Aaron Toronto

Aaron Toronto has many professional credits in film, theater, music and scriptwriting. He founded Tarantula Entertainment after performing with Jeff Daniels' Purple Rose Theatre, the Performance Network, and the Greenfield Village Theatre Company, and acting for a variety of film companies including Jeff Daniels' Purple Rose Films. He appeared in Jeff Daniels' indie comedy Super Sucker in which he played one of his oddest roles, an agent of the Americans Against the Sexual Abuse of Home Appliances. Mr. Toronto is a prolific writer, and is particularly interested in writing and developing original screenplays and musicals. Recently, his company, Tarantula Entertainment, produced a script he co-wrote with his brother and frequent collaborator, Matthew Toronto, entitled, The Pact. He played the lead role, Ancel Fox, and composed much of the music for the movie. The Pact won Best of Festival and Best Narrative Feature Film at the South Dakota Film Festival! The film is scheduled to screen at various festivals throughout this coming year. Prior to The Pact, Tarantula Entertainment, produced his short film script, Even Felons Fall. This film has appeared in numerous film festivals around the country and won a prestigious Gold Remi Award at the 2009 Houston International World-Fest Film Festival. His finished writing projects include a screenplay titled Warrior Woman of the Black Hills, a love story set against the backdrop of western South Dakota; a full-length stage play, The Miracle of Being, which recently received a world-premiere production by One Bench Players; and Group, a musical that shows us how close to crazy we all are. Group's world premiere production at South Dakota State University in March, 2008 played to sold-out crowds and rave reviews. Mr. Toronto is developing several other screenplays including Home Shoppers Anonymous, The Perfect Kiss, and The Asylum Room. Mr. Toronto's music is featured on the pop album DSM, released by his band Damn Sexy Man. Notably, his song One By One was used in the feature film Kalamazoo (2006). Damn Sexy Man has performed around the country and recently appeared on the nationally syndicated Mitch Albom radio program. Over the course of his career, Mr. Toronto has received numerous grants and garnered investor financing for many of his artistic projects. He lives in Brookings, SD with his wife, Emily Toronto, an opera singer, and their two young boys, Joseph and Isaac.