Anthony Spadaccini

Anthony Spadaccini is an award-winning filmmaker from Delaware, noted for his unique experimental style of visual storytelling.

Biography

Anthony Edward Spadaccini was born April 14, 1982 in Wilmington, Delaware. His father Louis was a musician and lyricist, while his mother Melissa was a singer. Louis & Melissa released a Christian folk/pop album in 1986 entitled Read My Heart, when Anthony was only 4 years old.

Anthony’s favorite hobby growing up was writing, acting, and recording fictitious radio shows and sitcoms on cassette. Once his younger sister Rebecca was old enough, she joined him. Anthony has credited Rebecca for helping fuel his creativity. The duo created a show entitled Jan and Phillip, which started out as a childhood game of “playing house” (with serious intentions). Eventually, the show evolved into a satirical parody of parenting as Anthony & Rebecca reached their teenage years, spinning off first into Jan and later into The Jan and Phillip Show. Anthony has plans to either release selected recordings of The Jan and Phillip Show, or use it as a blueprint for a feature film script.

In high school, Anthony got his first video camera (a Zenith camcorder from the early 1980s) as a gift from his grandparents and began writing and directing several shorts and features. He considered filmmaking a hobby while working many entry-level customer service, telemarketing, and data entry jobs to support himself.

When his father Louis passed away February 5, 2004 of acute pancreatitis, he left behind several unfinished projects behind – including an unpublished manuscript and lyrics for a planned follow-up to Read My Heart. Anthony saw this as a sign that he should get serious about filmmaking.

Shortly thereafter, Anthony uploaded his short film The Troubled Interviewee to iFilm. Anthony had never publicly screened his work before and wanted to see if he was really any good at what he ultimately wanted to do with his life.

Film Career

In 2004, Spadaccini founded Fleet Street Films, an independent film production company focusing on microcinema endeavors.

After The Troubled Interviewee was well-received by viewers on iFilm in the summer of 2004, Spadaccini directed a trilogy (called The Film Truth Collection) of feature-length cinema verite pseudo-documentaries: Unstable, Aftermath, & Hatred, which have been recognized by critics and audiences alike as hard-edged underground exercises in realism.

His short film Monday Morning (a tribute to the Chaplin/Keaton silent comedies) has played at numerous film festivals in the U.S. and Canada since 2005, and won 2nd place for Best Experimental Short at the 2006 Indie Gathering Film Festival. "The First Date", the follow-up to Monday Morning, won Best Experimental Short at the 2007 Indie Gathering Film Festival.

Spadaccini's critically-acclaimed experimental short Emo Pill, distinguished for its beautiful & haunting imagery, has played at several festivals in the U.S. and Canada, debuting at the 2006 Newark Film Festival and winning 3rd Place for Best Experimental Short at the 2007 Indie Gathering Film Festival.

He also won Exemplary Filmmaking awards for both Emo Pill and Monday Morning at the 2006 Delaware Valley Film Festival.

Spadaccini's acting credits include Swedish pop artist Bimbo Boy's "Drama Queen" music video, the sci-fi film The Rapture, and the horror short En Passant, all by award-winning filmmaker Johnny K. Wu.

Spadaccini's horror pseudo-documentary, Head Case, premiered at the 3rd annual Newark Film Festival in 2007. The film drew in the largest crowd for a local independent film for the second consecutive year (following Emo Pill & Unstable's release in 2006). Head Case repeated this feat in 2008, when a director's cut of the film screened at the same festival.

Anthony has made special appearances on the local and regional media circuit and was a guest speaker for independent film production at Wilmington University in 2006.

In January 2008, Spadaccini began attending Academy of Art University in San Francisco, majoring in Motion Pictures & Television with a concentration in Producing.

In March 2009, Spadaccini made his music video directorial debut, which featured Chris Watson (a well-received contestant on the 7th season of American Idol) performing his song "Still..."

Following the underground success of Head Case, Spadaccini wrote & directed the follow-up, The Ritual.

Filmography (2005-present)

*Also produced

Early Filmography (1999-2005)

Most of these early films written & directed by Anthony Spadaccini were not released to the general public and therefore not considered to be part of his official filmography.

*Not released to general public

**Series of short films

References and notes

^[1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0471459/

^[2] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470581/

^[3] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0475061/

^[4] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0810891/

^[5] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0469945/

^[6] http://www.theindiegathering.com/2006Winners.htm

^[7] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0997061/

^{[8] [10]} http://www.theindiegathering.com/07%20Winners.htm

^[9] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0863016/

^[11] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0810379/

^[12] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0814278/

^[13] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0853104/

^[14] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0914805/