Itchy House Films

Cast
Ray "Razor Ray" Netti - Ricky Ray Taylor
Gus Netti - Gerry Cooney
Sonya Netti - Meissa Hampton
Mama Netti - Judy Schaefer
Referee - Jim Anderson
Mechanic boss - Mike Boland
Corner man - Dennis Albanese
Corner man - Billy Boettcher
Corner man - Sammy DeSilva

Crew
Director Jay Rodriguez
Written by Darren Lewis
Story by John Peele
Produced by Jay Rodriguez
Associate Producer Darren Lewis
Director of Photography Vitaly Bokser
Fight make up Misaki Ishihara
Production Manager Billy Boettcher
Post Production Manager Billy Michel
Assistant to Director Judy Schaefer
Composer Chris Hurn
Editor Jay Rodriguez
Sound Recordist Vitaly Bokser
Boom Zack Schaefer
Sound Design Jay Rodriguez
Location Scout Chris Brown
Key Grip Isaac Richardson
Grip Ryan Tobin
Grip Del Meyers
Grip Dan Fajardo
Gaffer Shawn Deadah
Gaffer John Peele
Gaffer Andreas Karantzikos
Gaffer Daniel Enriquez
Advisor Chris Messineo
Behind the Scenes Director Joe Nash
Behind the Scenes Anchor Steve Ecker

Locations:
Joe Grier's Boxing Gym, Paterson New Jersey THANK YOU to Frank Toledo
Batista Auto Center, Newark New Jersey THANK YOU to Rui and Paula Batista
Mama's house - Cynthia Vail and Damien Byrne THANK YOU
Exterior shots - The City of Plainfield New Jersey THANK YOU

Other SPECIAL contributors
John and Bonnie Russo THANK YOU
John Rodriguez Sr THANK YOU
Ed Calico THANK YOU
Damien Byrne THANK YOU
Wanda Sanchez THANK YOU
Mike Cory THANK YOU

Technical mumbo jumbo
Panasonic DVX100a
Shot in 24p using a 35mm adaptor with Nikon lenses
Edited in Final Cut Pro on a Macintosh G5
Released on 12/24/06

Itchy House Films receives a warm welcome from the boxing community for
the release of "The Fight Within"

Rob Snell
WBF Boxing Historian
This is a top quality short film and i agree with others when they suggest a longer film would be well worth considering. The part that strikes me is they way in which he tries to deal with the emotional pulls of family and "his dreams". this i think is done very well indeed and i must say has not gone down the all to familiar road of over sentimentality. i am sure that every boxer, and trainer etc, can identify with the emotions which are very well portrayed in the film.dreams do not pay the rent and put food on the table. but we must all try or we will live with the regret of not trying. I think it would be a very good thing if the young amateurs were to watch this and see what they had to say? i hope to see more of your work and again well done on a very high quality production.

GRIM
Founder of World Boxing Forums
I liked it a lot myself thought it was put together well and shows the other side of boxing, the hard working determined fighter that yearns for that one chance, not everyone that laces up makes it to the top.

Geno McGahee
Ring Side Report
It has been obvious over the past several years especially that the creativity and overall better product is coming from the independent filmmakers. The writers, producers, and directors that are far removed from the Hollywood bubble bring the viewer a new experience and that is why I elected to review an eight minute movie called "The Fight Within" When it was over, I was glad that did. Itchy House Films brings us the story of Ray "Razor Ray" Netti (Ricky Ray Taylor), an aspiring boxer that is using the sport as an escape route out of his horrible life in a bad part of town. He and his wife (Meissa Hampton) have been stuck in the same apartment for ten years and it has taken a lot of strength for her to even stay with him that long. She wants him to quit boxing and get another job, but he is just geared up for that one big fight. It’s a do or die situation, and he plans to make the most of it. He will not go back to the auto shop where he worked for an idiot boss that insulted him. And let me give credit to Mike Boland who played the role of the Mechanic Boss. He did a great job playing the bad guy. A special treat in this movie is seeing former Heavyweight Title Challenger, Gerry Cooney, as "Gus Netti" the trainer of "Razor Ray". He may not be the best actor in the world, but seeing "Gentleman Gerry" in a movie was a bonus. Overall, you would expect the acting to be relatively poor in a low budget, independent film, but that is not the case here. The actors seemed comfortable and had a real feeling to them. This film was written by Darren Lewis, story was by John Peele, and it was Produced and Directed by Jay Rodriguez. This movie is interesting and really captures the spirit of the average fighter and how it has affected the ones around him. He is pulled in all sorts of directions but needs to take his shot. All things considered, I really don’t have anything negative that I can say about this movie. It’s definitely worth eight minutes of your time.

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