted to premiere the movie in Red Bank before it hits theaters nationwide Sept. 28 because “there’s so many people from the community that came upstate to live for three weeks of insanity while we filmed this film, and they’re the reasons why it’s great.”
“Shelter in Solitude” was also a family affair: Hogan’s daughter Bernadette, a journalist, helped with the authenticity of news copy in the script; daughter Sinead is the production designer for the movie; son Peter is the music supervisor; and husband Peter is one of the producers.
In addition, the credits include a host of talented residents from the Two River area: Traci Turi as food stylist; Lisa Luckett as prop master; Mickey Murdock and Kevin Anderson were first assistant directors; Ben Danzi worked as a grip in the camera department; and Kyle Ward, son of The Two River Times’ Lynne Ward, composed the music for the movie.
Ward, a Rumson resident and graduate of Berklee College of Music, composed the majority of the songs and the entire background score for the movie. “Shelter in Solitude” will be his first feature-length movie and “hopefully,” Ward said on a phone call from Los Angeles, his “first big step” in the world of film music.
Although the Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes continue, “Shelter in Solitude” received an “interim agreement to promote it” from SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents actors, said Hogan. “SAG has made exceptions for films that didn’t take any studio money because we’re the opposite of why there’s a strike.”
Writers Guild of America (WGA) and SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) members continue to strike over labor disputes with major studios.
Besides the Red Bank premiere, “Shelter in Solitude” is scheduled for a star-studded showing at Nashville’s Belcourt Theatre Sept. 26, and will be released on streaming platforms Oct. 19.
This article originally appeared in the September 7 – 13, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
