The show revolves around the true story of John Partington (Rob Norton), a Cumberland native who helped form the federal witness protection program in the 1960s, helping take down countless mobsters. He was later Providence’s public safety commissioner in the ‘90s and early aughts. He died in 2006.
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A director’s cut of the pilot will be seen by the public for the first time on Wednesday night at the Showcase Cinemas inside the Providence Place Mall, as part of the Rhode Island Film Festival. Corrente’s 1994 film, also called “Federal Hill,” will be screened after the TV pilot as a 30th-anniversary celebration. (Tickets can be purchased for $10 here.)
The show has everything you’d want from a mob drama, from wise guys to cops, politicians and salty language, old-timey cars and vintage television sets. And while there are plenty of mob dramas out there, Corrente called the story of the New England Mafia family, La Costa Nostra, a “gold mine” that’s been “untapped.”
“You know, it’s really my ‘Boardwalk Empire,’” Corrente told the Globe, referencing the Prohibition-era period drama set in Atlantic City that ran on HBO from 2010-2014. (Terence Winter, the creator of “Boardwalk Empire,” is also producing “Federal Hill.”)
For Rhode Islanders, the pilot episode is full of recognizable spots including the Providence City Council chambers, where the opening scene of the congressional hearing takes place. A fight scene was filmed inside Anthony’s Authentic Italian Cuisine on Federal Hill, and other scenes were filmed outside on the Hill and in an old laundromat. Yet another fight scene was filmed inside the old police station building in Cumberland, which — fittingly — is named for Partington.
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Corrente said he is negotiating with a streaming service (he declined to say which one) to air the series. If successful, he plans to film the rest of the series in Rhode Island, envisioning a five-season run. The state offers a 30 percent tax credit for TV shows and movies filmed in Rhode Island.
The Globe sat down with Corrente ahead of Wednesday’s screening of the pilot. This Q&A has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Q: What made you want to do a show focusing on John Partington?
Corrente: I always wanted to tell that story. I knew John Partington when he was working as the safety commissioner for the city of Providence. ... I had heard all the stories about Ray Patriarca and the beginning of the witness protection program and how John Partington was instrumental in starting it here in Rhode Island. It’s a story that’s no one’s ever told, or even hinted at.
Q: There are a lot of films and TV shows about the Mafia. How do you distinguish your show?
There’s always room for one more really good one. Most of them aren’t that good.
Q: How accurate is it to the historical events?
Pretty accurate. But I’m not putting on the politically-correct or chronologically-correct handcuffs. That’s not entertainment, that’s a documentary. And I’m not interested in making a documentary.
Q: Why did you decide to open the series with that scene of Bobby Kennedy and Patriarca at the congressional hearing?
It just sets up tremendous conflict in the first two minutes of the show. You now know that these two will be adversaries for the run of the show, based on that one comment.
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Q. Why was it important to shoot it in Providence?
A, authenticity. B, budgetary constraints. It’s Rhode Island. I’ve been making films and television in Rhode Island for 30 years, and this state has always opened its arms. We have an incredible tax credit here.
And, I get to sleep in my own bed.
Q: You’ve made multiple movies in this genre, and now you’re doing a show. Did you have a fascination with the Mafia growing up?
No, I just know the world. Growing up around it and being exposed to it through the environment, family. Everybody knows somebody who knows somebody. It’s a world I’m comfortable writing about and telling stories about.
It’s in my backyard, and nobody can tell this story better than I can. Period.
Q: Do you see this as a follow-up to your 1994 movie, “Federal Hill”?
Not really, no. It’s just telling the story of that neighborhood. My quote for the [trailer] is, “every once in a while, a neighborhood becomes a legend.” And that’s sort of what Federal Hill was.
Q: You mentioned you knew John Partington. What was he like?
He was a sweetheart. Funny, tough, bright. Tough as nails, but compassionate. He was a world-class guy. Everyone who knew John loved him.
John Partington was an honest guy all the way to the end, and he was always honest with the criminals that he was protecting in the witness protection program. So much so, that those criminals would not even testify in Washington unless John Partington was there with them. And that ruffled a few feathers in Washington.
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Q: What happens next? You’re hoping to get picked up for a full season?
We’re in the middle of negotiating now with a streamer.
My intention is to start shooting [more episodes] in Q1 of next year, if everything goes according to plan.
Q: And you’re committed to filming the rest of it in Rhode Island?
Oh, for sure. I wouldn’t shoot it anywhere else.
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Steph Machado can be reached at steph.machado@globe.com. Follow her @StephMachado.
