Cleo Valente

A native of Italy, Cleo Valente has resided in Los Angeles for the past 20 years, and worked for over a decade as a Producer and Casting Director for major television networks such as ABC, CBS, NBC, TLC, A&E, MTVtr3s and more. She has developed four television shows, Throttle Junkies, Got 2 Go, Cat Fight Club, and a Christian reality series. She earned a Ph.D in computer science before moving into film in 2000, enrolling in the Emerging Film Program at the Los Angeles Film School. Ms. Valente is motivated by life experience, historical issues and her love for people. Outgoing and charismatic, Ms. Valente's first passion lies in the art of filmmaking. In 2006 she established her own production company, Avanti Film Productions. Ms. Valente was Creator, Director and Executive Producer of two feature documentaries: _Trans/Formed(2006)_, winning Best Documentary at the Columbia Gorge International Film Festival, and La Revolucion Es La Musica in 2008. As a screenwriter Ms. Valente co-wrote three features-Naked Ambition, Second Chance, and Where Cedar Trees Burn, which she will direct later this year-and George and Sofia (2010), a short that she co-wrote and will direct.