Tony Vitale
| Tony Vitale | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Anthony Neal Vitale May 24, 1964 The Bronx, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Director, screenwriter, producer, author |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Spouse(s) | Lisa C Vitale (2011–present) |
| Children | Arabella M Vitale |
Tony Vitale (born Anthony Neal Vitale; May 24, 1964) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for the film Kiss Me, Guido.
Vitale was born in the Bronx and grew up in a predominately African-American/Hispanic neighborhood.
Vitale graduated from Iona College, with a degree in finance and a minor in communications. After an internship on Wall Street, he decided to travel and took a job as DJ for Club Med in the mid-1980s. One night at a group dinner someone commented on the rapport the Bronx-born Vitale had with the French clientele, including his boss, "It would be great if somebody made a sitcom out of you two," which sparked an idea in Vitale's head for a television show.
Vitale studied film at New York University whilst working on the floor of the . After the death of his mother in 1990, Vitale began working in the film industry as a location assistant, eventually working as a second unit director for the opening shot of Robert De Niro’s, A Bronx Tale.
Vitale pitched the concept of "a gay guy and a straight guy forced to live together" to executives at Universal Studios as a vehicle for Andrew Dice Clay and Harvey Fierstein, but he was told that a lead gay character on a television series would never fly. Several weeks later, Vitale happened to be watching The Arsenio Hall Show when Fierstein came out and announced the show as his upcoming project, with Fierstein playing opposite Andrew Dice Clay. Furious that his idea had been stolen, Vitale quickly scrambled to get a copyright on the story. The result was 96 Greenwich Street, a one-act play which was first staged at The Village Gate in New York City as part of a festival of short plays. Vitale received a positive response, expanded it to a 2-act play in 1993 and turned it into a screenplay for a film in 1994. The same year, Kevin Smith's Clerks had been a highly successful film made on a micro-budget, and Vitale set out to make his film the same way.
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