TV Show with Vincent Pastore Gets a 'Slice' of Yorktown

It was an idea that has been in the making for the last eight years, but Croton-on-Hudson resident, who is a producer, writer and director, is finally making it a reality. Literally. 

Joe Dinki, of Pavaline Studios, is working on a scripted, reality TV show called 'Slice,' for which over the weekend. 

"It's a very different project than what I started with," he said.

He originally envisioned a reality show about an authentic pizza shop and the family who runs it. He got leads from Long Island to Brooklyn, but it didn't work out. He was then introduced to  owner Vito Picone and his family in 2008 and shot a few scenes for a reality show on them.

When that wasn't interesting, as Dinki described how the project was going, he had to let it go, turn in a different direction and bring in a well-known actor. 

After 6–7 months of playing tag with Vincent Pastore's agent, Dinki was finally able to get in touch with him (after going to his home) and secure him for the show, he said. 

Pastore, the actor best known for his role in The Sopranos, already shot the first scenes at  in Yorktown and is expected to come back next month to continue shooting.

"It will become a household name because it's funny," Dinki said of the show, which he hopes to be picked up by Spike TV. "We feel good about it."

Dinki described he is trying something new in the industry that many people might not understand – a scripted, reality TV show.

"It's funny to have Vincent [Pastore], one of the most notable mob actors in the country, work at a stubborn, little Yorktown Heights pizzeria, next to a gas station, but he is great," Dinki said. "[The show] is real, but it's unreal at the same time."

The reality aspect comes from the fact it's filmed at a real location, not a movie set, and it involved real people. But it's also scripted because there are actors playing a role.

"I make up the whole show as I go along," Dinki said.

Spadaque Volcimus, a Haiti native who plays the character Spadaque, said the producer had an idea of what the plot for the show would be and what would be going on in each scene, but he lets his actors and others in the scene dictate what they want to say or do.

"It's a lot of improv[ization]," said Volcimus, who studied radio and television broadcasting in college. "I've never really done something like this where I didn't have a character and I had to develop [it] in the scene."

Pastore, who plays Vincent Pastore gets a partnership with the pizza owner for the show. 

"The pizza shop was open the entire time we were shooting," Volcimus said. "Someone would come in and order a pizza not knowing what was going on."

Last Friday, the crew had their make up, hair and wardrobe done at  in Yorktown before starting to shoot at  on Saturday. They're expected to come back to town at the end of August and again in September to finish up the 6-episode production. 

Dinki said if his show 'Slice' gets picked up nationally, it will help put Yorktown on the map and could become a famous place.

To read the original story, published earlier this week, click here.

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