Robert De Niro was never paid for his work on this unreleased film.
"Encounter" (adapted from my stage play "Times Square") deals with an accidental encounter in Times Square between a long-separated mother and son. Since Norman C. Chaitin had studied with and was befriended by Stella Adler, he asked her to place a casting notice in her Conservatory which she did. Among those who responded were Robert De Niro and Dyanne Thorne to whom he gave the parts. They shot on location (The Mayflower Hotel a night club in Central Park South, a cafe across the street from Lincoln Center). When shooting wrapped Chaitin edited the film and Movielab conformed the negative. The rest is history.