Jennifer Esposito, the writer-director of “Fresh Kills,” says she’s being forced to move out of her home because she mortgaged it to self-finance the highly praised independent mob drama.
In a weekend Instagram post, which she reposted as a Story on Sunday, Esposito also seems to call out people who starred in the film – Odessa A’zion in particular, who recently dropped out of an A24 project over objections that the German-American actress was cast as a character from a novel who was written as half Mexican.
“Yeah, I’m looking like ass right now because I’ve been crying because I’m moving out of my home that my mortgage to make my film,” Esposito says in the post. “And then have people who are in the spotlight now not be able to just throw back and say, hey, thanks. Watch this film.”
Esposito also starred in “Fresh Kills,” which she said was inspired by her experiences growing up on Staten Island. Before it was shot in 2022, Esposito said she struggled to get traditional financing because of its female-centered cast and story about a wife and daughters coming to grips with their family’s ties to organized crime.
“Fresh Kills” premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival to rave reviews – it stands at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes – but had a very limited release in the summer of 2024, making less than $70,000 domestically. Though some of it was financed through a unique blend of fan and digital investors, Esposito apparently threw down a significant portion of the budget herself.
“And then I said to myself, You know what? Nobody owes anybody anything,” she continued in her Instagram post. “And then I thought – do we? Do we as human beings? Maybe that’s why we’re in this problem right now, where we are. I think actually, we do owe each other something. We owe each other decency as human beings. That’s what we owe each other.”
Esposito did not call out A’zion by name, but she did reference the controversy around the casting for Sean Durkin’s ‘Deep Cuts’ movie.
“And I want to say one more thing,” she continued. “While I’m on my nice rampage, and I’m looking just so fine, this whole thing about, you know, a whole bunch of Latin actors saying and taking up, saying that they need more representation in Hollywood, I couldn’t agree more. But I just want to let want to let you know that that does us Italian actors. I’ve been told from Day One that I wasn’t white enough. And I did get a lot of Latin roles. And then, I’ve seen a lot of the same names that are in that letter to Hollywood play a lot of Italian roles. So my point is this – they’re not wrong. But also I’m not wrong, because I have a lot of Italian actor friends that now cannot go up for Latin roles, because there is a certain thing in contract that you get like, a write-off, if you put a real Latin person in the role. Which is great.
“But I just want to say one thing, which is, what happens to all the other cultures? I’m not saying they’re wrong, I’m saying the problem is, the real problem, what it’s always been, is whiteness. Ninety percent, I think they said? Of things that were written last year? Were written by white men. Eight percent of anything directed was women. So the problem once again is white supremacy and patriarchy. So I’d love all the other cultures to get together and figure out what to do about that, and I’d also love all the white actors to say hey, why don’t we just go with somebody who’s really right for the role instead of it always being the lead – white – and then everyone else. And then we’re all fighting amongst ourselves. I dunno. Just another thought while the world burns. Have a great day.”
She later posted a story with the words “Committing to your art is a commitment to vulnerability,” and another with a quote from George Lucas that reads: “I am very aware as a creative person that those who control the means of production, control the creative vision,” adding the caption: “Which is why independent stories matter so much!”
