How Anthony Di Mieri Made ‘Love New York’ While Filming for Zohran Mamdani’s Mayoral Run

The director behind Love New York juggled his debut feature and political filmmaking—capturing two sides of the city’s restless energy.

Di Mieri and Mamdani hugging, source

Writer, director, producer, and reluctant political activist Anthony Di Mieri hasn’t had a day off in two years. 

Over the past decade, Di Mieri’s indie filmmaking efforts have converged with his work on grassroots activism campaigns like Fix the MTA and other New York City progressive movements. 

On Monday, October 13th, his film, Love New York, premiered at The Downtown Festival to a sold-out crowd. The next morning, he was up with the sunrise, filming a campaign event for then-Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani. 

Though Di Mieri’s garnered some recognition on the mayor-elect’s campaign, he’d be happy if he never made a political video again. He dreams about a world where the politicians fight for change and the artists can just make art. 

Love New York follows a tangle of messy relationships through the five boroughs. From tertiary partners to sugar babies to hungover dads schlepping through the MTA, it’s a NYC anti-rom-com. 

“There wasn’t a moment to enjoy anything,” Di Mieri laughs about the grueling creation of his first feature. 

The process of creating an indie ensemble like Love New York was a labor of love. Emphasis on labor. Di Mieri’s original plan was to shoot 20 pages per day. Though he quickly realized this was overly ambitious, the shoot was stuffed with tight squeezes.

Still from Love New York, source

One scene, a rave, was shot on location at a warehouse in Bushwick. Some of Di Mieri’s DJ friends loaned the space before ushering in the public for a club night. The star of the evening, actress Alex Martinez, also worked in the nightlife industry. Between setup and Martinez’s shift, the crew had about 45 minutes to shoot the scene. Di Mieri recalls managing these time crunches “horribly.”

Perhaps at the crux of Di Mieri’s stress was the tsunami of debt that came with the film. At its peak in the summer of 2024, Di Mieri estimated he owed $110,000 in loans. 

He speaks of the debt as if it were an inevitability. 

At 25, Di Mieri was on the verge of a breakthrough. On a Monday, his web series Bros went viral. By Friday, Lionsgate called to set up a meeting. When the deal fell through, he was left feeling like he had to catch up to his younger self. Still, though, he knew that level of commercial and creative success was in reach. 

It was animator Joe Bennett who helped Di Mieri clarify his creative mission. Bennett, the co-creator of Common Side Effects, received an offer to direct a television show for a massive paycheck. Without a second thought, he responded NO THANK YOU to the email; he preferred work that made him happy and fit his creative vision. 

This inspired Di Mieri; of course, he could take the leap. 

“It still gives me a physical reaction talking about it,” he said about the debt. “ But I think there's something to the risk. That's why everybody helped. They probably looked at me, and they were like, ‘This guy needs help.’” 

Many of his cast and crew are friends he’s known for the better part of a decade. Melanie Chandra, who plays Heather, was the first person Di Mieri ever cast in any of his projects. Kareem Rahma, who plays Walid, and Di Mieri collaborate on the viral series Subway Takes.

Di Mieri credits actress, creative producer, and frequent collaborator Kayla Marcus for pushing him to make the film spicier. In the Q&A, Marcus, who was co-moderating, emphatically pushed for more sex. When the film leaned too rom-com, Marcus made Di Mieri watch the entirety of Todd Solondz’s filmography. 

One of Di Mieri’s dream locations was an earth-toned, rare furniture store and gallery in Long Island City called Somerset House, owned by an old friend. For a cleaning fee, Di Mieri and his crew staged a tense fight over a $6000 chair, a price Di Mieri lowered from Somerset’s real range to make it believable. 

Still from Love New York, source

The film was first conceived during what Di Mieri calls an “old school romantic creative crisis” during a trip to Paris. After a series of overly ambitious and otherwise scrapped series of scripts, he was cycling through bouts of depression and guilt-ridden gym sessions. On the morning he was set to return to the States, he missed his flight.

Di Mieri wandered around solo that evening until a group of German tourists recognized him. Somewhere in the middle of a Parisian bar, Di Mieri spotted French filmmaker Gaspar Noé, one of his longtime heroes. It felt like a sign from the universe. 

Eventually, Love New York would borrow the intoxicating perspective shifts of Noé’s Vortex. Several hundred favors and mad dashes through the city later, the film was born. 

Maybe Love New York resists rom-com tropes, but the process of making the indie film is a little romantic. The Downtown Festival screening was so packed that friends and actors sat on the stairs and stood in aisles. When the film paused midway, Di Mieri said it was such a beautiful night, it would’ve been ok if it ended right there.

In the midst of his feature debut, Di Mieri was also part of the video team behind Zohran Mamdani’s historic mayoral campaign.

In fact, two fans approached him during this interview to congratulate him on his work. In a hushed tone, he told them Mamdani would be on Fordham Road in the Bronx the following morning. It felt like a celebrity sighting. 

DiMieiri made it clear that he didn’t want a future in political media. 

“If there actually becomes an opposition party,” he said. “Those of us on the activist side don't have to be as zealous.” 

Still, though, there’s plenty of overlap between Zohran Mamdani’s grassroots campaign and Di Mieri’s film career. 

It’s fitting that Di Mieri’s feature is a fucked up love story about New York City and its people–all its quirks and crises–while Mamdani ran on an affordability campaign in a city facing a massive gentrification. The two are telling love stories and anti-love stories all at once. They capture the heaviness that comes with living in and loving New York City: an acknowledgement of the past and a look toward the future. 

Photo of Di Mieri and Mamdani (mid-left and mid-right), source

Di Mieri has been familiar with Mamdani since the politician was a lead canvasser in Astoria. In his last campaign, Di Mieri estimates their doorknocking efforts won about 13 or 14 voters. For a race that was won by less than 400 votes, it wasn’t nothing. 

This time around, though, there’s eyes on Mamdani. Di Mieri’s been trailing the candidate around the city, capturing the first reverberations of hope in New York local politics in a long time. 

At its core, Di Mieri is telling the same story through his political work and his filmmaking. It’s a story about investing $110,000 in yourself and the people around you. It’s a story about relying on the goodwill of friends, lending a hand when you can. Both stories are about hope.