Carlos Etzio Roman

Mr. Roman is the founder, president and creative force behind Roman Pictures, Inc., a television and motion picture production company based in Alexandria, Virginia, as well as the former Zio Productions Inc. which produced talent showcases and TV commercials as early as 1985 His filmmaking career spans more than two decades and includes several multi-award-winning feature and short films, and successful entertainment-based projects. Carlos Etzio Roman was born in Lima, Peru. There he lived with his father (the Spanish Marquis de Aulestias), his mother, grandmother and half-brother, attending The Rich Mountain (Monterrico) English School and the Claretianos Catholic School and showing a budding interest in filmmaking even at an early age. At the age of 18, he came to America with his wife and infant son to make a life of his own. Speaking very little English, he learned very quickly by listening to those around him and through informal lessons from a still life-long friend, Colonel Ben Tarnell. After successfully creating his own landscaping business, he came back to his calling to filmmaking and began producing talent shows and TV commercials for local merchants. This led to his first movie short in 1989 entitled "Taking Care of Business." After receiving positive feedback on the finished product, he invested in professional-grade camera and sound equipment and entered into the independent feature film circuit, a venture that was unheard of outside of the big Hollywood productions at the time, making him a pioneer for independent filmmaking. Mr. Roman's first feature length production, "Mismatch," premiered at the Kennedy Center's American Film Institute (AFI) Theater in 1991, and more recently won an Award of Merit at The Accolade Television Awards as a classic film. "Lady Law," a one-hour television pilot, also premiered at the AFI in June, 1994. These two productions featured over 370 actors and was enthusiastically received by film distributors at the American Film Market and Cannes Festival. Mr. Roman's current film projects, the multi-award-winning sci-fi action thriller "Signals" (winner of "Best Action Feature Film" at an established New York film festival) with its follow-up sequel "Signals 2," as well as the sci-fi drama "Time Refugees," are now under non-exclusive contract with ITN Distribution. ITN presented "Signals" at the AFM and Cannes Festival, and signed for Roman Pictures to have "Signals" distributed to Russia in December 2008. Shoreline Entertainment, a major, international distributor for genre feature films, has also initiated contact with Roman Pictures in regard to distribution rights for "Signals 2" and "Second Time Around," a supernatural family court drama. His multi-award winning suspense/thriller/drama tv series, "Dissensions," recently won the Silver Remi Award at the prestigious 50th annual WorldFest Houston Film Festival, founded in April 1968 as the oldest Independent Film & Video Festival in the World. In addition to these feature and short films, he has also formed his current Entertainment News Network, WRPN.TV. WRPN (Washington Roman Pictures Network), which interncasts news reports from Los Angeles celebrity galas and festivals, interviewing red carpet guests and capturing a glimpse of the Hollywood scene. WRPN also reports on news related to their own films, as well as reports on other films being produced in the Washington D.C./MD/VA area, with an "On-Demand" video program for filmmakers winning awards at his film festivals: He, along with his long-time partner, Sharon Carpenter-Rose, is the founder and CEO of 4 successful film festivals that feature guaranteed distribution opportunities for top winners: Depth Of Field International Film Festival (DOFIFF), Docs Without Borders Film Festival (DWBFF), WRPN.TV Short, Tight and Loose Competition (WSTL), and WRPN.TV Global Webisode Competition (WGWC).