Damnation has roots in Writer/Director Michael Capone's youth growing up in Youngstown, a deteriorating steel town awash in organized crime. It was christened "Crime Town, USA" by the Saturday Evening Post in 1963, after a period of mob warfare resulted in eleven murders and seventy-five car bombings. “...buffoons and incompetents succeed to important civic posts. Officials hobnob openly with criminals. Arrests of racketeers are rare, convictions rarer still and tough sentences almost unheard of.” 

 

The middle child of five, born of an Irish/Italian union which shattered when his volatile father abandoned the family, leaving behind only the name of history’s most infamous gangster. One foundational memory consisted of playing in a bombed-out building with his best friend Frankie after serving Mass as altar boys. They rappelled from the roof, holding tight to a rope tied around a chimney, swinging out through broken windows into the floors below. On the way back home, they watched as a stretch Cadillac pulled to the curb. A flamboyantly dressed man got out of the passenger side, walked around and shot the driver in the face. Capone was seven years old.

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Damnation began as Redemption, an ambitious crime drama he wrote, produced and directed at Wright State as part of the Motion Pictures Production program under Academy Award winning film- maker Julia Reichert. It was a massive undertaking, but ultimately the financial burden of mixing and printing a nearly hour long film in that analog age was the reason Redemption would go unfinished. The raw elements languished in storage for decades.

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A career in New York City followed, primarily as a film & tv editor, accumulating over 60 credits in both narrative and documentary disciplines. The pandemic sparked a strong desire to preserve Redemption's raw elements. Stacks of canisters of Fuji Film and boxes of Maxell 1/4" tapes were shipped to Severin Films in Los Angeles. Their expert restoration services were secured when Capone convinced owner David Gregory to undertake the job instead of compensating him for editing and co-producing Tales of the Uncanny: The Ultimate Survey of Anthology Horror.

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After months of uncomfortable collaboration with his 19-year-old self, Redemption was resurrected as originally envisioned. Capone then attended the2023 Sitges Film Festival, where he met director Jake West, who he eventually shared the cut with.West's reaction convinced Capone it could be something much bigger.

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Afterward, he wrote a new screenplay, folding the original material in as flashbacks, reviving an earlier plan to expand the story to feature length. He contacted actor Scot Colford, who'd played the lead in 1988. He was immediately supportive, eager to reprise his role and served to be a vital collaborator. As was Eric Purtle, who not only returned to his supporting role, but also generously contributed a number of songs to the soundtrack. After an extensive search, Nina Pilar was found working at the Red Barn Theater in Key West and was cast as the antagonist. After generously agreeing to fly in from the U.K. to provide location sound, Jake West recommended talented Cinematographer Vince Knight who agreed to shoot the movie. His wife Karolina also signed on, serving invaluably as "Best Boy" and even playing a small role in the movie.

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Damnation was shot over ten days in and around Delray Beach,

Florida. Two years of post production followed. It is currently being submitted to film festivals ahead of a wider release.