Tony Vitale
Tony Vitale | |
|---|---|
The Bronx, New York , U.S. | |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, Producer, Director, Entrepreneur |
| Years active | 1994–present |
Tony Vitale (born Anthony Vitale) is an American film director, screenwriter, film producer, and television producer. He is best known for the 1997 film Kiss Me, Guido. More recently, Vitale pioneered the use of Internet Protocol television (IPTV) technologies and broadcast TV programming to help create dedicated OTT streaming channels.
Early life
Vitale was born in the
Film and television career
While working on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange including during Black Monday,[2] Vitale attended film classes at night at New York University.[1]
After the death of his mother in 1990, Vitale began working in the film and television industry as a location assistant, eventually working his way up as a second unit director for the opening shot of Robert De Niro’s, A Bronx Tale.[3]
In 1996, Vitale wrote and directed the feature film, Kiss Me, Guido which became an official entry in the 1997 Sundance Film Festival and was released by Paramount Pictures to favorable reviews the same year.[3] Janet Maslin of The New York Times said, "Mr. Vitale makes his first feature with the same kind of colloquial New York humor that Edward Burns gave The Brothers McMullen. A former location manager, he shows off a sure familiarity with his settings while he makes his audience enjoy the very bluntness of his film's caricatures."[4]
In 1999, Vitale pitched his idea of turning "Kiss Me, Guido" into a television show of its own.
Vitale's second film,
Vitale's third film, Life's A Beach, stars Christopher Walken, Rutger Hauer, Robert Wagner and Morgan Fairchild. Vitale also directed One Last Ride starring Pat Cupo, Chazz Palminteri and Robert Davi, with Oscar Winner Ang Lee as executive producer. Vitale co-produced the feature film "Man From Elysian Fields" starring Andy Garcia, Mick Jagger, James Coburn, and Anjelica Huston in 2002.[8] Vitale continued to work in television/multimedia, producing shows for CBS, NBC and FOX television.
Financial media and trading platform
In 2012, Vitale pioneered OTT/IPTV technologies as Executive Producer and Director of Programming for the financial news network, tastytrade, with Tom Sosnoff. The tastytrade financial news network features 8 hours of live programming, Monday through Friday, during open hours of the financial markets delivering interactive content to its trading platform, tastyworks.[9] While at tastytrade, Vitale directed and produced documentaries including Cancel Crash about Black Monday the Crash of 1987,[2] aired on PBS, and SOLD!: The Lewis Borsellino Story, about a pit trader.
In January 2021, tastytrade was sold to Britain's IG Group for $1 billion.[10]
References
- ^ a b Weinraub, Bernard (July 1997). "In 'Guido,' No Mafia, No Guns And No Guys With Money". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2007-10-14.
- ^ a b Fox, Kristen (September 2013). "Cancel that crash New York. We've got a trade!". Futures Mag.
- ^ a b Gallagher, Steven (July 1997). "A Bronx Tale: Tony Vitale's Kiss Me Guido". filmmakermagazine.com. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
- ^ Maslin, Janet (July 1997). "It's Not Only Straight and Narrow". New York Times.
- ^ Rattolle, Vinnie (August 2007). "Some of My Best Friends". Cult Oddities.
- ^ Bruni, Frank (8 June 1997). "The Gay Take on 'Straight' Makes Its Way Into the Movies". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
- ^ "VERY MEAN MEN". www.littlereview.com. 2000. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
- ^ McCarthy, Todd (October 2001). "The Man From Elysian Fields". Variety.
- ^ Saito-Chung, David (January 2020). "12 Reasons why Newcomer Tastyworks Catapulted Into Best Broker Rankings". Investors Business Daily.
- ^ Muvija M, Indranil Sarkar (January 2021). "Britain's IG Group to buy tastytrade for $billion in U.S. foray". Reuters.
External links
- Tony Vitale at IMDb
