Bob Giraldi
Encyclopedia
Bob Giraldi is an American film
and television director
best known for directing the music video
for Michael Jackson
's song "Beat It
." His work has garnered many accolades, including several London International Awards, Cannes Advertising Awards, NY International Awards, Addy Awards
, Chicago Film Festival Awards and hundreds of Clio Awards
. He has also been named one of the "101 Stars Behind 100 Years of Advertising."
, to a working-class Italian-American family. He attended Pratt Institute
in Brooklyn
, New York on a basketball and baseball scholarship, graduating in 1960 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts
.
Upon graduation, in 1960, he worked as a graphic designer at General Motors
in Detroit. Shortly thereafter he returned to New York, where he spent the next nine years as an art director and creative supervisor at the advertising agency
Young & Rubicam
.
1965, he began teaching advertising at The School of Visual Arts
in New York, and soon became the Chair of the Advertising Department. In 1968, Silas Rhodes
appointed him the Assistant Director of the School. During the Vietnam War
, the School was forced to make administrative changes, and Giraldi had to step down. However, he remained on the School's Board of Directors, and in 1981, directed and produced a film, "Burnt Umber", featuring a then-unknown actor Denzel Washington, for SVA's recruitment program.
In 1970, Giraldi became creative director of the advertising agency DellaFemina & Partners, and three years later formed his production company Giraldi Productions, which has to-date produced and directed close to 3000 commercials, music videos and short films.
, memorable for an incident in which Jackson's hair caught on fire in an accident involving pyrotechnics
on the set, and commercials for the Miller Brewing Company
commercials that featured such celebrities as Rodney Dangerfield
, Bob Uecker
, Billy Martin
, John Madden, Bubba Smith
, Tommy Heinsohn, Mickey Spillane
, Dick Butkus
and Joe Piscopo
. He was also responsible for commercials for the Broadway
shows A Chorus Line
, Evita, Dreamgirls
, Sophisticated Ladies
, Sunset Boulevard
, The Phantom of the Opera
and The Full Monty
.
, a 1984 People's Choice Award, and is included in Rolling Stone
' s top ten examples of video art at The Museum of Modern Art
in New York.
Other famous videos followed. "Say, Say, Say", with Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney
, won the 1984 Le Festival du Clip St. Tropez. "Love Is a Battlefield
", with Pat Benatar
won a 1984 MTV Video Music Award, and "Hello
" with Lionel Richie
, won a 1985 American Music Award. Other notable music videos from the 1980s include: "Running with the Night
" by Lionel Richie and "Pieces of Ice" by Diana Ross
. He directed the video for Jean Michel Jarre's
Rendez-vous Houston
concert. He also directed the video for the Will Smith
song, "Just The Two Of Us".
appeared on a number of 2001's Top 10 lists, including Salon.com
's and Richard Roeper
's of Ebert & Roeper
and was selected for the prestigious New Directors/New Films Series presented by The Film Society of Lincoln Center at MoMA. Giraldi's independent films have also garnered numerous awards and have found their way into collections as diverse as the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
and the Museum of Modern Art
. In 1991, Giraldi was inducted into the Art Director's Hall of Fame, one of the few film directors to be honored. His short film The Routine premiered at Sundance Film Festival
and won Best Drama at the 6th Annual Los Angeles International Short Film Festival. Another short, My Hometown, is now in the National Baseball Hall of Fame's permanent collection, and Dream Begins, an integral part of New York's national Olympic bid, now resides with the Museum of Modern Art. Giraldi's short film, Honey Trap starring Debbie Harry
, won a Gold Remi Award at the 39th Annual WorldFest Houston and screened at Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films, San Diego Film Festival, Raindance in the UK, and Hamptons International Film Festival. "Second Guessing Grandma," his latest short film, has won numerous awards, including the Fresno Reel Pride 2008 Audience Award; 27 Reeling: Chicago Lesbian & Gay Film Festival Jury Award; 14th Annual Palm Springs International Festival of Films Official Selection; 33rd Cleveland International Film Festival, Best LGBT Short Film.
. Giraldi then helped start the Jean Georges 4-star namesake restaurant as well as Vong and its London and Hong Kong outposts. Giraldi was also involved in Patria, which received the New York Times 3 Stars, but has since closed. His Tuscan fare eatery BREADTribeca earned 2 Stars from The Times. Another establishment, Diablo Royale, has become a popular taqueria in the West Village and currently is in the process of opening another location in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. In March 2009, Giraldi opened http://tondapzza.com/Tonda, a pizzeria whose focus is healthy, casual fare inspired by a Napoli cuisine.
In 1995, Giraldi and Patti Greaney created the original website StarChefs.com, featuring celebrity chefs and cookbook authors. StarChefs continues to be the foremost website used by professionals and food afficiandos. In addition to StarChefs, Giraldi has begun negotiations with several Japanese high profile corporations to create ChefRising.com, a new culinary, food-centric website in that country featuring the latest news and information about Japan's emerging star chefs and food community.
. This drama centers on a close-knit suburban community and the secrets of one family that are finally exposed. Steven Siebert and Patti Greaney are producers and Bob will direct.
Giraldi has partnered with prolific producer Edward R. Pressman
to develop the romantic drama Isola Delle Femmine, which centers on the anticipated visit of Joe DiMaggio
to the Italian birthplace of his parents and the enthusiastic director of tourism who is determined to revive his village, but perhaps at the cost of the love of his life. Mr. Giraldi will also direct the movie.
Giraldi and long-time producer, Patti Greaney, are working with The School of Visual Arts to create the SVA Out of Hand Festival – an international competition for content created by students devoted to the new art & technology of wireless delivery systems.
Additionally, he is slated to chair a new graduate program in short filmmaking at The School of Visual Arts. The program, MPS Live Action Short Film, is set to begin in Fall 2010.
Giraldi is also a member of the Board of the Hamptons International Film Festival
, and he wrote and directed the official trailer that preceded every film at the festival in 2004 and 2005. In 2007, he produced an animated trail for the festival, and his is working on another animated trailer for the 2009 festival.
Giraldi partnered with Carlos "Hari" Sama's Mexico City based Catatonia Films to create the multinational production/media company CATATONIA-GIRALDI, representing international directors for commercial and long form content.
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and television director
Television director
A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...
best known for directing the music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
's song "Beat It
Beat It
"Beat It" is a song written and performed by American recording artist Michael Jackson, and produced by Quincy Jones . It is the third single from the singer's sixth solo album, Thriller . Eddie Van Halen was hired to add the song's distinctive overdriven guitar solo, but was prevented by his...
." His work has garnered many accolades, including several London International Awards, Cannes Advertising Awards, NY International Awards, Addy Awards
Addy Awards
The ADDY Awards is the world's largest advertising competition with over 50,000 entries annually. Founded in Florida in 1960 it was adopted by the American Advertising Federation, a not-for-profit industry association, as a national competition in 1968....
, Chicago Film Festival Awards and hundreds of Clio Awards
Clio Awards
The Clio Awards are annual awards bestowed to reward innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design and communication. The categories include work in nearly all types of media, and the judges are advertising professionals from around the world....
. He has also been named one of the "101 Stars Behind 100 Years of Advertising."
Early life
Giraldi was born in Paterson, New JerseyPaterson, New Jersey
Paterson is a city serving as the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 146,199, rendering it New Jersey's third largest city and one of the largest cities in the New York City Metropolitan Area, despite a decrease of 3,023...
, to a working-class Italian-American family. He attended Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private art college in New York City located in Brooklyn, New York, with satellite campuses in Manhattan and Utica. Pratt is one of the leading undergraduate art schools in the United States and offers programs in Architecture, Graphic Design, History of Art and Design,...
in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York on a basketball and baseball scholarship, graduating in 1960 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts
Bachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
.
Upon graduation, in 1960, he worked as a graphic designer at General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
in Detroit. Shortly thereafter he returned to New York, where he spent the next nine years as an art director and creative supervisor at the advertising agency
Advertising agency
An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services...
Young & Rubicam
Young & Rubicam
Y&R is a marketing and communications company specializing in advertising, digital and social media, sales promotion, direct marketing and brand identity consulting.-History:...
.
1965, he began teaching advertising at The School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
in New York, and soon became the Chair of the Advertising Department. In 1968, Silas Rhodes
Silas Rhodes
Silas H. Rhodes was an American educator and co-founder of a trade school for illustrators and cartoonists that eventually became the School of Visual Arts, one of the premiere U.S. colleges for art and design.-Early life:...
appointed him the Assistant Director of the School. During the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, the School was forced to make administrative changes, and Giraldi had to step down. However, he remained on the School's Board of Directors, and in 1981, directed and produced a film, "Burnt Umber", featuring a then-unknown actor Denzel Washington, for SVA's recruitment program.
In 1970, Giraldi became creative director of the advertising agency DellaFemina & Partners, and three years later formed his production company Giraldi Productions, which has to-date produced and directed close to 3000 commercials, music videos and short films.
Advertising
Giraldi's advertising campaigns include the Pepsi-Cola campaign with Michael Jackson and Lionel RichieLionel Richie
Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...
, memorable for an incident in which Jackson's hair caught on fire in an accident involving pyrotechnics
Pyrotechnics
Pyrotechnics is the science of using materials capable of undergoing self-contained and self-sustained exothermic chemical reactions for the production of heat, light, gas, smoke and/or sound...
on the set, and commercials for the Miller Brewing Company
Miller Brewing Company
The Miller Brewing Company is an American beer brewing company owned by the United Kingdom-based SABMiller. Its regional headquarters are located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the company has brewing facilities in Albany, Georgia; Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin; Eden, North Carolina; Fort Worth, Texas;...
commercials that featured such celebrities as Rodney Dangerfield
Rodney Dangerfield
Rodney Dangerfield , was an American comedian, and actor, known for the catchphrases "I don't get no respect!," "No respect, no respect at all... that's the story of my life" or "I get no respect, I tell ya" and his monologues on that theme...
, Bob Uecker
Bob Uecker
Robert George "Bob" Uecker is an American former Major League Baseball player, later a sportscaster, comedian, and actor. Uecker was given the title of "Mr. Baseball" by Johnny Carson...
, Billy Martin
Billy Martin
Alfred Manuel "Billy" Martin, Jr. was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager. He is best known as the manager of the New York Yankees, a position he held five different times...
, John Madden, Bubba Smith
Bubba Smith
Charles Aaron "Bubba" Smith was an American professional football player who became an actor after his retirement from the sport. He first came into prominence at Michigan State University, where he twice earned All-American honors as a defensive end on the Spartans football team...
, Tommy Heinsohn, Mickey Spillane
Mickey Spillane
Frank Morrison Spillane , better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American author of crime novels, many featuring his signature detective character, Mike Hammer. More than 225 million copies of his books have sold internationally...
, Dick Butkus
Dick Butkus
Richard Marvin "Dick" Butkus is a former American football player for the Chicago Bears. He was drafted in 1965 and he is also widely regarded as one of the best and most durable linebackers of all time. Butkus starred as a football player for the University of Illinois and the Chicago Bears. He...
and Joe Piscopo
Joe Piscopo
Joseph Charles John "Joe" Piscopo is an American comedian and actor best known for his work on Saturday Night Live.-Early life:...
. He was also responsible for commercials for the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
shows A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch....
, Evita, Dreamgirls
Dreamgirls
Dreamgirls is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based upon the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others, the musical follows the story of a young female singing trio...
, Sophisticated Ladies
Sophisticated Ladies
Sophisticated Ladies is a musical revue based on the music of Duke Ellington.After fifteen previews, the Broadway production, conceived by Donald McKayle, directed by Michael Smuin, and choreographed by McKayle, Smuin, Henry LeTang, Bruce Heath, and Mercedes Ellington, opened on March 1, 1981 at...
, Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard (musical)
Sunset Boulevard is a musical with book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Based on the 1950 film of the same title, the plot revolves around Norma Desmond, a faded star of the silent screen era, living in the past in her decaying mansion on the...
, The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.The music was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator,...
and The Full Monty
The Full Monty (musical)
The Full Monty is a musical with a book by Terrence McNally and score by David Yazbek.In this Americanized musical stage version adapted from the 1997 British film of the same name, six unemployed Buffalo steelworkers, low on both cash and prospects, decide to present a strip act at a local club...
.
Michael Jackson Pepsi commercial
According to Captain Don Donester, the fire safety inspector, who was on the set during filming of the commercial, overheard Giraldi informing Michael Jackson to "Stand there longer [under the sparks]. You'll look more majestic." In a response to TMZ, Giraldi countered that he had no idea putting Michael directly underneath the sparks was dangerous, and furthermore, it was the responsibility of fire safety officials such as Donester to warn him of any risk. He also stated that there were never supposed to be sparks; in fact, the fireworks malfunctioned.Music Videos
In 1983, Giraldi wrote and directed the music video for "Beat It" starring Michael Jackson. Arguably Giraldi's best-known work, the video won an American Music Award, the Billboard Music AwardBillboard Music Award
The Billboard Music Award is an honor given by Billboard magazine, the preeminent publication covering the music business. The Billboard Music Awards show had been held annually in December until it went dormant in 2007, but it returned in May 2011...
, a 1984 People's Choice Award, and is included in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
in New York.
Other famous videos followed. "Say, Say, Say", with Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, won the 1984 Le Festival du Clip St. Tropez. "Love Is a Battlefield
Love Is a Battlefield
"Love Is a Battlefield" is a song written by Holly Knight and Mike Chapman, after Pat Benatar asked Chapman to write her a hit song. It was released as a single from Benatar's album Live from Earth. The single has been certified gold and is her highest charting single in the United States...
", with Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar is an American singer and four-time Grammy winner. She had considerable commercial success particularly in the United States...
won a 1984 MTV Video Music Award, and "Hello
Hello (Lionel Richie song)
"Hello" is a song by Lionel Richie. Taken as the third single from Richie's multi-platinum album Can't Slow Down, the song was released in 1984 and reached number one on three Billboard music charts: the pop chart , the R&B chart , and the adult contemporary chart . The song also went to number one...
" with Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie
Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...
, won a 1985 American Music Award. Other notable music videos from the 1980s include: "Running with the Night
Running with the Night
"Running with the Night" was the second single released from Lionel Richie's multi-platinum and Grammy Award-winning 1983 album, Can't Slow Down...
" by Lionel Richie and "Pieces of Ice" by Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
. He directed the video for Jean Michel Jarre's
Jean Michel Jarre
Jean Michel André Jarre is a French composer, performer and music producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and New Age genres, and known as an organiser of outdoor spectacles of his music featuring lights, laser displays, and fireworks.Jarre was raised in Lyon by his mother and...
Rendez-vous Houston
Rendez-vous Houston
Rendez-vous Houston: A City in Concert was a live performance by musician Jean Michel Jarre amidst the skyscrapers of downtown Houston on the evening of April 5, 1986, coinciding with the release of the Rendez-Vous album...
concert. He also directed the video for the Will Smith
Will Smith
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
song, "Just The Two Of Us".
Films
His feature film Dinner RushDinner Rush
Dinner Rush is an independent feature film, written by Brian S. Kalata and Rick Shaughnessy. Directed by Bob Giraldi. It stars Danny Aiello as a restaurateur-bookmaker in New York City's Tribeca neighborhood and Edoardo Ballerini as his son, the restaurant's star chef...
appeared on a number of 2001's Top 10 lists, including Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
's and Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Richard E. Roeper is an American columnist and film critic for The Chicago Sun-Times and now a co-host on The Roe Conn Show on WLS-AM...
's of Ebert & Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
At the Movies was a movie review television program produced by Disney-ABC Domestic Television in which two film critics shared their opinions of newly released films. The program aired under various names...
and was selected for the prestigious New Directors/New Films Series presented by The Film Society of Lincoln Center at MoMA. Giraldi's independent films have also garnered numerous awards and have found their way into collections as diverse as the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, the display of...
and the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
. In 1991, Giraldi was inducted into the Art Director's Hall of Fame, one of the few film directors to be honored. His short film The Routine premiered at Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
and won Best Drama at the 6th Annual Los Angeles International Short Film Festival. Another short, My Hometown, is now in the National Baseball Hall of Fame's permanent collection, and Dream Begins, an integral part of New York's national Olympic bid, now resides with the Museum of Modern Art. Giraldi's short film, Honey Trap starring Debbie Harry
Debbie Harry
Deborah Ann "Debbie" Harry is an American singer-songwriter and actress, best known for being the lead singer of the punk rock and new wave band Blondie. She has also had success as a solo artist, and in the mid-1990s she performed and recorded as part of The Jazz Passengers...
, won a Gold Remi Award at the 39th Annual WorldFest Houston and screened at Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films, San Diego Film Festival, Raindance in the UK, and Hamptons International Film Festival. "Second Guessing Grandma," his latest short film, has won numerous awards, including the Fresno Reel Pride 2008 Audience Award; 27 Reeling: Chicago Lesbian & Gay Film Festival Jury Award; 14th Annual Palm Springs International Festival of Films Official Selection; 33rd Cleveland International Film Festival, Best LGBT Short Film.
Culinary
In the early '90's, Giraldi threw his hat into the New York restaurant ring, opening Jo-Jo with Jean-Georges VongerichtenJean-Georges Vongerichten
Jean-Georges Vongerichten is a French chef. He was born in Alsace, France, in 1956 and now resides in the United States of America. Vongerichten commands restaurants in culinary capitals Las Vegas, London, Paris and Shanghai, as well as New York's Jean Georges restaurant...
. Giraldi then helped start the Jean Georges 4-star namesake restaurant as well as Vong and its London and Hong Kong outposts. Giraldi was also involved in Patria, which received the New York Times 3 Stars, but has since closed. His Tuscan fare eatery BREADTribeca earned 2 Stars from The Times. Another establishment, Diablo Royale, has become a popular taqueria in the West Village and currently is in the process of opening another location in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. In March 2009, Giraldi opened http://tondapzza.com/Tonda, a pizzeria whose focus is healthy, casual fare inspired by a Napoli cuisine.
In 1995, Giraldi and Patti Greaney created the original website StarChefs.com, featuring celebrity chefs and cookbook authors. StarChefs continues to be the foremost website used by professionals and food afficiandos. In addition to StarChefs, Giraldi has begun negotiations with several Japanese high profile corporations to create ChefRising.com, a new culinary, food-centric website in that country featuring the latest news and information about Japan's emerging star chefs and food community.
Recent and Current Projects
Giraldi's production company GIRALDI MEDIA is currently casting the feature film The Lion's Share, written by playwright Tom DonaghyTom Donaghy
Tom Donaghy is a playwright whose work has been produced by major theatre companiesacross the United States, including Atlantic Theater Company, Lincoln Center Theatre, and Playwrights Horizons in New York City, the Goodman Theater in Chicago, the La Jolla Playhouse and South Coast Repertory in...
. This drama centers on a close-knit suburban community and the secrets of one family that are finally exposed. Steven Siebert and Patti Greaney are producers and Bob will direct.
Giraldi has partnered with prolific producer Edward R. Pressman
Edward R. Pressman
Edward R. Pressman is an American film producer.Pressman was born in New York City, New York, the son of Lynn and Jack Pressman, known as the "King of Marbles", who founded the Pressman Toy Corporation.-Filmography:...
to develop the romantic drama Isola Delle Femmine, which centers on the anticipated visit of Joe DiMaggio
Joe DiMaggio
Joseph Paul "Joe" DiMaggio , nicknamed "Joltin' Joe" and "The Yankee Clipper," was an American Major League Baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career for the New York Yankees. He is perhaps best known for his 56-game hitting streak , a record that still stands...
to the Italian birthplace of his parents and the enthusiastic director of tourism who is determined to revive his village, but perhaps at the cost of the love of his life. Mr. Giraldi will also direct the movie.
Giraldi and long-time producer, Patti Greaney, are working with The School of Visual Arts to create the SVA Out of Hand Festival – an international competition for content created by students devoted to the new art & technology of wireless delivery systems.
Additionally, he is slated to chair a new graduate program in short filmmaking at The School of Visual Arts. The program, MPS Live Action Short Film, is set to begin in Fall 2010.
Giraldi is also a member of the Board of the Hamptons International Film Festival
Hamptons International Film Festival
Hamptons International Film Festival was founded to provide a forum for independent filmmakers from around the world to express their vision. The Festival is traditionally held for five days in mid-October in theatre venues from Montauk to Southampton and attracts roughly 15,000 visitors annually...
, and he wrote and directed the official trailer that preceded every film at the festival in 2004 and 2005. In 2007, he produced an animated trail for the festival, and his is working on another animated trailer for the 2009 festival.
Giraldi partnered with Carlos "Hari" Sama's Mexico City based Catatonia Films to create the multinational production/media company CATATONIA-GIRALDI, representing international directors for commercial and long form content.