PROVIDENCE — The Twilight Zone has crossed over into … Rhode Island.
The state’s Film & Television Office on Monday touted how the Ocean State is playing a starring role in a forthcoming documentary on the life of Rod Serling, the legendary mastermind and iconic narrator behind the pioneering, 1950s and ‘60s science-fiction television series, “The Twilight Zone.”
The film, authorized by Serling’s two daughters, Jodi Serling and Anne Serling, is being produced by Verdi Productions, an East Greenwich, R.I.-based production company. State officials announced Monday that Leonardo DiCaprio’s company, Appian Way Productions, has also joined the production.
“Prolific, creative and insightful, Rod Serling was a provocative storyteller whose narratives such as ‘The Twilight Zone’ series and the original ‘Planet of the Apes’ feature film impacted my life along with millions of others,” Steven Feinberg, executive director of the state’s Film & Television Office, said in a statement. “Rod Serling has and always will be an inspiration.
“The Rhode Island film and t.v. community is honored to host our friends, Chad Verdi and Verdi Productions, along with Leonardo DiCaprio, Appian Way, and the Serling Family, as they create a much-needed documentary about the life and unique talents of the master storyteller Rod Serling,” Feinberg’s statement continued. “We know it will be a special event and we could not be prouder to be part of it!”
Although Serling, who died in 1975 at the age of 50, hailed from upstate New York, the documentarians used locations in East Greenwich, Providence, and Wakefield — the village in South Kingstown, R.I. — to help recreate moments in Serling’s life, “mirroring the same cinematic black and white style” of his signature show, officials said.
Actor Tom DeNucci, a Cranston, R.I. native, will portray Serling in the film’s reenactments. The movie is directed by Jonah Tulis, who also wrote the screenplay.
The production will be the second that Verdi Productions has co-produced with Appian Way this year. The other was “Sleepwalker,” a psychological thriller starring Hayden Panettiere, Beverly D’Angelo, Justin Chatwin, Mischa Barton, and Lori Tan Chinn.
“We are enthusiastic to finish another successful shoot with Appian Way in Rhode Island — our second co-production with them in the span of three months. Our company’s goal is to keep creating jobs in Rhode Island with high profile and meaningful projects that our small state can be proud of,” Verdi, president of Verdi Productions, said in a statement. “We expect to announce our third collaboration with Leo and the Appian Way team very soon.”
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