Private Project

Rye Manhattan

What happens when a young man is waiting for his dream date...in the wrong bar! In the vein of Martin Scorsese's "After Hours," RYE MANHATTAN is a charming, fast-paced comedy from the award-winning filmmakers of WHAT'S EATING DAD? about how finding the right person in the world of modern dating is tough.

  • Michael Goldburg
    Director
    What's Eating Dad?, Happy Trails, Home on the Range
  • Michael Goldburg
    Writer
    What's Eating Dad?, Happy Trails, Home on the Range
  • Dave Chan
    Writer
    What's Eating Dad?, 8-Ball
  • Michael Goldburg
    Producer
  • Dave Chan
    Producer
  • Matt Cohen
    Key Cast
    Yellow Brick Hell, The Feed
  • Stacie Capone
    Key Cast
    Pepper and the Salt Sea, Blood Junkies
  • Abby Holland
    Key Cast
    Tragic Relief, Best Week Ever
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Comedy, Romantic Comedy, Slapstick Comedy
  • Runtime:
    6 minutes 32 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 11, 2016
  • Production Budget:
    1,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Iron Mule Comedy Film Festival
    New York, New York
    February 3, 2016
    New York City Premiere
    AUDIENCE AWARD - BEST FILM
  • River Bend Film Festival
    Goshen, Indiana
    April 2, 2016
  • Katra Film Series
    New York, New York
    March 5, 2016
  • Chattanooga Film Festival
    Chattanooga, Tennessee
    April 2, 2016
  • Long Island International Film Expo
    Bellmore, New York
    United States
    July 13, 2016
  • Indy Film Festival
    Indianapolis, Indiana
    United States
    July 16, 2016
  • San Antonio Film Festival
    San Antonio, Texas
    United States
    July 27, 2016
  • Middle Coast Film Festival
    Bloomington, Indiana
    July 30, 2016
  • Hell's Half Mile Film & Music Festival
    Bay City, Michigan
    United States
    September 25, 2016
  • Crown Heights Film Festival
    Brooklyn, New York
    United States
    October 28, 2016
  • My Final Shot Production Film Festival
    New York, New York
    United States
    October 26, 2016
Director Biography - Michael Goldburg

MICHAEL GOLDBURG (Director, Co-Writer, Co-Producer) is an award-winning filmmaker who earned his M.F.A. at NYU's Graduate Film Program where he won a Warner Bros. Pictures Production Award and a Dean's Craft Award for Excellence. His horror-comedy short, "What's Eating Dad?," was named one of the Top 10 Horror Shorts of 2014 and screened at over 50 film festivals, winning multiple awards. Michael also directed "Tragic Relief," a bleakly funny web series by writers from The Onion and Comedy Central, which was featured on Funny or Die. Michael was awarded an AIVF Screenwriting Mentorship and is developing a feature-length version of his current short comedy, "Sure-Fire," as well as an adaptation of a darkly comic novel of suburban paranoia by the former book editor of "The Chicago Tribune."

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

RYE MANHATTAN was originally commissioned by the Iron Mule Comedy Film Festival for their “Wanna Be A Star” contest where they asked me to direct a film with a title and "star" both chosen at random by their audience. We lucked out in getting Matt Cohen, a terrific comedic writer/performer/producer in his own right, to star in “Rye.” I then drafted my co-producer, Dave Chan, from my award-winning short, WHAT’S EATING DAD?, to co-write and co-produce this new film with me. As for the story, I knew I wanted the film to be about modern dating in New York as I had recently gotten out of a long-term relationship. I quickly came up with the idea that the main character would be waiting for his date in the wrong bar, something I had actually experienced. And I also knew I wanted to do something fast-paced and in the vein of Martin Scorsese’s “After Hours,” a classic, darkly comic look at a NYC date gone wrong.

From inception to shoot, we only had about 2 weeks to pull everything together. We assembled a terrific team and shot the film in one weekend across multiple locations in New York City. We spent longer in post-production with the edit, color, and sound design, working with new collaborators who had wanted to work with us after the success of our prior short, WHAT’S EATING DAD?. We’re really happy with the charming, scrappy results: RYE MANHATTAN. Enjoy!