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The Making of Family Bonds
Offering an intimate look inside a world most viewers never see first-hand, FAMILY BONDS was an eye-opening experience for Steven Cantor (director, executive producer) and Matthew Galkin (producer) of Stick Figure Productions - from getting the project off the ground, to mastering the complicated logistics of shooting, to becoming honorary Evangelistas themselves.
Cantor recalls that while the project initially seemed promising on paper, it almost didn't happen. After deciding to shoot a documentary on bail bondsmen - who post bail money for criminal suspects unable to pay it themselves - the Stick Figure team set out to find a subject. "Our staff rounded up all these local area bail bondsmen for us to meet, but we didn't find one who felt right for a film," he says. "With only a few meetings left, we were ready to throw in the towel, but the second-to-last one who came in was Tom. He sat in my office for an hour and spewed out one hilarious story after another. I knew right then that he was just the type of charismatic, dynamic, and humorous person we were looking for.
"As he was telling us about his wife and his relatives, I was thinking, 'If your family is anywhere near as entertaining as you are, this could really be something.' And sure enough, when we started to meet the other family members, we realized they were all incredible, vivid characters.
"We started shooting in October 2002, even before we brought the project to HBO," explains Cantor. "Originally we weren't thinking in terms of a series - we were just going to make a single documentary. But we got started at an amazing time in their lives. Sal, the son, turns 18 and joins the family business. Dana, the daughter graduates from junior college and considers furthering her education, until something unexpected occurs. Tom and Jimmy, partners, best friends and brothers-in-law at the start of filming have a pretty major falling out. In fact, all the family members seem to be in a constant state of flux in their lives, which makes for some wonderful moments and great drama.
"From the very beginning, they said to us, 'Why do you find us so interesting?'," recalls Galkin. "They have absolutely no idea how much screen presence they have."
At the same time, the Stick Figure team went out of their way not to sensationalize the Evangelistas, says Galkin. "We made a conscious decision to minimize any sort of 'freak show' aspect to the series. Not to film 24/7, not to use hidden cameras. It's been done to death, and we didn't want to cross the line from documentary to reality show.
"Steven and I both check in with Tom numerous times every day. We have two camera crews on duty full-time, and if a job pops up for him out of nowhere, we are ready to shoot within an hour."
Cantor recalls that the first time out with Tom Evangelista and company on a "recovery" - to capture someone in violation of bail - was an unsettling experience. "I'm in the van with them and they're goofing around, and I thought, 'I'm scared to be around these guys, they don't know what they're doing.' Then we got to our destination and poof! They snapped into this highly trained SWAT team mode. They were clearly efficient and in control of the situation. It was quite a transformation. They're real professionals - they watch each other's backs at all times."
On the job and off, Galkin says it took a little while to get used to the Evangelistas' direct and open style of dealing with each other. "One of the things that Steven and I learned early is that there's always drama going on. There would be times when two members of the family would have a huge fight, and it would seem like they'd never speak to each other again - and that would send shock waves through our production. But two days later, it would somehow completely blow over. We learned that underneath all of the chaos, there is a family that absolutely loves and cares for one another."
"Now, we feel like we've become part of the family ourselves," laughs Cantor. "Sometimes we hang out with them for a day or a meal or a holiday, just because they really know how to have fun, and we have grown to genuinely like them and like being with them. And of course, we're grateful to them for being so open with us.
"We consider FAMILY BONDS a real-life drama - we want viewers to have the same experience they have when they watch something that's scripted," he concludes. "I hope viewers will feel the same or even a greater degree of emotional involvement with this family as they do with their favorite characters on fictional shows."
FAMILY BONDS is produced for HBO by Stick Figure Productions in association with Cactus Three; director, Steven Cantor; executive producers, Steven Cantor and Daniel Laikind; supervising editor and co-producer, Pax Wassermann; producer, Matthew Galkin; co-executive producers, Julie Goldman, Caroline Stevens and Krysanne Katsoolis; original music, Money Mark.
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