Rick Fontaine

Rick Fontaine was born at Yale University Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut. The son of Richard and Carmen Smith, Rick had to overcome a rocky childhood living between New Haven and New York City to get where he is today. As a kid, Rick would entertain his mother with impersonations of "Johnny Fontaine" from the movie "The Godfather". His mother soon started calling him little Ricky Fontaine, and the name stuck. It was during this time that Rick caught the acting bug. By the age of 12, Rick's mother relocated him to Maryland, and Rick began writing Christmas raps and plays to perform in front of large audiences. He also became active in athletics and played basketball and football, eventually achieving MVP and All-Area awards while in high school. Soon, Rick was being actively recruited, including by Lincoln University Alumnus and former NBA player Tony Tucker to play basketball for Lincoln. However, Rick instead was persuaded by his coach to attend Morgan State University in Baltimore City to play as a walk-on for the basketball team. After his freshman year, Rick decided to focus more on his creative interests, successfully writing songs for local artists and promoting parties and small concerts. With six friends from college, Rick Fontaine started the company Triple 7 Productions, catering to the entertainment needs of college students from Morgan State University, Howard University, Towson University, University of Maryland, Hampton University, and Virginia State University. Rick would go on to graduate from Morgan State University with a Bachelors Degree in Marketing. Fresh out of college, Rick Fontaine's reputation for organizing large groups of partiers earned him recognition from top BET Casting Director and "106 & Park" Audience Coordinator, Terrence Clayton. The two collaborated on arranging the full audience cast for BET's Spring Bling in Daytona Beach and West Palm Beach, Florida. Rick became the promoter responsible for providing 100's of cast members for the Spring Bling skits and shows. Clayton, along with actor and college friend Adewole Lipede, would introduce Rick Fontaine to other Production affiliates at BET and Rick found work as a Talent Escort and Production Assistant for the BET Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. Rick began to take acting and screen-writing seriously, working on comedy sketches, stories and webisodes with fellow actor/writers Kimelia Weathers, Mustafa Harris, Q Deezy, and Jameel Saleem. In 2006, Rick Fontaine spent time in Los Angeles, California, earning a brief part in the short film "Saved Folks" and working as an extra in the HBO series "The Wire". Rick wrote the original comedic story behind feature film "Exit Strategy" that stars Kevin Hart, Kimelia Weathers, Jameel Saleem, Big Boy and Quincy "Q Deezy" Harris. The film, produced by Ask Around Productions released in select theaters February 2012, Rick is working on several follow-up projects.