Some of the most intriguingly gritty mob films provide a layered, original look into the dynamics of a struggling crime family. But few of these movies offer truly gratifying and detailed insight into the female members of such business-driven familial clans.

SAG Award-winning actress, Jennifer Esposito, who made her feature film writing, producing and directorial debuts on the new crime drama, ‘Fresh Kills,’ is infusing the genre with a much-needed feminist twist. The filmmaker, who also starred in the project, shows that ambition are not solely the purview of men in the world of organized crime with her latest project.

‘Fresh Kills’ had its World Premiere during the Spotlight Narrative section of last month’s Tribeca Festival. The movie will next have its West Coast Premiere on opening night of Cinequest on Tuesday, August 15 at 7:15pm PT at the California Theatre in San Jose.

In ‘Fresh Kills,’ the women of the Larusso crime family are no strangers to adapting to tough circumstances. In the wake of their world being unexpectedly uprooted, these women learn to fend for themselves in New York City during the late 20th century, even with the cards stacked against them. Led by their unsteady but loving mother Francine (Esposito), two very different sisters — destructive Connie (Odessa A’zion) and dutiful Rose (Emily Bader) — are the next generation of women who must grow up in this turbulent world controlled by unspoken rules that dictate who they are and who they become.

Esposito generously took the time earlier this week to talk about penning, helming, starring in and producing ‘Fresh Kills’ during an exclusive interview over Zoom. Among other things, the filmmaker discussed that she was in part inspired to scribe and direct the feature because she grew up witnessing how the women of mob families were often times unseen, so she wanted to give them a voice in order to share their journeys. She also noted that she was honored to premiere the drama, which she set and shot on Staten Island, after she grew up in the New York City borough, at the New York-based Tribeca Festival.

The conversation began with Esposito explaining why she was inspired to write the script for ‘Fresh Kills.’ She shared that the film “is something that I’ve seriously had on my mind for over 20 years. I grew up around these Mafia families, and I was around the young women of these families. I just noticed a real rage that I couldn’t put my finger on, and that stayed with me while I was growing up.

“When I left around 18 and went on my journey to get into this business and be an actor, and also be in the world as a female, I realized that the rage I saw in them I felt in myself,” the filmmaker also divulged. “My father wasn’t involved in that world, so I didn’t understand what connected me to it, and why it stayed with me so much. I always kept trying to figure it out.

“I eventually realized that it was being born into a slot. As they were being born into a slot and not being able to escape, I was born into a slot of being a female. I had to learn how to live with all the rules of being a female,” Esposito continued.

“As I became more and more involved in the film business, I saw that it puts you into boxes. I felt that I didn’t agree with these rules. I then saw what goes on in the world. I thought, it’s much less about the Mafia that I was writing about, and it’s much more about the boxes we’re put or born into in this world and this industry. That’s what the story wound up being born out of,” the scribe also noted. “I then went back into a community where the rules for females were very much in tact.”

Esposito then delved into why she decided to make her feature film directorial debut on ‘Fresh Kills,’ and how penning the screenplay influenced her helming style on the set. “I had two other directors who wanted it, and they were both men. A female executive at a big streaming company who read the script and my pitch was like, ‘Absolutely not. You cannot let anyone else do this but you. You’re right; if it was a male director, you’d get funded more easily, but don’t do that.’

“I really heard her, and it gave me the confidence I needed to take that leap. I also realized that I was the only one who could tell this story,” the filmmaker admitted.

“I really wanted to be a filmmaker. I didn’t have anyone to look up to at that time because we wouldn’t talk about female filmmakers. I don’t really remember hearing about that so much because the discussion was all about men,” Esposito divulged.

“I wanted to go to NYU and study film, but my family was like, ‘We don’t have the money.’ I didn’t want to get loans, so I just went out and put myself through acting school,” the director revealed.

“I feel like ‘Fresh Kills’ was the first time I felt like I was at home with what I was supposed to be doing. That part was wonderful,” Esposito added.

The filmmaker then delved into why, in addition to penning and helming the feature, she also decided to play Francine. “My two leads are really the two younger girls – Odessa A’zion and Emily Bader, who are fantastic. The person that I play is their mom, and I based the character on someone that I know very well,” she shared.

“I knew the character in such a way that I don’t think anyone (else) would have done it justice. I mean that in a kind way because the intricacies of the person that I’m playing is like your best friend and your worst nightmare in one second,” Esposito explained.

“I didn’t feel right giving the role to someone else because I spent so much time with this person that it’s just easier for me to do it. I just know this person in my soul, so I thought it’s going to be easier if I play the character,” the filmmaker emphasized. “On an independent film, anything that makes the process easier is great. So it’s just something that I had to play.”

Following up on her experience of working with A’zion and Bader on the movie, Esposito then shared what her experience was like of building their character’s relationships throughout the production. “Odessa’s like catching fire; you can’t catch fire, and that’s who she is. I didn’t want to stifle that because that’s the character. I don’t think I spoke to her until about three days prior to set, which was frightening!

“But I wanted to work with her. But like I said, she’s like catching fire, but that’s the beauty of Odessa. So I just laid back and knew that when we got on set, I was going to have to pivot her in certain ways to make her shine, and she kicked it out of the park,” the director continued.

Esposito then noted that she “worked with Emily on and off for about two months. She worked with the dialect coach I gave her. She was fantastic and so open.

“I needed to know that she understood what was in her character. Emily was so far removed from the character she was playing, but I eventually realized that she really understands Rose. So that was wonderful,” the filmmaker added.

Esposito then shared that since ‘Fresh Kills’ set on Staten Island, she felt it was important to actually shoot the feature on location in the New York City borough. “In the beginning, people said, ‘You know, if you film in Atlanta, it’s going to be cheaper.’ But I was like, ‘I can’t film in Atlanta; I have to film on Staten Island.’

“Staten Island has an energy that you cannot duplicate. It’s very stuck in a moment, and that moment is probably 1982. It has that very old-fashioned feeling, and it’s a very unique place,” the helmer emphasized.

“I wanted the actors to feel it, so I put them up on Staten Island. They needed to feel the weight of it. To me, it feels very claustrophobic, even though it’s right by the city. It feels so far, but it’s not; it’s only 18 miles away. That’s why it was so important to me to film there,” Esposito noted.

“I was born in Brooklyn but moved to Staten Island when I was 10. So from 10 to 18, I was there, and it wasn’t always the most fun for me,” the filmmaker revealed.

“So for me, making the film was cathartic and very emotional. But I was also very proud to be able to bring money back to the community. I was also very proud to be able to do something that I had been thinking about since I left there. So the experience of making the film was pretty amazing,” Esposito also shared.

The filmmaker then delved into why she also decided to serve as a producer on the drama, in addition to writing and directing it. “I think it was Quentin Tarantino who said, ‘If you can’t go to film school, just do your own movie, and you’ve been to film school.’ I think I had a crash course in film school with this whole experience,” she admitted.

“Sadly, one of my first producers was beyond not up to the task. So I didn’t get the best experience in the beginning and going into the movie because of him,” Esposito revealed.

“But luckily, I had a wonderful producer, Leslie Owen, come on halfway through our shoot and then showed me the way. There was only so much I could do as a producer because I was writing, starring in and directing it,” the filmmaker noted.

“There was also only so much I understood. I’m more of a creative producer, and all the other stuff was beyond what I understood. That’s what this man was supposed to be doing, but obviously, it wasn’t his thing, either,” Esposito continued.

“So when Leslie came in, I really started to understand how vital your producer really is. I know there are many different types of producers, but she was not only hands on on set, but she was also able to put out all of the other fires. It was such an amazing learning experience to get to work with her. I now have a newfound respect for that position,” the producer added.

Esposito then delved into what it meant to her that ‘Fresh Kills’ had its World Premiere during last month’s Tribeca Festival. “Tribeca was a dream come true. I think I’m still pinching myself a little bit. It wasn’t just that the movie got to premiere there, but the reception was also amazing. We got standing ovations every night,” she shared.

“My last show there was at the Village East by Angelika on 2^nd Ave. in the East Village, and it was amazing to screen there. I used to go there with my tip money when I was a waitress and buy a ticket for a movie. I’d sit there and dream, and think, I can’t wait to do that,” the helmer revealed.

“So to see a movie that I wrote and directed play there, and have all of the seats taken, and when the movie ended, have a standing ovation, was amazing. When I then went to do a Q&A, I received another standing ovation, and there are no words to describe that feeling,” Esposito emotionally recalled.

“If things were to stop here, I would hold my head high and be so deeply proud. No one helped me with this. Also, no one thought I could do it. So to see it not only come to fruition, but also that I did what I wanted to do, which was to emotionally touch people with something creative that I was finally able to sink my teeth into, I win,” the filmmaker concluded.