Iona’s Mass Communications Media Director Mike Damergis and Iona alumus Rudy Cecera have put in many hours and creative energy into writing, producing and editing a short silent film called “Mabel’s Dressing Room.”

Running 15 minutes long and set in 1914, “Mabel’s Dressing Room” is a humorous look at what went on behind the scenes in Old Time Hollywood, highlighting the silent film star, Mabel Normand. The silent film was shot in Connecticut as it provided an authentic 1900s feel and fulfilled the film’s need for old-fashioned cars. Some scenes were also filmed in New Rochelle.

But who is Normand and why is she important enough to have a film written about her? These questions are exactly what motivated Cecera to make a film about this underrated Hollywood star.

Cecera has had a fulfilling career with writing for famous comedians such as David Letterman and Jay Leno as well having his work shown on the Syfy channel and HBO. However, five years ago, there was a writer’s strike, which caused Cecera to be out of a job. In lieu of just lounging around unproductively, Cecera decided that he should work on making a feature film to add to his repertoire.

To get some ideas for this feature film, Cecera looked to something he admired for most of his life: silent film. He loved the fact that in silent films actors had to rely on emotion and body movement in order to evoke a theme or situation. This was true acting in Cecera’s eyes.

“Silent film is real acting; it requires you to show true emotion without using words,” said Cecera.

Early film comedians like Fatty Arbuckle and Charlie Chaplin were whom he admired, and he realized that many films have been created based on their lives.

Cecera wanted to do something different and unique. That’s when he stumbled upon Normand, a funny, beautiful and talented film star. Surprisingly no one had ever written anything or filmed anything about Normand’s life and career even though she was one of the first female directors. Without her, there wouldn’t even be a Charlie Chaplin or a Lucille Ball. Determined to give Normand the credit she rightfully deserved, Cecera sought out to make a feature film about her.

For years Cecera made his first attempt to create a film about Normand, which made it to four film festivals. However, there was too much information compiled into a short period of time and a lot of important aspects about Normand and Hollywood were lost in translation. Cecera did not abandon her; he focused on quality and chose one scene to portray in the film.

The scene that provided the most interesting aspects and stuck out among the rest was Mabel’s dressing room. With that idea Cecera gathered a cast and crew, including Damergis and recent Iona graduates and brought this silent, short film to life.

Cecera and Damergis have spent much time and hard work on “Mabel’s Dressing Room.”

“I hope this short film will lead to a big feature production,” said Cecera.

They have sent the trailer to a couple of movie companies and plan to submit it to the Tribeca and Sundance Film Festivals.

The film is currently in post-production and should be ready in about a month, depending on how quickly the editing process goes.

Eventually there will be a screening here at Iona, so be on the lookout for “Mabel’s Dressing Room.”