Robert Celestino

Robert Celestino, graduate of The New School in Manhattan, exudes a gritty manner for transpiring character driven screenplays into life on the screen. Mr. Celestino's fascination with obsessive and extreme behavior is established with his award winning film Mr. Vincent which premiered at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. The film then made its mark at festivals around the world. It won the Critic's Award for best film at the Scermi di Amore Film Festival in Italy and the Best Dramatic Feature Award at the Long Island Film Festival. Mr. Vincent was also nominated by Movie Maker Magazine for the Breakthrough Award, and the 1998 Someone to watch Independent Spirit Award. In 2008, Mr. Celestino wrote and directed Yonkers Joe which stars Academy Award-nominee, Chazz Palminteri, Academy Award-winner Christine Lahti, Tom Guiry (The Sandlot), Golden Globe-nominee Linus Roache, and Academy Award-nominee Michael Lerner. An ode to old time gamblers, now outdated in an age of powerful upscale casinos, the film tells the story of a dice hustler whose determination to make one last grab for a big score in Vegas is complicated by the reappearance of his estranged, mentally challenged son into his life. Yonkers Joe premiered at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival and is distributed by Magnolia Pictures. Robert's films also include No Promises, X-Factor - Portrait of a Stuntman, True Convictions and Stone's Law. In television, he wrote and directed the pilot episode for Alternate Realities. Recently, Mr. Celestino directed, produced and co-edited the film 'Leave' starring Rick Gomez, Frank John Hughes, Vinessa Shaw, Ron Livingston and Bryan Cranston. 'Leave', won 'Best Feature' and the 'Audience Award' at the Gasparilla International Film Festival.