"First We Take Brooklyn"

“First We Take Brooklyn,” a 2018 crime thriller, co-written by former coastal resident Jon Carlos, will screen at Arena Theater on Tuesday March 27, at 7 p.m., doors open at 6:30, admission is $10. Carlos will attend the screening and hopes to bring a few of his costars with him for a Q&A following the movie.

Carlos is known to locals by directing and acting in several theater productions, “Our Town” at the Gualala Arts Center in 2010, and “Fiction” at Arena Theater in 2012.

“I came up to Gualala from LA back in May 2010 to do a play at the Art Center,” Carlos said. “I’ve been up the coast before, thanks to my friendship with the whole Trinks Family, however never for a prolonged period.” But after the play wrapped, “I just kinda stayed for the next four years,” he said.

Born in Oakland, California, Carlos graduated from San Francisco’s prestigious American Conservatory Theater (ACT) and had his first role in the film “Unflinching Triumph: The Philip Rockhammer Story” (2007). He is also known for his role as Richard in the popular NBC show “Parks and Recreation” (2009) and the feature film “Empty” (2011).

“First We Take Brooklyn,” starring Harvey Keitel, AnnaLynne McCord and Charlotte McKinney is Carlos’ first feature film as a writer and a first for director Danny A. Abeckaser, who co-wrote the script with Carlos.

The film tells the story of Mikky Levy who is serving a life sentence in one of Israel’s toughest prisons and never thought he’d ever see the light of day. But when he’s released early on a technicality, Mikki moves to New York hoping for a fresh start. Living with his uncle in a Brooklyn, the harsh reality of life as an ex-con sets in and he gets dragged into a brutal turf war with the Russian mob forcing him to revisit his dark past and the survival skills he learned in prison. Mikki aggressively ascends the ranks of the underworld, but his tenacious drive may be the cause of his demise.