Born and raised in New York, Mr. Castaldo began a professional career in the casino business working 10 years in Atlantic City and Las Vegas. Mr. Castaldo then relocated to Los Angeles where he currently resides to pursue his passion of telling stories.

 

Mr. Castaldo is an award winning independent producer with extensive experience in several areas of entertainment. Mr. Castaldo recently produced the mystery thriller Dose Of Reality that was  released in March, 2013. The film stars Fairuza Balk, Rick Ravanello and Ryan Merriman. Film had its world premiere at the prestigious CINEQUEST Film Festival in February, 2013. Mr. Castaldo produced the inspirational documentary My Run - narrated by Academy Award winner Billy Bob Thornton.  My Run screened in 535 movie theaters nationwide on March 31st, 2011 in 140 of the top U.S. markets and received over 200 million impressions. The film won 10-best documentary awards including; the Audience Award for its world premiere at the Austin Film Festival, Outstanding Achievement In Documentary at the 2010 Newport Beach Film Festival, Outstanding Achievement In Documentary at the 2010 New York VisionFest and Grand Jury Prize Best Documentary at the 2010 Las Vegas Film Festival to name a few.

 

Mr. Castaldo was the co-executive producer on the horror/thriller Psych 9 in association with IPC International (Hostel, The Pink Panther). Film had its theatrical opening in the UK in May 2010 – Lions Gate released the film domestically February 2011. The film stars Sara Foster, Cary Elwes and Michael Biehn. Mr. Castaldo produced The Perfect Tenant a twisted story of passion and revenge directed by Doug Campbell, starring Linda Purl and Maxwell Caulfield (premiered on HBO and Lifetime) and The Perfect Nanny a domestic thriller in the vein of The Hand That Rocks The Cradle directed by Rob Malenfant, starring Bruce Boxlitener and Tracy Nelson (premiered on USA network/ a 1.1 million licensing fee sale). Both of these “perfect” films are original stories developed by Mr. Castaldo. Mr. Castaldo also produced the comedy Serving Santino directed by Bill Kelman, which premiered at The Method Fest film festival in 2006. In addition, Mr. Castaldo was a judge for more than 5 years for The Academy Of Motion Pictures prestigious Nicholl Fellowship in screenwriting.

Mr. Castaldo has worked as a development executive for three years with Metro Pictures and American New Wave Films.

Mr. Castaldo has been a Screen Actors Guild  (SAG) member for 20 years and three times selected on the nominating committee for the SAG awards.

Next up, is the post-Katrina jazz drama West End Blues, to be directed by Darren Grant (Diary Of A Mad Black Woman – Lionsgate), the mystery action thriller Deserter, the comedy It Ain’t New Yawk based on the Michael Arturo play and Pushing Life the dramatic true story of Terry Hitchcock based on the award winning documentary My Run.