Solomon Chertok

It's always been Solomon's boyhood dream to be an actor, ever since he saw Star Wars Episode 4: "A New Hope." His first acting role was as Lt. Col. Nathan Jessop in his high school's production of A Few Good Men. Solomon followed that role a year later, playing the villain Iago in his (high school) Shakespeare class production of Othello. Solomon studied theater acting and majored in cinema studies at Brooklyn College with Tom Bullard, Margaret Linney, and David Garfield. Solomon has appeared in numerous independent films including starring in the short film, It's All Relative, which won a certificate of merit from the 2004 Rochester International Film Festival. Solomon and his sister, Sandy, produced It's All Relative, which she wrote the screenplay. Besides acting, Solomon is also involved in film production work and won first place in the 8mm category at the 1996 Brooklyn College Film Festival for directing and producing the short film, The Letter. Both Solomon and Carlos E. Pardo produced the short films Billy's Choice, The Interrogation of Clark Grant. Solomon wrote the screenplay for The Interrogation of Clark Grant. Solomon and Carlos also produced the feature length improv film, David's Apartment, which was filmed in 2003 and completed in 2007. In 2005, Solomon was the associate producer on E. Fitzgerald Productions, a weekly talk show focusing on independent filmmaking. Also in 2005, Solomon created a New York City film event called "Sundays in the City Movie Marathon," which took place in the month of March. Independent features, shorts, animation, and documentaries have screened at this film event. The event was very successful and has become an annual event since. This event lets filmmakers screen their films in a non-competitive and fun environment, which provides networking with industry, actors, and fellow filmmakers. The event has helped many filmmakers, actors, singers, and comedians. Celebrities, casting agents, and production company representatives have attended the event each year. In the fall of 2007, Solomon did crew work on a Batman fan film, The Amazing Adventures of Little Batman, directed by Joe Valenti of Valenti Vision Films. This film was produced by Jordan Wachtell of Wachtell Studios. The film pays homage to the Adam West 1966 TV Show. This marked the first time that Solomon has worked with Jordan and the amazing set and prop designer Ross Chirico. It has been shown at several top film festivals across the US to standing ovations. In January of 2008, Solomon did crew work on a documentary short film Lisa Loeb Songwriting Just Like You, directed by Joe Valenti for Valenti Vision Films. The documentary focuses on singer Lisa Loeb, who teams up with the Manhattan New Music Project to bring the art of songwriting to public school children. From the summer of 2008 to the fall of 2008, Solomon was the associate producer for the short fan film, Little Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Magic Scrolls, for Wachtell Studios. Jordan Wachtell, who produced The Amazing Adventures of Little Batman, which Solomon did crew work for, asked Solomon to come on board and be involved in the creative process for his Indiana Jones fan film. Solomon developed with Jordan the story line for the film. Solomon was able to make recommendations in assembling cast and crew for Little Indy. Solomon loved working again with Jordan and the set and prop designer, Ross Chirico. It was an amazing experience for Solomon, especially this time around being involved in the creative process of making a fan film. In the fall of 2009, Solomon helped out his friend Lorrayne Mercier on an event that she was in charge for the men and women of the U.S. Army and their families. The event featured plenty of activities for the entire family. Over 200 people showed up to this event in New Jersey. Solomon was able to make recommendations for this event. His contributions for this event included a music performance by Michele "Fuchsia" Mupo, photographer Barry Brown covering the event, and a screening of the fan family short films, The Amazing Adventures of Little Batman and Little Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Magic Scrolls. Solomon had an amazing experience participating in this event and contributing to the joy and happiness of the men and women of the U.S. Army and their families that attended. This event, he will never forget. Also in 2009, Solomon was one of the producers for the horror short film, Clive Unger's Madame X, which was written, edited, co-produced, and directed by Brian DeCicco. Despite the fact, that Solomon has acted in 2 horror short films, he has never produced a horror short film and he was not a fan of horror films. However, after reading the script and doing this film, Solomon has a new respect for the horror film genre. Scream Queens Debbie D and Tina Krause were casted in the film in supporting roles thanks to Solomon's suggestion to Brian to cast both actresses in the film. In addition, Solomon was also able to make some recommendations for assembling of the cast and crew of this film. Solomon especially enjoyed working with the set designer, Deanna R. Frieman, who Brian brought on board the film, and did an amazing job with each set that she worked on. The film was shot on the Sony dvcpro HD camera and was shot on location in New Jersey, Brooklyn, and Long Island. On June 17th, 2011 at Gizzi's Cafe in Manhattan, there was a promotion party for the film which was well attended and got people excited to see the film on the film festival circuit. The film premiered at the Macab Faire Film Festival in January 2013, in Long Island. Dan Cullen, who played Clive Unger in the movie, won best actor at the Winter Film Awards Festival 2013. The film also screened at the Yellow Ape Film Festival in July of 2013 and Bizarre A.C. Film Festival in December 2013. In the fall of 2010, Solomon was the associate producer and casting director, for the independent dramatic short film, A Story About Ian, directed by Filip K. Kasperaszek. One reason that Solomon came on board this film was cause it was being shot with the famous RED Mysterium-X Camera, which is a camera that Solomon always wanted to do a movie with. Solomon was amazed at the quality of the footage shot from this camera for the film. He loved working with cinematographer Ita Zbroniec-Zajt, who in his opinion is one of the best cinematographers that he has worked with so far. The film was shot on location in New York City. Solomon casted the majority of the film and even got to play a supporting role in the film. The film has an ensemble of familiar names such as Lauren Francesca, Evan Ginzburg, Barry Brown, Hector Bosa, Michele Mupo, Dawn Marie, Debbie D, Melissa Coates, Tina Krause, and Gary Scudero. Solomon got to even co-direct with Barry Brown the Dean Roderick commercial that appears in the film. Solomon had an amazing time working with Filip and doing this film. On March 25th, 2011 at Gizzi's Cafe in Manhattan, there was a promotion party for the film which was well attended and got people excited to see the film on the film festival circuit. The film premiered at the Naoussa International Film Festival in Greece in October of 2011. The film has it's U.S. premiere at the Winter Film Awards Festival 2013. In the summer of 2011, Solomon was one of the producers for the independent dramatic short film, The Nowhere Room, directed by Alessandro Mini. This was the second time, that Solomon produced a film for a foreign filmmaker and with the RED Camera. He loved working with cinematographer, Luigi Benvisto. The film was shot on location in New York City. Solomon got Evan Ginzburg and Armond Cecere to join the cast of the film. He also helped casted the actors in the photomontage sequence of the film and helped organize and supervise the photomontage shoot for the film. The film has actress Brandi Bravo in the leading role. On April 27th, 2012 at Gizzi's Cafe in Manhattan, there was a promotion party for the film which was well attended and got people excited to see the film on the film festival circuit. The film premiered at the Pollygrind Underground Film Festival in October 2012 in Las Vegas. Brandi Bravo won best actress in a short film at the Macab Faire Film Festival in January 2013, in Long Island. The film was nominated for best student film at the Winter Film Awards Festival 2013. In the fall of 2011, Solomon was one of the producers for the the independent Scifi/Action short film, The Cost of Living, directed by Robert Linsley. This was the third time, that Solomon produced a film for a foreign filmmaker and with the RED Camera. This was Solomon's first time producing a Scifi/Action short film. Science fiction is one of Solomon's favorite genres and that was one of the reasons he came on board as a producer for the film. He also enjoyed working with the director Robert Linsley. Both Solomon and Robert have famous relatives. The film was shot on location in New York City. Solomon gave his feedback on each draft of the script. He helped with the casting of the film. Solomon got Stacy Kessler, Scott Epstein, Christine Marie, Barry Brown, Dave DeCicco, Dean Curtis, Hector Bosa, and a few other actors to join the cast of the film. Solomon enjoyed working with Kazy Tauginas, who choreographed the big fight in the movie, as well as, appearing in the film. He also enjoyed working with John William Larkin, who played the evil dictator/general in the movie. The film stars Penny Bittone. On May 25th, 2012 at Gizzi's Cafe in Manhattan, there was a promotion party for the film which was well attended and got people excited to see the film on the film festival circuit. Coincidentally, this was also the last film promotion party that Solomon did at Gizzi's Cafe, which closed in November of 2012. The attendance at this film party was bigger than the others that he did at Gizzi's. The film premiered at the Winter Film Awards Festival 2013. In the fall of 2012, Solomon did voice over work for the comedy short film, iLove. This is the second time that Solomon has done voice over work for a film. His first time was for the movie, David's Apartment, where he did a voice over narration for that film. The film reunited Solomon with Luis Enrique Rivera Cuyar, who did crew work on Robert Linsley's film, The Cost of Living. Solomon enjoyed working with Luis, this time, as his director for the film. He also enjoyed working with Yanina Shatvoryan. Solomon was very happy with the finished product and looks forward to doing more voice over roles. The film screened at the 2013 NYC Independent Film Festival, the 2013 International Film Festival Manhattan, and Cinema Night.