Toni Occhiello

Born in Puglia, Italy, Tony Occhiello wrote and directed his first film at the age of 13, with an 8mm movie camera and his schoolmates as actors and crew. After directing a number of other productions, including an adaptation from Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor," at the age of 18 he went to La Sapienza University in Rome. While a student there, he worked as a photojournalist with a few important Italian publications, such as Lui-Vogue, Rockstar and L'Espresso. After obtaining his Master's Degree in Political Science, he worked as a free-lance director of music videos in Italy for EMI, RCA, Polygram and others. Occhiello has written and directed a number of documentaries, educational programs, radio shows and two movies of the week, "Tamburo" and "Aisha & Odette" for RAI, the Italian state television network; and from 1998 through 2000, a documentary TV series he created and produced in Hollywood, called "In My Craft or Sullen Art." He was commissioned by the Department of Sociology at the University of Rome to direct two documentaries, "Rosso Continuo" and "Las Fiestas de San Luis Rey," that were broadcast by both RAI and Mediaset (the most important Italian private TV network), and widely circulated at international festivals and in academic markets, including Toronto, Mexico City, The Gulbenkian Foundation of Lisbon, The Museo delle Arti e Tradizioni Popolari in Roma, La Sorbonne University of Paris and others. As a Writer/Director, he also made two 35mm feature films, in Italy: Majidas (1990) and Gioiello di Arturo, Il (1993) presented in various European film festivals, such as the Venice Film Festival, Spoleto's Festival of Two Worlds, St. Vincent's "Grolle D'Oro" and Annecy Film Festival. From 1998 through 2004, he's been the Hollywood contributing editor for a number of industry magazines and websites, including SET Magazine, Filmmaker Magazine, Filmbazaar.com, Inwind.it and Vision Magazine. Tony Occhiello is currently developing a neo-political thriller, "The Sixth Root Race," from a script of his that made quarterfinalist in the AMPAS' (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) Nicholl screenwriting contest.