The Crossing NYC Film Table Read Moved To Zoom

Last Sunday, thirteen actors in 5 different states logged on to a Zoom conference to stage a reading of a new screenplay, The Crossing. Writer/Director Kevin McLaughlin had planned to do the reading in person at a Manhattan studio on March 15th, but with concern over the COVID-19 virus escalating at the time,

McLaughlin was forced to cancel the event. Two months later, with seemingly everyone becoming an expert in online conferencing, Kevin decided to try to
gather actors in a virtual space to perform his work via the internet.

"The real purpose of a reading like this is to hear what you've written as real actors will perform it," McLaughlin said. "When you write something like this, you spend a lot of time imagining what it's going to sound like, but there's no substitute for the real thing."

The big advantage of doing the reading via Zoom was that there were no geographic limitations on who could participate. McLaughlin directed from his home in Montclair, New Jersey, and other Garden-Staters participating were Patrick Devenny, Janelle Gaeta, Shannon Beeby and Ryan Jones. From New York, Jeanine Bartel, Geoff Burt, Cristina Doikos, Marshall Simon and Nelson Avidon logged in. Brooke Lewis Bellas and Ronnie Marmo represented California, and two New Yorkers who had fled the region for the quarantine, Tiffany Hodges and Alex Hazen Floyd played their roles from Vermont and Tennessee, respectively.

The Crossing is based on the true story of McLaughlin's grandmother, who emigrated from Ireland all by herself as a teenager. Actress Brooke Lewis Bellas described the multi-generational story as one that "touches on love and family and truth and pain comedy all in one."

The worldwide virus crisis has shut down movie production and is expected to cause a great shortage of new content in the near future. McLaughlin has hopes that a wise investor will recognize that fact and help make the director's vision a reality.

"The reading convinced me that it's ready to go," McLaughlin said. "This needs to be a movie, not just a script. Nobody knows where the market's going to be in a year or two, but I can guarantee people are going to want to see new movies."