Suffield Basketball Players Score on the Big Screen

By: Mary Anne Muska

     Life in the year 2000 has been exciting for Suffield High School Seniors Greg Viggiano and Mike Cotrone.  Besides having their college plans finalized, Greg and Mike were members of the Suffield High School Boys' Basketball Team that won the Class S State Championship.  Because of their basketball skills, Suffield resident Paul Wissel invited the teammates to participate in the making of the film, Finding Forrester.
     Paul will play the role of assistant basketball coach in the film and is assisting the supervisor of basketball in the acting portion of the movie.  As a member of the Screen Actors Guild, Paul travels to New York for auditions for movies and commercials.  When he read the script for the film he contacted the casting director who invited him to participate in the movie and help find and advise players of high school age to play the roles of a prep school basketball team.  Paul asked Greg and Mike whom he met at the recreation department Men's Basketball evening program to audition for the roles.
     Finding Forrester is the story of a young Afro-American high school student who attends a predominately white prep school and plays on the basketball team.  The movie features three Oscar winners: Sean Connery, F. Murray Abraham, and Anna Paquin.  The movie is being filmed in New York and Toronto.  The film is a natural fit for Paul, who operates Basketball World, a summer camp at Suffield Academy, and shooting clinics for players in youth programs, colleges, and the NBA.
     Greg stated that it was really amazing to see the amount of filming that is done in order to get a few minutes of accepted actual scenes.  The athlete who also plays soccer was really interested in all the behind-the-scenes activity that goes into making a movie.  Mike was interested in the fact that the director did not talk directly to the actors but had his assistants address them.  Mike who also participates in track at SHS stated that the movie could almost take a year to complete.
     It will be exciting for Suffield residents to follow the filming of this movie because of its ties to three town residents.  Greg and Mike will attend College next fall and will be anxious to see the film when it arrives in local theatres.

Originally published in The Suffield Observer, June, 2000

Mike Cotrone, Paul Wissel, and Greg Viggiano on location in New York City

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