Young added that shooting “Send No Flowers” was a positive experience. “The most important thing in show business is enthusiasm, and this seems like an enthusiastic group,” she said during filming. “Everyone wants to be here and help create this world.” 

Young said she is not Italian, but many of her fellow cast members in the Mafia movie are. Mary Ann Giannino, the “Send No Flowers” casting director, said she was looking for an authentic appearance and people who were “real-life characters.” 

One is Donna DeCianni, who previously appeared in “Eddie Monroe” and “The Blue Lizard.” She plays Toni’s sister, Ava. 

“It’s a good character,” she said. “[She] was interesting to me because of the dynamic of her relationship with her sister.”

Although several cast members said violent crime is an element of the film, there are Long Island comedians in the cast as well. 

Jackie Martling, who lives in Bayville, plays a “sleazy strip club owner” in “Send Now Flowers.” The former “Howard Stern Show” writer noted that he is not alone in his interest in the genre. “I love mob movies,” he said. “The world eats them up.” 

The film’s writers said that they wanted to create a “crime drama for adults” within the Mafia genre. Michael Lovaglio, a real-life police officer who also plays one in “Send No Flowers,” co-wrote the script. He said he took Kolinksy’s original work and injected his own “crazy Italian background” into a film that he hopes viewers will enjoy. 

“We’re trying to make a movie that we would want to be at the movies seeing,” he said. “It’s a drama with action, but it’s not a slasher film.” 

Filming for “Send No Flowers” happened at the end of September and the beginning of October last year. Locations included pizzerias and homes, including two on Lindenmere and Shore drives in Merrick.