Robert Bruzio is a man with a dream. Your talking about a man that was born in the Bronx without a silver spoon in his mouth,however because he had great parents he was allowed to dream and reach for the stars. Robert has had many dreams including playing for the NY Yankees as a kid. He also loves the world of movies, acting and writing scripts. Like in the world of baseball,in the movie world you always have negative people telling you that you can’t do this or your not good enough to do that. However because of the support of his family, Robert has never abandoned his dream. No matter how many times he has heard No thank you he kept getting up dusting himself off and started over again.
As an actor he tested for Chazz Palmintieri and Robert Deniro for the role of C in the legendary film A Bronx Tale. The fact that he came extremely close to being picked has only made his desire to succeed in a very difficult business that much stronger.
All along he was writing different scripts for both movies and television.
One of the scripts that he was working on was inspired by a relative that had done some prison time and also by his incredible love of baseball. What the end result became was a beautiful overall love story and the fact that anything in life is possible if you try hard enough.
One way or another his script got into the hands of Lynn Hendee Bill Chartoff the great producer of Rocky and Creed fame and Joe Manganiello the terrific young actor who also produces films with his brother Nick. They ended up liking the script and the rest is history.
Please understand that it did take several years before a deal was finally struck. Several agonizing years because as a writer when you get this close most of the time it just doesn’t get done for one reason or another. However this time the stars were lined up correctly and Robert finally got the call that he had been waiting for all his life from Bill Chartoff which was that the Movie Stano was going to get done. You can only imagine how happy Robert his wife Dawn and family were.
When the film was ready to start shooting Robert and his Dad Francesco walked down the street on Arthur Ave in the Bronx, right near the same block that he lived on and they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Giant trucks lining up almost two blocks. Hundreds of production people,also so many different actors and actresses including the beautiful Sofia Vegara who plays Joe Manganiello’s love interest. The name of her character was Angela after Roberts mom who died nine years ago but yet so sorely missed.
Robert and his dad just stood there and stared in amazement. At one point someone said to Robert, Do you understand that your responsible for all of this. Are you aware that all these people are working because of you.
Robert just stood there with his mouth open.
Mr. Bruzio Roberts dad however was the proudest man in America that day. It was so nice that Robert was able to share this moment with the man that has supported Robert with his dreams all his life. His cousin’s pizzeria Catania is a hangout spot for Stano in the film.Probably because the pizza was so good. Scenes were also shot in Staten Island, at the home of the Staten Island Yankees ,Brooklyn and Long Island.
The film itself was shot in two months,two great months with great people. Our director Raymond DeFelitta was absolutely the perfect director for Robert to make his initial script debut with. I have worked in films where directors don’t even like the writers on the set. Raymond was just great with Bruzio and kept Robert involved all the way thru.
The film is presently in the editing process and Robert has to be feeling like the husband of a pregnant woman waiting for his baby to be born. Robert is presently working on a film on American prisoners of war and some other interesting subjects.
Last week I was sitting in Gino’s Bakery on Arthur Ave with Robert,Jerome the owner and our mentor Chazz Palmintieri. Jerome has a wall of fame there with such stars like Pacino,Chazz, Danny Aiello you name it. There is an empty spot on that wall of fame and I can only imagine that what I expect will happen is that Stano will be a giant hit and Jerome will finally put Robert Bruzio’s picture where it belongs. On Gino’s wall of fame.
Robert wanted to give a special thank you to Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman and former Yankee Great Bernie Williams for appearing in the film. Also a special thank you to Hank Steinbrenner for having members of his Hanks Yanks Organization appear in the film. A special thank you to Cinematographer Barry Markowitz and Associate Producer Robert Molloy for their tireless efforts all throughout production. The whole STANO crew was just incredible.
About the Author
