Actor Showcase: Carmine Rizzo

Born in Astoria Queens, Carmine moved to Whitestone with his parents and sister at the age of two, and has been living there since. Though he spend much of his teen years pushing grocery carts at a local Waldbaums, (where he is still currently employed) his first passion was always film. From the age of seven, he recalls creating movies in his head, and acting them out (to himself) in public; often garnering stares from concerned parents or confused pedestrians on the street. However, up until the age of nineteen, the only thing that he had to show for his aspirations were a couple of cheaply made videos circling around the wagon championships; a self-made sport that involved flinging lines of wagons into the supermarket’s corral. That all changed in 2004, when he met aspiring film maker Stephen Alex Vasquez outside of the food court at Queensboro Community College. Stephen, at the time, was gathering actors for his first feature I’m You, and had heard about Carmine through a mutual friend, Bill Kaso, (who would ultimately end up dping the film). Ten minutes later, Carmine was cast in his first role, playing the best friend/ fireman in the sci fi drama. Although, it was a low budget independent film that premiered to family and friends, he felt he was taking one step closer to realizing his dreams. During the post production process on I’m You, he had begun to write his own script, entitled A Wizzo’s Tale, which he would later star in, with Vasquez directing and Kaso once again behind the camera. Funded by his father Angelo and close friend Boppa, the film took longer than expected to complete, but finally came to fruition on May 4th of 2007.

When it premiered to a crowd of 400 people. Still recovering from the exhausting process of making a feature, he decided to focus on short films for festivals, including a small acting part in Life Takes Numbers for The Project Direct film festival, and his directorial debut Dude’s Night Out (which he also wrote) for the IFC/Redbull Challenge. In the process, he was also able to branch off working with other talents, such as writer/director Avi Klein, who is set to direct him in the upcoming The Stand later this month. Most recently, Carmine appeared in The Blunt Diaries, which has been accepted to two festivals, garnering the film a spot on Wikipedia and a credit for himself on IMDB. He is currently working on a script for another feature, entitled Finding Pesci about an obsessed fan who goes on a road trip to recruit the retired actor to make a film.

Below is his directorial short Dude’s Night Out.