Brooklyn Lobster
Production Notes

The inspiration for Brooklyn Lobster, starring Danny Aiello and Jane Curtin, came from Jordan's Lobster Dock in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. Writer/director Kevin Jordan wanted to bring the story of his family's lobster shop to life on the big screen. His grandfather, known as "the lobster king of New York," started the business back in 1938 on Bleecker Street in Manhattan and then moved it to Brooklyn. He was the first to air-ship lobsters packed in barrels of seaweed and is responsible for the glass lobster tanks found in local supermarkets today. The feature film loosely portrays Jordan's own family's struggle to keep their business afloat after a bank defaulted on the loan intended to help them build a restaurant extension. After a five-year court battle to hold on to the Brooklyn landmark, Jordan's Lobster Dock now faces foreclosure this fall.

Jordan teamed up with his brothers Darren and Brian to create a ten-minute documentary on their family's shop to stir interest and raise funds for the narrative feature. After a screening and lobster party, sufficient funding was secured to start production. Casting director Phyllis Huffman (Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River) was the first to join the team. She got the script to Danny Aiello, who signed on immediately, and Jane Curtin soon joined the cast to play opposite him. The film was shot in less than five weeks on location in Brooklyn as well as in Manhattan and Long Island. It focuses primarily on Frank Giorgio, played by Aiello, the stubborn, good-hearted, blue-collar owner of Giorgio's Lobster Farm, and how he deals with the impending foreclosure on the small, shaker-shingled lobster shop he inherited from his father. Although Frank refuses help, his family members also want to save the business that has always been a cornerstone of their lives-but the underlying story is really about their relationships with one another, especially Frank and Maureen (Curtin), whose marriage is coming to a quiet, matter-of-fact end, and Frank and their son Michael (Daniel Sauli), who is visiting for the holidays but reluctant to return full time to lobster land and his father's obstinacy. The film explores the complicated dynamics of family relations, marked with drama and humor, as the Giorgios face their greatest challenge yet.