Niagara Catholic District School Board teacher Joe Vetrone is energized by the response his short film Polymath is receiving.
The York Road resident and his wife Virginia attended the Newport Beach Film Festival in California in October, where the 19-minute production was selected for a screening in the Short Documentary category.
“There was no real fanfare for us,” Vetrone tells The Local about attending the festival. “But there was recognition from people in the film industry. Our screening was well-attended and they seemed to love it.”
Polymath is the story of Niagara Falls resident Derek Costello, whom Vetrone refers to as “an Inspector Gadget/multi-talented type of guy.”
Vetrone ran a successful fine art and wedding photography business before becoming enraptured by filmmaking. He first met Costello in 2019 when he was shooting his first short film, Men of Steel, about the making of the elaborate sculptures adorning the Bickles Hardware store on Main St. in Niagara Falls.
While working on that film he spoke to Costello, who designed one of the sculptures, and was immediately struck by the man’s calm brilliance.
“After my first meeting with Derek, I went home and picked up this book about Leonardo da Vinci,” Vetrone remembers. “One of the words that came through from the book was ‘polymath’. As I was making my notes, I came to the conclusion that Derek was one of these.”
The Cambridge Dictionary defines a polymath as “a person who knows a lot about many different subjects.” It lists examples of polymaths from the fields of professional astronomy, medicine, literature and diplomacy.
What’s not covered in that definition is the creative and engineering worlds. That’s where Costello comes in. As described by Vetrone, Costello seems to believe that there isn’t a problem that can’t be solved.
As Polymath reveals, Costello was responsible for the water molecule sculpture that has sat outside Niagara Falls City Hall since 1967. Millions of visitors to the Honeymoon City have seen his wax creations at museums on Clifton Hill. He built a life-sized version of the Terminator robot whose arms and hands move. And in August, Costello listed for sale a three-wheel, self-built from-the-ground-up Morgan-copy car, his 61st such creation.
Vetrone’s film also details how this fascinating man was instrumental in moving the Lundy’s Lane archway project forward after the city decided it would be too expensive to build.
“He ‘s able to solve problems,” Vetrone says of the 83-year-old artist who does most of his work in his north Niagara Falls garage. “He doesn’t fear mistakes, his motivation is endless.”
To watch Polymath is to fall in love with Costello. Much of the film comprises an interview with the grey-bearded visionary wearing a blue Jaguar sweatshirt in his workshop/garage. Vetrone’s interviewing style seems to put his subject completely at ease, allowing Costello’s humility, charm and enthusiasm to shine through.
In an effort to match Costello with the word ‘polymath’, Vetrone shifts gears at one point to interview Dr. Angela Cotellessa of George Washington University in DC. Her book In Pursuit of Polymaths: Understanding Renaissance Persons of the 21st Century outlines her doctoral dissertation on the topic.
So, what’s the verdict? Is Derek Costello an honest-to-goodness polymath?
“Well, I think he is,” laughs Vetrone. “But I leave it up to the audience to decide.”
Vetrone, who is currently teaching a Grade 7-8 class at St. Gabriel Lalemant Catholic Elementary School in Niagara Falls, praises the work of his collaborators on the project. That includes Joe Forte (editor and cinematographer) and Tony Basilone (art director), who helped with some cinematography, all under the umbrella of Vetrone’s One House Media production company.
“There was a lot of back and forth,” says the writer and director of the film. “It’s a really nice process when you work well with your editor and have faith in the choices they make. There was a lot of give and take over about 18 months.”
Besides Newport Beach, where he and Virginia attended an after-party that included actors Nicolas Cage and Bobby Cannavale and television legend Carol Burnett, Polymath was also selected for the 2024 Hamilton Film Festival and Toronto’s Lift-Off Global Network. It also earned a Commendation Award at the Canada Shorts Film Festival in November.
But Vetrone is not resting on the laurels the new film has been earning. He and his team are already knee-deep into his next project. It focuses on a little-known Canadian connection to the American space program.
“It probably won’t be finished until 2026”, Vetrone adds. “I should be celebrating this accomplishment , getting into these festivals. And we did, a bit, it’s a huge milestone for us.
But I’m so busy working on the next one at the same time.”
And, with an eye even beyond that next film, he says “I’m always looking for interesing stories to tell.”
Vetrone hopes to arrange a local screening of Polymath sometime in 2025.
