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After shooting the first three Taxicab Confessions in New York (January 1995,
December 1995 and August 1996), producers Joe and Harry Gantz moved to
Las Vegas for seven more (October 1997 through January 2003). Though Sin
City had its share of eccentric personalities and salacious highlights, HBO and
the producers always yearned to return to the place where it all started. With
the renewed blessing of the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre & Broadcasting and
the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, the producers returned to
NYC starting in 2003, enlisting a veteran group of actual cabbies to share
driving duties - and elicit candid conversation - in a rigged yellow cab. The
results are Taxicab Confessions: New York, New York (February 2005), Taxicab
Confessions: New York, New York Part 2 (January 2006) - and this special.
As they did in previous specials, the producers spent several weeks following
this cab, ingeniously rigged with cameras and microphones hidden in the
interior, which were in turn hooked up to video decks placed in the taxi's
trunk. An additional audio/video linkup allowed the producers, who discreetly
followed the cab in an unmarked production van, to prompt the driver with
questions via a tiny earphone not visible to the passengers. None of these
people were aware that they were being filmed until after the ride was over
(by signing a release, they allow themselves to be in the documentary). As a
result, their conversations are (as always) genuine, relaxed and totally candid.
As this month's special proves, there's no place like New York, New York to
find stories and situations as diverse as the city itself. Among the people we
meet: a bickering American-French couple who nevertheless intend to marry;
a call girl with a drug habit and (she claims) a murderous past; two African-
American actors perturbed over continuing discrimination and stereotyping; a
state policeman whose tormenting visions of dead people have undermined his
most recent chance for love and marriage; and a woman who witnessed the
World Trade Center attacks and vows never to set foot in Manhattan again.
As in other editions, over the show's end credits, the passengers in Taxicab
Confessions: New York, New York Part 3 are seen learning their ride was
videotaped, adding a Candid Camera-like touch to this most candid of formats.
Produced and Directed by Joe and Harry Gantz. Taxi Drivers: Brenda Roman, Chris Moriarty, Angela Lewis and Kathy Santos. For HBO: Production Executive: Susan Benaroya; Coordinating Producer: Sara Bernstein; Supervising Producer: John Hoffman; Executive Producer: Sheila Nevins.
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