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Event Details

Thursday, March 25, 2021

7:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Event Contact

Eric Eickhoff

eeickhoff@jcu.edu

Anthony Fanelli is a 2006 graduate of John Carroll University with a B.A. in Communications. At JCU, he was also a two-time all-conference defensive back and return specialist for the Blue Streak football program! Post-college, Anthony moved to Chicago, IL and began grinding his teeth in the comedy world. He went on to graduate from the famous Second City Conservatory, and during his time in Chicago performed in hundreds of live shows (improv, sketch, his own one-man show and more), as well as acted in a handful of commercials.  After a few years in Chicago, Anthony decided to move to Los Angeles in 2012 to pursue a full career in entertainment. Now, not focusing on just one thing, Anthony has found success in front of the camera as well as behind it as an actor, writer, editor, director and producer. In front of the camera, some of his recent acting credits include This is Us (NBC), S.W.A.T (CBS), Hollywood  (Netflix), & Gentefied (Netflix), Party of Five (Freeform), NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS), Scorpion (CBS), Togetherness (HBO), East Lost High (Hulu), Hand of God (Amazon), a couple of upcoming Lifetime films, over 25 national commercials, tons of digital work with companies such as BuzzFeed and Funny or Die, and more.

Behind the camera, Anthony is a multiple award-winning writer, producer, director and editor (several international film festivals and advertising awards). Notably his feature film documentary The Akron Holy War, and his short form series The Next Steps, were both two of the most streamed indie titles on Amazon Prime Video for the past few years. His 2 latest short films, Juncture and The Carducci Talent Show, have garnered international attention and his horror series, Chapters of Horror, helped launch Blumhouse's Crypt TV. Along with his production company, Aphotic Productions, he’s collaborated with such brands and studios as Funny or Die, Mashable, BuzzFeed, Yahoo, Media Strike Sports, United Airlines, 13 Stories TV, Time, Comedy Central, UFC, Watch Gang, Jumpcut and more. His films are available on Amazon, iTunes, Tubi, Netflix and others.

    Was also recently hired to write and develop a thriller/action film based on the late years of Alcatraz Island.  Beyond his "indie" work, Anthony also worked for years in the YouTube world producing cinematic viral videos for several “YouTubers” with well over 2 million subscribers, as well as documentaries (most notably a 30 hour course on entrepreneurship taught by Justin Kan, founder of Twitch), that have totaled 700+ million views and streaming minutes in the billions.

    Watch his Sizzle Reel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTVUjBNscBM

    “Indie” projects that have been written, produced, directed and edited by Anthony include:

    • The Carducci Talent Show: an award winning “long” short film (36 mins) that is being developed into a TV series
    • The Akron Holy War: a high school football feature documentary which was one of the most streamed indie films on Amazon Prime for 2018 and 2019.
    • Juncture: an award winning “1 take” short film “
    • The Next Steps: a short form comedy series that won an "Amazon Video Direct Star" award for 11 straight months for being one of the most viewed titles on Amazon Video.
    • Chapters of Horror: a 5 episode horror series that was purchased by Blumhouse and Crypt TV.

    A few awards Anthony recently won (for finished work) include:

    • Bronze Award for Best Indie Short, Independent Short Awards, Juncture
    • Official Selection of the Indie Film Fest, Juncture
    • Official Selection, L.A. Indie Film Festival, Juncture
    • Official Selection, Bucharest Shortcut Cinefest, The Carducci Talent Show
    • Best Trailer (Special Mention), Bucharest Shortcut Cinefest, The Carducci Talent Show
    • Official Selection, Venice Shorts, The Carducci Talent Show

    Recent writing accolades for non-produced work) include:

    • Best Feature Screenplay Finalist,  L.A. Indie Film Festival, Skokie Stakeout 
    • 3rd Place, Best Feature Screenplay, Independent Film Festival Awards, Skokie Stakeout 
    • Utah Film Festival, Semi-Finalist, Best Feature Screenplay, Skokie Stakeout 
    • Monthly Film Festival, Semi-Finalist, Best Feature Screenplay, Skokie Stakeout