Film Chat and Pizza with Kevin Tran

During our first DCIFF Film Chat, we spoke with Kevin Tran. He shared how he was inspired to make a film about suburban life from his childhood. He combined that with a news story of a person killing people’s house pets. He wondered, how would the neighbors react? Would they go on with life? Would they be searching for this pet killer? With the help of his cast and crew, they got others to sign on and film in New Jersey. For the first time feature film director, Tran said that he was thankful for the patience and wisdom his more experienced cast gave him. Clearly the result was good as the film can be seen at Amazon Prime.

We ended with him sharing a pizza recipe that he and his family have been making during the quarantine. If we could have just reached through the screen for a bite!

For the dough:
2 cups bread flour 
1 cup cold water
1 tsp of active dry yeast
1 tsp of salt
For the sauce:
1 can of whole tomatoes 
2 garlic cloves
Pinch of salt
Toppings:
Shredded fresh mozzarella 
Basil
Olive oil
+ Anything your heart desires!

• Place pizza stone on the high rack and turn the oven to broil. Make sure the stone is really hot before starting.
• Mix flour, water, yeast and salt in a food processor, mixing stand or bowl. Best to let stand for at least 30 min. and up to 3 hours
• In a food processor blend tomatoes, garlic and salt
• Roll out dough into a flat circle with a roller or by hand. Use more flour so that the dough does not stick to the surface or the peel.
• Add a thin layer of tomato sauce, then mozzarella and top with olive oil and basil (or additional toppings)
• Use a pizza peel to place the pie on the hot stone.
• Bake for 3-6 min. Check that the cheese is melted and the bottom of the pizza is crispy.
• Let cool for 5 min. before slicing into triangles

Each month FilmChat highlights work from our successful alum that you can watch online. Free, online and all welcome. Next DCIFF Film Chat is March 9th (8:30-9:20pm EST) with Alex Goldberg who will share his upcoming script and, of course, a recipe. First watch his last film CLOSURE on Amazon Prime.  

Read our previous blog about Kevin and listen to our podcast interview with him here. 

You can learn more about his film here.