Southern Circuit - Jim Cozza

Southern Circuit - Tour of Independent Filmmakers

Jim Cozza produced and directed the award-winning short films River Rat, for National Geographic, and Autumn Waking, which featured Edie Falco. His training in filmmaking came via Hollywood picture editing crews, working with noted directors including Kathryn Bigelow (Blue Steel), John Frankenheimer (Against the Wall), Alan Parker (The Commitments), and Wayne Wang (Smoke). He went on to edit a number of independent features and numerous programs for US television. More recently, he’s produced, directed, and/or edited television for NBC, PBS and the Discovery Channel. Frank the Rat is his first feature film as a writer and director. Frank the Rat explores the deep but fragile bond between siblings who have grown apart but can’t get by without each other. Billy lives in a run-down industrial neighborhood in New York City, with no real job, or place to call his own. His sister, Lisa, appears to be doing better, but she just ran out on her fiancé, and that’s only the beginning of her problems. One day Lisa shows up on Billy’s doorstep with a plan to save both of them: hit the road together and find Frank, the father they haven’t seen in twenty years. Along the way, they meet some uniquely American characters, have adventures both good and bad and, naturally, nothing goes according to plan.