{"id":369864,"date":"2025-12-25T19:32:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T19:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/369864\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T19:32:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T19:32:12","slug":"staten-island-director-films-comedy-movie-at-famed-borough-pizza-restaurant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/369864\/","title":{"rendered":"Staten Island director films comedy movie at famed borough pizza restaurant"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Sam Borowski is back doing what he does best.<\/p>\n

The New Springville resident recently wrapped up his latest film, which he directed and produced.<\/p>\n

Only this time, he\u2019s gone back to his roots shooting the final day of the comedy, \u201cThe Broship,\u201d at his childhood haunt and \u201cstill favorite\u201d eatery, Denino\u2019s in Port Richmond.<\/p>\n

\"Sam\"From the left, Michael Burke, Mary Dimino, Daniel Roebuck and Giselle Renata King. (Courtesy\/Steven Lance)(Courtesy\/Steven Lance)<\/p>\n

Borowski\u2019s friend, Denino\u2019s owner Michael Burke, even makes a small cameo in the movie.<\/p>\n

\"Sam\"From the left. actor Daniel Roebuck, director Sam Borowski and executive producer Don Miller after wrapping production on “The Broship” in Denino’s. (Courtesy\/Steven Lance)Staten Island Advance<\/p>\n

\u201cMichael\u2019s a great man … Salt of the Earth,\u201d Borowski smiled. \u201cHe\u2019s not only honest and kind, but he runs the establishment that still puts out the best pizza in the world!<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he\u2019s got a bit of Hollywood in him.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Borowski, that was just one way that this was a true Staten Island happening.<\/p>\n

\"Sam\"Sam Borowski checks out the monitor, while directing “The Broship.” (Courtesy\/Steven Lance)Staten Island Advance<\/p>\n

In addition to Borowski, Grasmere comedian\/actress Mary Dimino had a supporting role, as did former Port Richmond firefighter Giselle Renata King, who got her break when she portrayed a firefighter – Jaylen Patterson – in Staten Island native Pete Davidson\u2019s feature, \u201cThe King of Staten Island.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sam\"Grasmere comedian Mary Dimino, left, and lead actress Arielle Raycene on the set of The Broship, shot at Denino’s, Port Richmond. (Courtesy\/Rich Pagano)Staten Island Advance<\/p>\n

But the Island connections don\u2019t stop there. <\/p>\n

Don Miller, who was born in Fort Wadsworth \u2014 not the community, but in the actual military installation \u2014 served as executive producer\/first assistant director.<\/p>\n

\"Sam\"Director Sam Borowski, right, and actor Daniel Roebuck on the set of The Broship, shot at Denino’s, Port Richmond. (Courtesy\/Steven Lance)Staten Island Advance<\/p>\n

Dimino\u2019s husband, Rich Pagano, got in on the action, working on the crew and serving as an extra. <\/p>\n

\"Sam\"Mike Hart of Castleton Corners poses with Daniel Roebuck on the set in Denino’s Port Richmond. (Courtesy\/Steven Lance)Staten Island Advance<\/p>\n

But an even more special reunion occurred when Castleton Corners resident Mike Hart, the brother of the late Advance staffer Stephen Hart, and a close friend of Borowski, visited the set.<\/p>\n

The film stars New York native Vinnie Velez and Arielle Raycene as Marcus and Tanya, respectively, who have a strict agreement not to cross the line and go from friends to lovers. <\/p>\n

\"Sam\"Actors Arielle Raycene and Vinnie Velez in a scene from “The Broship,” reminiscent of “When Harry Met Sally.” (Courtesy\/Steven Lance)Staten Island Advance\"Sam\"(Courtesy\/Steven Lance)Staten Island Advance<\/p>\n

Borowski framed some of the shots in Denino\u2019s as homages to \u201cWhen Harry Met Sally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe shot this several weeks back before the tragic news about Rob Reiner,\u201d said Borowski. \u201cI\u2019ve always loved \u2018When Harry Met Sally,\u2019 as I have most of his movies. It was an honor to pay homage to that classic.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Raycene, who\u2019s known for the horror feature \u201cKill Her Goats,\u201d and the Mel Gibson feature, \u201cConfidential Informant,\u201d and who won numerous awards on the festival circuit for her short film, \u201cGrowing Daisies,\u201d is becoming something of an \u201cIt Girl.\u201d She currently has 453,000 followers on Instagram.<\/p>\n

But the most recognizable face in \u201cThe Broship,\u201d is Daniel Roebuck, who not only played the lead of \u2018Grandpa\u2019 \u2014 a\/k\/a \u2018The Count\u2019 \u2014 in the recent Universal Studios retelling of \u201cThe Munsters\u201d and played \u2018Detective Biggs\u2019 in \u201cThe Fugitive\u201d and \u201cUS Marshalls\u201d alongside Tommy Lee Jones, has starred in both \u201cMatlock\u201d and \u201cLOST\u201d and even played Jay Leno in the HBO Movie, \u201cThe Late Shift.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDanny is not only a dear friend and a professional, but he has one of the most well-known faces in this business,\u201d Borowski said. \u201cWe\u2019ve worked together double-digit times … so much so, I\u2019ve lost count now!\u201d<\/p>\n

Borowski said he\u2019s getting ready to move from development to pre-production on his next feature, \u201cStay Fresh.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Broship\u201d is expected to premiere on the Festival Circuit in 2026, followed by releases to streaming services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Sam Borowski is back doing what he does best. The New Springville resident recently…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":369865,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[88,206],"class_list":{"0":"post-369864","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-movies"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}