On the set of November 1963, screenwriter and producer Nicholas Celozzi watches another film take unfold. “What we’re doing here today is this is right after the assassination of John F. Kennedy,” Celozzi said. “(Lee Harvey) Oswald, I don’t want to give too much away, but I think he knows at this point he’s being set up.” It’s all business on the set of a crime thriller that has chosen Winnipeg as its primary filming location. Celozzi’s production is a retelling of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy through the eyes of brothers Joseph ‘Pepe’ Giancana and his brother Sam Giancana. They ran the Chicago Outfit at the time, and Sam Giancana was a notorious mob boss. For Celozzi, it’s as much a family story as a historical account. “They were my uncles, and Pepe had given me this story,” he said. “This was really the introspective point of view of what went on, the underbelly that pulled this off.” The movie stars John Travolta and Mandy Patinkin, among others. Celozzi said the film is inspired by conversations he had with his uncle ‘Pepe’ in the ’90s. “I just became very close to Pepe all my life. I guess I can say it as a young kid, you know, he was in control of doing all the bookmaking on the West Side of Chicago,” he said. “He used to hang out at my dad’s dealership and just think, that’s all day long. As I got involved in the film business, he felt very comfortable. One day he actually said to me, he goes, ‘Look, not right now, but later on I’m going to tell you what actually took place.’” Celozzi said one person was tasked with driving Sam Giancana while conducting business in Dallas. “Sam asked Pepe, ‘Would you do me a favour and drive me around for a couple of days?’” he said. “Pepe actually is with Sam during those days. He was a fly on the wall. This basically is his perspective of what he saw and heard.” Initially Celozzi wanted to shoot the movie in the Chicago suburbs. A conversation with his producing partner Kevin DeWalt brought him to Winnipeg for the first time. He was soon convinced the city would be a great fit to film. “He said to me, ‘You have to come up here, there’s a city here, Winnipeg,’” Celozzi said. “It doubles for Chicago sometimes, and I think there’s some wonderful locations that we can shoot (as) Dallas. The hospitality Winnipeg has shown us has been really second to none.” Adam Smoluk, executive director of Film Training Manitoba, said it’s wonderful to see film productions taking place all over the province this summer. “We’re very fortunate at Film Training Manitoba, because we provide training for a lot of the professionals that work within the film and television industry,” Smoluk said. “When there are productions going on, that means there’s that much more training that’s needed. We see so much growth within our industry when these types of productions are happening.” Based on the time period it’s set in, Celozzi said the film will have the tone and style of The Godfather and he has enjoyed working with the Academy Award-nominated director Roland Joffe as Joffe directs the production. Working with Travolta and the rest of the cast has also been a pleasure based on the cast’s appreciation of the story at hand. “What they’ve all said to me is they’ve really appreciated the time I’ve taken with the subtext of the characters,” Celozzi said. Kennedy was killed 62 years ago, but Celozzi said the history is still top of mind. He said the recently released CIA documents will spark interest in his film. “People are still fascinated because they know something doesn’t seem right,” Celozzi said. “Right now it’s very topical because the people that I wrote about are now appearing in all of it.” Celozzi said they are hopeful to have the film released in 2026.
