Reno Anastasio

Growing up in the Toronto suburbs, Reno began producing family movies using the Kodak Super 8mm camera and the Elmo Editor as early as the 1970s. And it was upon seeing Richard Donner's Superman movie in 1978 that he crystallized his desire for film studies. In the 1980s he was an active member of his High School camera club and honed his skills as a film photographer, working with Nikon cameras. In the 1990s he traveled throughout the US, Italy and England developing his photography skills and in the 2000s he made the jump to digital. In Halifax, Reno participated in the 2006-07 AFCOOP one minute film scholarship with his entry Office NirvanÅ, and in 2007 produced his first indie short Transcending. He studied acting at the Neptune Theater school in Halifax and is a 2007 graduate of their Pre-Professional Training Program. He portrayed the father of the bride in F.G. Lorca's Blood Wedding. In 2008 he launched his own indie moniker Healing Light Films and produced his first indie comedy-horror feature ATTACK! of the Viper and Cobra, and in 2013 produced his first music video for indie artist Kerrissa MacLean. He has also produced music videos for Indigenous Rap artist K.A.S.P. In the field of fine art photography, he became a member of Model Society in 2010 where his work on the Goddess series is showcased under the moniker Resurrection Photo. Since graduating from Dalhousie University with a BA in English and Film Studies in 2012, he has actively supported indie productions, especially the work of Dawn Fields and Oriane Pick, helping produce works that primarily focus on mental health issues. A former member of the Halifax AFCOOP and the NB Film Coop, he is one of the founding members of the Twin Rivers Indie Film Society in Kamloops, BC. He is also a member of the Thompson Nicola Film Commission, where he works primarily as a sound engineer, and a member of the Actsafe Safety Association for the BC Arts. He is completing a BFA visual arts degree at Thompson Rivers University. His most recent feature-film work, Astronomy Walkers, will bring the distant location of Easter Island into Canadian indie filmmaking.