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It'll soon be Showtime in Providence

Filming will begin in June on Brotherhood, a 12-episode series on the premium cable network.

BY ANDY SMITH Journal Television Writer | January 14, 2005

It might not have cute puppies and Melina Kanakaredes, but another TV series is coming to Providence.

Cable channel Showtime has approved production of an hour-long dramatic series called Brotherhood, which centers on two brothers -- one a politician, the other a mobster -- who grew up in a fictional Irish neighborhood called "The Hill" in Providence.

Unlike the NBC series Providence, which was set here but filmed largely in Los Angeles, Brotherhood will be made in Rhode Island.

"It's unprecedented in our state," said Steven Feinberg, director of the Rhode Island Film & Television Office. "This is the first time a TV series has been shot entirely in the state of Rhode Island."

The pilot for Brotherhood, was filmed here in early September. It was directed by Phillip Noyce, whose movie credits include Clear and Present Danger, Patriot Games and The Quiet American.

Among the locations used were a residential street on Federal Hill, and the State House.

Showtime has ordered 11 more episodes of Brotherhood. Feinberg said Showtime crews will probably start preparations in April and begin filming in June. The show should air early next year.

"This is a huge thing for us. A lot of people in the state worked very hard to make this happen," Feinberg said. "This will put hundreds of people to work, and inject millions of dollars into the state's economy."

Brotherhood will star Jason Isaacs, best known as the villainous British officer in Mel Gibson's The Patriot, as the criminal brother, and Jason Clarke, who appeared in the Australian film Rabbit-Proof Fence, as the politician brother.

Annabeth Gish, who has appeared in The West Wing and The X-Files, will play Clarke's wife.

The show, written by Blake Masters, was originally set in an unnamed New England city. Masters grew up in Western Massachusetts and New York.

Producers considered Boston for a time before settling on Providence.

One of the show's executives, Elizabeth Stephen of the Los Angeles production company Mandalay Entertainment, is a 1986 graduate of Brown University who majored in theater arts.

The plan was to set Brotherhood in Providence, but film most of it in Toronto, where costs are generally lower than in the United States. But Feinberg and other state officials lobbied hard to keep the show in Rhode Island.

"The producers stressed how pleased they were at the cooperation they were getting from public officials at all levels," said Lt. Gov. Charles J. Fogarty.

"We wanted to show that you can get what you want to get done quickly and with a minimum of red tape. Hopefully, the good reputation we get will attract more productions here."

State Rep. Paul E. Moura, D-Providence, said the House leadership is currently drafting legislation that would provide tax breaks to film and TV productions that work in Rhode Island.

The state found an ally in Noyce, the pilot's director. (Feinberg said Noyce will probably direct two more episodes of Brotherhood.)

"It's as good a location shoot as I've ever had," he said in an interview with The Journal last December. "The people are not cynical about the movies, and everyone was incredibly helpful."

Noyce also pointed out that, for a filmmaker, the state has some remarkably diverse locations -- Colonial architecture, Victorian mansions, triple-decker houses, the State House -- in close proximity to one another.

Today at 1 p.m., Feinberg is holding a news conference on Brotherhood at the State House Rotunda.

Governor Carcieri, House Speaker William J. Murphy, Senate President Joseph A. Montalbano, Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline, and Fogarty are scheduled to attend. The news conference is open to the public.

From The Providence Journal

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  • 3 months later...

whats it about?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's very original for Rhode Island... A story about two brothers, one in the mob, one in polictics, the viewers have to figure out which is which :lol: OK, that last part I made up.

Some are calling it Rhode Island's Sopranos, but I'm not sure that the Sopranos have really done anything for New Jersey as far as boosting tourism. Filming in the state will have a bigger economic impact I think than the actual show enticing people to come here. Also if the producers have a good experience in Rhode Island, they may tell their producer friends that this is a good place to work.

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  • 2 months later...

It's probably too late for you today, EPBOY, but there's a film crew shooting on Valley St. in Olneyville today. I don't know for sure if it's "The Brotherhood," but I can't imagine what else it would be.

The trucks all have Paramount logos on the cabs -- does Paramount produce the show?

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It's probably too late for you today, EPBOY, but there's a film crew shooting on Valley St. in Olneyville today. I don't know for sure if it's "The Brotherhood," but I can't imagine what else it would be.

The trucks all have Paramount logos on the cabs -- does Paramount produce the show?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks! I need at least a days notice so I can call in a sick day and stalk the cameras!

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It's probably too late for you today, EPBOY, but there's a film crew shooting on Valley St. in Olneyville today. I don't know for sure if it's "The Brotherhood," but I can't imagine what else it would be.

The trucks all have Paramount logos on the cabs -- does Paramount produce the show?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I see your name lurking so often, I feel like you're a forum regular, how can this be your first post? :blink:

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Well I'm stupid.  Brotherhood is about Irish brothers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The series is based on the life of two Providence (not Rhode Island) brothers and the interaction of traditional American organized crime in daily personal and political life.

Remember, from 1950-1980, Providence was the center of organized crime in New England (the Patriarca Family). It ended with Raymnd's death and the takeover by the Gambino Family of NYC.

It is an effort to pull viewers from the Soprano's and using Providence's name recognition. Yes, outside New England, the city is highly regarded.

When is the last TV show or movie based in Pittsburgh, Tampa, Kansas City, etc?...BORING PLACES.

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It is an effort to pull viewers from the Soprano's and using Providence's name recognition. Yes, outside New England, the city is highly regarded.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You're definitely right about this. Even my friends from New York, who love to bash everything that is not New York or Long Island, think that Providence is synonomous with mafia.

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It is an effort to pull viewers from the Soprano's and using Providence's name recognition. Yes, outside New England, the city is highly regarded.

When is the last TV show or movie based in Pittsburgh, Tampa, Kansas City, etc?...BORING PLACES.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hmmmmm Plenty of mafia in Pittsburgh and Kansas City.

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You're definitely right about this.  Even my friends from New York, who love to bash everything that is not New York or Long Island, think that Providence is synonomous with mafia.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, like the meat and fashion districts in NYC aren't infested by the mob. Not to mention the construction industry and Brooklyn.

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A few of the brotherhood folks are in Peerless.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Pretty sure I drove by some Brotherhood action last night. Big lights, police traffic control, and a cool looking van... I was about to get annoyed at the traffic then I realized what was going on, and had a change of heart.

I was a student at URI during the filming of Outside Providence. On one hand, it was cool to have a movie being filmed featuring my campus, on the other hand, it was a pain having film crews roping off the quad and asking the campus to be quiet. :P But a couple of my friends ended up being extras, and now I own the DVD and have a nice record of what campus looked like when I was matriculating.

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A lot of people just call it "the hill" though. 

"What did you do Saturday night?"

"Went for dinner up on the hill"

Thats some classic Rhode Island speak.

Liam

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've always known Federal Hill to be "THE Hill" in Providence. Much like "the Village" for Greenwich Village in New York.

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