Gerry Ferretti, creator of the New York Long Island Film Festival, on Monday talked about his TV series, "The Fontanas." The series, which he starred in, wrote, directed and created, is based in his hometown of Lindenhurst. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin

For writer and director Gerry Ferretti, the question of where to film his first television series was never in doubt.

It had to be on Long Island and it had to feature his hometown of Lindenhurst.

Ferretti, 57, now has finished three episodes of his dramedy “The Fontanas” and is shopping it around with the hope that a television network or streaming service picks it up.

“I said, ‘If I ever make something like this, I’m going to film this right here in Lindenhurst because there’s so much available,” he told Newsday. “You’ve got beaches, you’ve got quaint downtowns, you’ve got big houses, you’ve got houses with fire escapes, you’ve got the train. There’s so much here.”

The series focuses on an Italian-American family, the Carettis, who experience an upheaval when their patriarch suddenly dies.

Ferretti said the show features a shifting family dynamic and examines the evolution of relationships, at turns taking comedic and serious looks at divorce, infidelity and career ambitions with an undercurrent of secrets that are strategically revealed.

Even the title of the show and how the name Fontana relates to the characters is a mystery buried deep in the series, Ferretti said.

Ferretti cast himself as a brother, one of series' leading characters, in addition to his writer and director roles. He said the series is a composite of his own life growing up in Massapequa and fictional storylines, including one involving the mafia.

“It gets darker but I’m determined to keep the humor in it,” he said of the family-based plots. “Because it’s always something I observed, for every relative who would pass away, it was sad but everybody would stand next to the casket laughing, telling stories.”

Because the crux of the series is about relationships and family, it’s very relatable, said Angela C. Parker, who plays one of the wives in the familyNora Caretti.

“Everybody has a story, has an experience that you can relate to in this,” added Parker, 56, of Glen Head.

Ferretti, who works full time as a fraud investigator for Suffolk County, is the founder of the New York Long Island Film Festival. That event, now in its fifth year, will be held in October in Lindenhurst, where Ferretti has lived for three decades.

Among the Lindenhurst locations depicted in the television series are Belfast Gastropub, So Sveglio Espresso Bar and Spasso’s pizzeria, along with Fireman’s Park. It’s the first significant filming in the village in some time, officials said.

“This is on a level we’ve never seen before,” added Mayor Mike Lavorata.

The series features local actors, including a village government worker, in one of the starring roles: Lavorata’s secretary Katie Schrader plays Sharlene Caretti, another wife in the family.

Schrader, 52, said that between the series and the film festival, “Lindenhurst is really on the map now” for filming.

Ferretti has a fourth episode nearly completed and hopes to soon finish writing and filming the remaining three episodes of the first season.

“My goal is to keep people entertained and on the edge of their seat,” he said.

For writer and director Gerry Ferretti, the question of where to film his first television series was never in doubt.

It had to be on Long Island and it had to feature his hometown of Lindenhurst.

Ferretti, 57, now has finished three episodes of his dramedy “The Fontanas” and is shopping it around with the hope that a television network or streaming service picks it up.

“I said, ‘If I ever make something like this, I’m going to film this right here in Lindenhurst because there’s so much available,” he told Newsday. “You’ve got beaches, you’ve got quaint downtowns, you’ve got big houses, you’ve got houses with fire escapes, you’ve got the train. There’s so much here.”

The series focuses on an Italian-American family, the Carettis, who experience an upheaval when their patriarch suddenly dies.

Ferretti said the show features a shifting family dynamic and examines the evolution of relationships, at turns taking comedic and serious looks at divorce, infidelity and career ambitions with an undercurrent of secrets that are strategically revealed.

Even the title of the show and how the name Fontana relates to the characters is a mystery buried deep in the series, Ferretti said.

Ferretti cast himself as a brother, one of series' leading characters, in addition to his writer and director roles. He said the series is a composite of his own life growing up in Massapequa and fictional storylines, including one involving the mafia.

“It gets darker but I’m determined to keep the humor in it,” he said of the family-based plots. “Because it’s always something I observed, for every relative who would pass away, it was sad but everybody would stand next to the casket laughing, telling stories.”

Because the crux of the series is about relationships and family, it’s very relatable, said Angela C. Parker, who plays one of the wives in the familyNora Caretti.

“Everybody has a story, has an experience that you can relate to in this,” added Parker, 56, of Glen Head.

Ferretti, who works full time as a fraud investigator for Suffolk County, is the founder of the New York Long Island Film Festival. That event, now in its fifth year, will be held in October in Lindenhurst, where Ferretti has lived for three decades.

Among the Lindenhurst locations depicted in the television series are Belfast Gastropub, So Sveglio Espresso Bar and Spasso’s pizzeria, along with Fireman’s Park. It’s the first significant filming in the village in some time, officials said.

“This is on a level we’ve never seen before,” added Mayor Mike Lavorata.

The series features local actors, including a village government worker, in one of the starring roles: Lavorata’s secretary Katie Schrader plays Sharlene Caretti, another wife in the family.

Schrader, 52, said that between the series and the film festival, “Lindenhurst is really on the map now” for filming.

Ferretti has a fourth episode nearly completed and hopes to soon finish writing and filming the remaining three episodes of the first season.

“My goal is to keep people entertained and on the edge of their seat,” he said.

More on “The Fontanas”

  • Seven episodes will be in the first season
  • Each episode of the "dramedy" will be 25 minutes 
  • Writer and director Gerry Ferretti, who also acts in the series, wants to sell it to a streaming service or television network
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