Tommy Avallone is an American film director and producer.[1][2] He is best known for his work on the documentaries I Am Santa Claus, The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned from a Mythical Man and Waldo on Weed.[3][4]

Tommy Avallone
Born
Occupations
  • Actor
  • director
  • writer
  • editor
  • producer
Years active2006–present

Life and career

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Avallone was born and raised in Haddon Heights, New Jersey and graduated from Haddon Heights High School in 2001.[5] At the age of 20 years he was running for mayor of his hometown.[6]

Avallone's debut feature documentary, I Am Santa Claus, premiered at the Hollywood Film Festival, in 2014.[7] In 2018, he directed the feature documentary, The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned from a Mythical Man. It had its international premiere at Hot Docs and was nominated at American Film Festival.[8] In 2019, he directed the feature documentary, Waldo on Weed, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and was nominated at the Philadelphia Film Festival.[9][10]

In 2021, he directed and co-produced a two-part docuseries on Barney the Dinosaur entitled I Love You, You Hate Me with Scout Productions.[11] [12] The docuseries premiered on Peacock on October 12, 2022.

Filmography

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Year Title Writer Director Editor Producer Note
2009 Community College  N  Y  Y  Y Feature film
2009 No Footing  N  N  N  Y Feature film
2011 Miss December  N  N  N  Y Feature film
2012 Mancation  N  N  N  Y Feature film
2014 I Am Santa Claus  N  Y  Y  Y Documentary
2016 Ghostheads  N  N  Y  Y Documentary
2018 The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned from a Mythical Man  Y  Y  Y  Y Documentary
2019 Waldo on Weed  N  Y  Y  Y Documentary
2022 I Love You, You Hate Me  N  Y  Y  Y Docuseries

As Actor

  • 2006 - 24 Hour Diner
  • 2008 - The Editor
  • 2008 - Scene In
  • 2009 - Community College
  • 2009 - No Footing
  • 2010 - Living in 8 Bits
  • 2011 - Our Footloose Remake
  • 2011 - Miss December
  • 2012 - Mancation
  • 2014 - Our RoboCop Remake

References

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  1. ^ "Director Tommy Avallone on Breaking Through the Enigma of a Star and Telling the 'Bill Murray Stories'". nofilmschool.com. October 31, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  2. ^ "'The Bill Murray Stories' Director Tommy Avallone Dissects Iconic Actor's Strange Mythology — SXSW". Deadline Hollywood. March 12, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  3. ^ "DVDanger: I Am Santa Claus Director, Tommy Avallone finds the men behind the beard". austinchronicle.com. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  4. ^ "Review: A father fights for the life of his son in the documentary 'Waldo on Weed'". Los Angeles Times. April 8, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  5. ^ Graham, Kristen A. "Youth will serve, candidate hopes; Tommy Avallone, 20, aspiring filmmaker, is counting on fellow students to elect him mayor of Haddon Heights.", The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 18, 2003. Accessed August 6, 2020, via Newspapers.com. "'I know enough people who graduated with me, graduated before me, after me so maybe they'll all vote and I'll win,' said Avallone, Haddon Heights High School Class of 2001."
  6. ^ "Local filmmaker debuted Bill Murray documentary at South by Southwest". phillyvoice.com. March 5, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  7. ^ "Celebrate Santa everyday, thanks to SJ filmmakers". courierpostonline.com. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  8. ^ "Hot Docs review: The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned From A Mythical Man". nowtoronto.com. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  9. ^ "WALDO ON WEED: THE MOST PERSONAL CANNABIS DOCUMENTARY EVER". laweekly.com. March 18, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  10. ^ "Tribeca Film Review: 'Waldo on Weed'". variety.com. May 10, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  11. ^ "In the news". Cynopsis.com. November 16, 2021. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  12. ^ "Peacock Launches Virtual 'DocFest' Including Documentaries About Rosa Parks, Prince Andrew; Joe Berlinger's 'Shadowland'". Deadline Hollywood. August 26, 2022. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
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