New Haven Crew Gets Indie Movie Rolling

Jeff Bell wanted animosity.

“I want to feel it,” he told actor Ernest Richard. ​“I want it coming out of your pores. I want you to be showing him ​‘I can’t stand you. You’re just a social media punk out for likes and girls.’”

The scene was a clandestine meeting in a dank, dimly lit basement reached by a flight of rickety stairs from Madeline’s Empanaderia on Spring Street. Ernest Richard was District Attorney Calvin Tubbs. His object of scorn: Tim the Truthteller, the social media influencer played by Ethan Timothy.

After a series of casting calls late last year, it was the first day of shooting for Marblehead, a self-funded local independent movie based on Bell’s 2006 thriller of the same name, about a team of ex-Marines holding corporate power and greed to account.

These are the stakes: The D.A. needs Tim’s help in realizing his dying mission, contained in a plan inside his briefcase. 

While the story’s climactic ending explodes in the affluent beach town of Marblehead, Mass., the plan is for the film to be staged in and around New Haven as a way to ​“tap into the reservoir of talent in this area,” said Bell, who is also the film’s executive producer. He is also funding the project.

One recent day of filming began at 7 a.m. outside the New Haven courthouse with District Attorney Tubbs, known to his ex-Marine friends as ​“Preacher,” pounding his steering wheel. 

It’s that frustration that prompts Tubbs’s sit-down with Tim the Truthteller at Madeline’s, where the crew and actors congregated in late morning. 

“Three…two…one…action,” said director and producer Darrell Bellamy, armed with a Blackmagic Cinema camera. 

“Let’s get to the point,” Tubbs tells Tim, his slim briefcase on his lap. ​“I see you have a big following and you pride yourself in standing for the truth. I just need to know that you’re not a gimmick, that you’re the real deal.”

“My work speaks for itself,” Tim responds with a certain sanctimony. ​“I have over a million followers on multiple platforms because of my commitment to exposing corruption on all levels, so whatever it is that you need, I am there for the job.”

“Cut,” interjected Bellamy. ​“That was good. Let’s take it off from there.”

Alongside him was Melo Ali El, the Marblehead screenwriter as well as a writer and poet. Two years ago, he met Bellamy, who is a multi-faceted artist.

“He was looking for a screenwriter and we started talking,” El said. The result was Get Ya Mind Right, a 2022 six-part series based in New Haven.

Then came the Marblehead project, which began last summer at a Bell-Bellamy family picnic. Bell, the author, had seen Get Ya Mind Right. He gave Bellamy, his nephew, a copy of his book. Bellamy read it and passed it onto El.

“I was all in,” he said.

El generated a few scenes to streamline the narrative, and updated characters like Tim the Truthteller from television news reporter to social media influencer with millions of followers.

Shadowing Bellamy was Swizzy.K, the videographer.

A 22-year-old Southern Connecticut State University student majoring in psychology, with a minor in music, media, and technology, Swizzy.K met Bellamy through a mutual friend.

“He started showing me the ropes, taking me to gigs with him,” said Swizzy.K, also known as Kharonda Jones. ​“I would hold a camera and he would be directing me.” Eventually, she joined forces with Bellamy and El on Get Ya Mind Right.

Talon Cooper, the production sound mixer, relaxed nearby, waiting for the action to resume.

“I was a production assistant for a little bit at News 8, but I haven’t done anything for a while,” said Cooper, 26, a Hillhouse graduate who studied sound engineering at SCSU. 

“Jeff, who’s my cousin, asked me if I was willing to be involved, and I said, ​‘Of course.’ And it’s fun, just how it’s so grassroots.”

Standing near the door was Willie Bell, Jeff’s brother, who was providing security for the set. He’s slated to fill the role of Deacon, a benevolent school janitor who becomes a guardian for one of the ex-Marines. 

Willie, who grew up in New Haven, worked as a security guard at Hillhouse High School for 30 years. 

“I’ve been one kind of bodyguard or another since I was 14 years old,” he said. 

“A few more minutes,” Bellamy called out, as actors Richard and Timothy shot the breeze at the table, their scripts lodged under their chairs.

Richard, a New Haven native, said he runs Sharp 11 Productions, a jazz management company. 

“Back in the day I did a few episodes of Law and Order, independent TV, nothing too crazy,” he said. He heard about Marblehead from his manager. ​“I thought it sounded cool when he was describing it to me. I thought, ​‘I want to read the book,’” he said. 

Timothy, 22, is studying to be a veterinary tech at Middlesex Community College in Middletown but ​“acting is what I want to do,” he said. ​“I grew up doing school theater and local theater, and I’m taking some acting classes with a director.”

The film project ​“is the first real thing,” he said. ​“It’s phenomenal working for people as passionate as they are about what they’re doing, a genuine dream come true. They could not pay me a dime and I’d be happy.” 

“All right,” Bellamy was saying. ​“Let’s roll.” Everyone grew quiet. Cooper aimed the shotgun mic at the table.

Questioned by District Attorney Tubbs as to what motivated him to tell the truth, Tim the Truthteller pauses. ​“Isaiah 53:7,” he says, and recites the passage.

“Huh,” Tubbs says, setting his briefcase on the table. ​“You must have did your research. I’m a sucker for Scripture.” He pushes it toward Tim, then stops.

“Cut,” Bellamy said. 

“Alright,” Bell said. ​“That’s good, but I want to capture a close-up of you giving him the briefcase, and that moment of still being kind of hesitant, that’s your baby in your hand, big deal.” 

They did another take. 

“Yes!” Bell called out with excitement. ​“We got it. We’re rolling.”