Saga of ‘What Goes Up’ is dream fulfilled
Film opening here tonight has strong Buffalo flavor
The making of “What Goes Up” hinged on one of Hollywood’s hoariest cliches, admits co-executive producer Anthony Miranda, one of six current or former Buffalonians instrumental in bringing the movie starring Hilary Duff and Steve Coogan to the big screen.
It will premiere today in the Market Arcade Film and Arts Centre as part of the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival, ahead of the red carpet debut May 28 in Los Angeles.
A 2007 meeting in L. A., where newly formed Three Kings Productions — Miranda and partners James Hoke and Joe Nahas — worked up the budget for its first film was like a clip from an old Bmovie, said Miranda, a former University at Buffalo music faculty member and professional drummer who was taking his first swing at moviemaking.
“Remember the old napkin deals, where everything was written down on the back of a napkin? That’s just the way it happened,” he said. “The whole thing was really a blast.”
Miranda, who, when he wasn’t teaching, recorded with Natalie Cole and Gladys Knight, among others, and had a steady gig as a studio musician in Los Angeles, worked his Buffalo and West Coast connections to help get the story, written by “What Goes Up” director Jonathan Glatzer and Robert Lawson, on film.
Coogan plays a New York City reporter who is sent to Christa McAuliffe’s New Hampshire high school to cover the hoopla surrounding the teacher-astronaut’s ill-fated flight aboard the space shuttle Challenger, only to be drawn to a group of dysfunctional students played by Duff, Josh Peck and Olivia Thirlby. Molly Shannon also has a featured role.
Tom Greenauer, of East Aurora’s Greenauer Development, signed on as an executive producer and lead investor; Lenny Silver, owner of Amherst Records, and Tom Parker, the recording studio’s lawyer, agreed to produce the soundtrack; Holt Vaughn, owner of Orchard Park’s Eastco Multimedia, contracted to press and package the music CD; and Norm Merriman, a Greenauer Development vice president, put up additional financing.
Miranda and his Three Kings partners — Hoke, a Las Vegas marketer and Nahas, a California entrepreneur—teamed with Elie Samaha, a Los Angeles club owner and independent film producer, to shoot the movie in Vancouver, British Columbia, “an absolutely spectacular” backdrop, Miranda said.
Meanwhile, Miranda, who in addition to being co-executive producer helped produce and performs on the sound track, supervised recording sessions in Los Angeles and mixing at Amherst Records.
The track includes “Any Other Day,” sung by Duff, who wrote it with Glatzner and Lawson. Released as a single last week by Amherst Records, the song already is stirring interest on music Web sites. The sound-track album will feature 17 songs, including tracks by Buffalo’s Innocent Bystanders and David Bowie.
Doing the film was “a ride of amazing days and horrifying days” but on balance “such a fun trip,” said Miranda, 50, a Buffalo native who grew up in Alden and took up drums at age 7. He taught music at Villa Maria and Buffalo State colleges before moving to UB from 1985 to 2007. During his time there he formed and performed with the UB Percussion Ensemble.
He had done other film and television work, but this time “it was really wonderful to have more control over the music and other things going on in the movie,” he said.
Even better, the novice producers brought the project in $300,000 below its $4.5 million budget, he added. It will be distributed by SONY Entertainment.
The producers believe their film has breakthrough potential similar to “Juno”, the independent teen pregnancy film that was a surprise box office hit and won an Oscar nomination for actress Ellen Page in 2007.
Debuting “What Goes Up” in his hometown is something Miranda dreamed about from the start.
“I’m really proud of our town and wanted to support the film festival,” said Miranda, who lives in Las Vegas with his wife, Terese, but still has many relatives in the Buffalo area.
The 104-minute movie will be shown at 7:15 p. m. on two Market Arcade screens. Tickets are $12 online or $15 at the box office.
The red carpet event will be black-tie optional, with an after-screening party in Pure, 175 Chippewa St.
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