MONEY TALK$, an Oscar-qualified short film from Tony Mucci, which just won Best Producer at HollyShorts. Set in 1981 NYC—the city’s most violent year—the film follows a $100 bill as it connects strangers through a gripping, unseen web of complicity.
Tony Mucci’s Oscar-qualified short film MONEY TALK$, which won Best Producer at HollyShorts, follows the gripping journey of a $100 bill as it passes through the hands of strangers in 1981 New York City, the most violent year in the city’s history. Each person who touches the bill is unknowingly linked to the next, forming a chain of silent complicity. A boy’s safety rests in the hands of a pimp. A mother depends on a prostitute. All are connected through the currency they share, revealing the unseen machinery of a broken system.
The film features a stellar ensemble cast, including David Mazouz (Gotham), Zolee Griggs (Wu-Tang: An American Saga), Ethan Cutkosky (Shameless), Fredro Starr D.C. (The Wire), Francesca Scorsese (We Are Who We Are), Bo Dietl (Goodfellas), George Denoto (The Last Airbender), Golden Landis Von Jones (rapper/singer 24kGoldn), Swoosh God (rapper), Sean Pertwee (Gotham), Tyler Senerchia AKA “Hook” (professional wrestler), Natalie Shinnick (The Brutalist), Claudia Robinson (Severance), Alexander Khait (Sneaky Pete), and Jaxon Cain (Broadway).
Tony Mucci serves as the film’s director, writer, producer, and lead actor. An emerging voice in film, Mucci hails from New York City and has accumulated over 2 billion views across his work in music videos and digital media. He’s directed for artists like Lil Wayne, Travis Barker, Lil Uzi Vert, Juice WRLD, and Drake, and worked in the visual effects and motion capture department at Activision on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
Alongside acting in the film, David Mazouz is also a co-writer and producer. A Stanford University graduate, Mazouz has worked in development at Disney and is best known for his role as young Bruce Wayne in Gotham.
The film also boasts the involvement of Scott Aharoni, an award-winning producer and director whose films have screened at Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, and beyond. One of his short films was shortlisted for Best Live Action Short at the 94th Academy Awards. His most recent feature, starring Steve Buscemi, John Magaro, and Britt Lower, won the Audience Choice Award at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival and is now available on Apple TV and Amazon. Aharoni currently serves as executive producer on several high-profile projects: Chronology of Water (Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut, selected for Cannes 2025), Our Hero, Balthazar (Oscar Boyson’s debut, starring Jaeden Martell, Asa Butterfield, and Noah Centineo, competing at Tribeca 2025), The Wrong Girls (Dylan Meyer’s debut starring Kristen Stewart, Seth Rogen, LaKeith Stanfield, Kumail Nanjiani, and Alia Shawkat), and The Carpenter’s Son (starring Nicolas Cage and Noah Jupe).
Bryan Schmier, a rising film producer based in New York City, also helped bring MONEY TALK$ to life. Schmier began his career producing music videos and commercial campaigns for iconic talents like Wesley Snipes and DJ Khaled, and major global brands including Nike, Juicy Couture, and the NBA. His work has amassed millions of views and positioned him as a compelling new force in the film world.
1. What drew you to this narrative, and why 1981 New York?
I’ve always been fascinated by how money silently drives people’s choices, ambitions, and downfalls. A single $100 bill can connect lives that would never otherwise intersect, and that idea felt like the perfect lens to explore society.
1981 was arguably one of the greatest years in pop culture history. The film takes place on Reagan’s inauguration, January 20th, 1981. Playing in theaters were The Empire Strikes Back, The Shining, Raging Bull, and even adult films like Deep Throat — with marquees lighting up 42nd Street and 8th Avenue as far as the eye could see. Music and entertainment were at their peak, while at the same time New York was living through its most violent year in history. That combination of incredible culture and chaos made for an unforgettable setting.
2. Themes of complicity and fractured society — what do you hope audiences take away?
I want audiences to leave questioning their own relationship with money — not just as currency, but as a symbol of morality, power, and temptation. Nothing reveals one’s true character like money: how you earn it, spend it, and give it away.
By following this bill, you see how interconnected we all are, and how our choices ripple outward. My hope is that people reflect on their complicity in systems larger than themselves and confront the ways money shapes human connection.
3. How did you approach casting?
Casting was about authenticity and chemistry, but also about relationships. David Mazouz and Ethan Cutkosky have been my close friends for years — I knew I wanted to cast them since I met them long before filming. AEW’s Tyler “Hook” Senerchia was my college roommate; we both grew up on Long Island and played Division I lacrosse together, so it was only natural to bring him into the project.
Francesca Scorsese and Zolee Griggs added their own unique energy, and I even reached out to some actors through DMs. I personally casted the entire film — every choice was deliberate, and I wanted it to feel like a community of performers I believed in.
4. The $100 bill as protagonist — how did that come to life?
My grandmother gives me a $100 bill every year for my birthday. On my 17th, we joked about where the bill might have been before it ended up in my card — and laughed about the fact that over 90% of public money has drug residue on it. That sparked the idea.
From there, the challenge became making an object feel alive, to give it weight as a character. We treated the bill as a silent observer, a witness to humanity, and designed the film so its presence was always felt even when it wasn’t on screen.
5. Balancing visual style and themes?
I wanted the film to feel like it was 1981, which is why I printed it on film. We moved the camera the way it moved back then and leaned on practical effects wherever possible. Short films are a great place for a first-time director to showcase visual storytelling, and I tried to do that within every frame.
6. Influence of music videos on your cinematic work?
Music videos were a great playground for me to experiment and showcase my visual effects concepts and animation skills. I learned so much from doing most of it myself — having big ideas but executing them on tight budgets. That taught me resourcefulness and how to make the most of every shot.
7. David Mazouz’s collaboration?
I love working with David. He helped me make the final pass of the shooting script. Writing with someone is way more fun than writing alone — you can bounce ideas off each other and refine them. Stanley Kubrick once said it took him over a year to write Killer’s Kiss by himself and he wasn’t even sure if it was good. Then he co-wrote The Killing with Jim Thompson in a few months, and he knew it was strong. That’s how I feel about working with David.
8. Scott Aharoni’s role as executive producer?
Scott helped us shoot in New York and is the kind of producer who literally knocks on doors. None of us had ever put a film into a festival before, except him. He brought that knowledge while we focused on providing a narrative filmmaking experience.
9. What makes Money Talk$ stand out?
It’s a short film that feels like a real movie. I went all out — from production design to casting to shooting on film. It was about making something ambitious that could stand next to features in terms of scope and feel.
10. Future projects and evolution?
Next, I’m making a sci-fi action film starring Tyler “Hook” Senerchia. It’s another ambitious set up, and I can’t wait to bring audiences into a completely different world.
