Joseph Greco (born 1972) is a writer, director and producer living in Los Angeles. He wrote & directed the feature film ''

Canvas Canvas is an extremely durable Plain weave, plain-woven Cloth, fabric used for making sails, tents, Tent#Marquees and larger tents, marquees, backpacks, Shelter (building), shelters, as a Support (art), support for oil painting and for other ite ...

''. Greco was interested in magic, entering the Society of American Magicians aged 14, but shifted his interest to film shortly before attending university. He graduated from Florida State University's School of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts in 1994. He began making short films in

Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb in the Miami metropolitan area. The population of Hollywood was 153,067 as of 2020, making it the Broward County#Communities, third-largest city in Broward County, th ...

in the mid-90s, before moving to Hollywood in 1995. He has worked with director

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker, who resides in New Zealand. He is a major figure in the post-New Hollywood era and often uses novel technologies with a Classical Hollywood cinema, classical filmmaking styl ...

and has received awards for his short films, ''The Ghost of Drury Lane'' and ''Lena's Spaghetti'', which premiered in the

Telluride Film Festival The Telluride Film Festival (TFF) is a film festival held annually in Telluride, Colorado, during Labor Day, Labor Day weekend (the first Monday in September). The 51st Telluride Film Festival, 51st edition took place on August 30–September ...

's Filmmakers of Tomorrow Program. Greco is a member of the

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of Film director, film and Television director, television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Dir ...

. Greco has directed many plays, short films, music videos & PSAs, working with actors such as

Harrison Ford Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. Regarded as a cinematic cultural icon, he has starred in Harrison Ford filmography, many notable films over seven decades, and is one of List of highest-grossing actors, the highest-gr ...

Matthew Modine Matthew Avery Modine (born March 22, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker. He shared the Venice Film Festival‘s Volpi Cup for Best Actor as part of the ensemble cast of Robert Altman film ''Streamers'' (1983). He went on to play lead rol ...

, and

Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She received many accolades including 22 Primetime Emmy nominations and won eight, tying Julia Louis-Dreyfus ...

. He directed the music video "Hope Is a Thing" for singer/songwriter Lisbeth Scott, working alongside two-time Academy Award-winning cinematographer

Haskell Wexler Haskell Wexler (February 6, 1922 – December 27, 2015) was an American filmmaker, cinematographer, and documentarian. He won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography twice, in 1966 for ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' and 1976 for ''Bou ...

. Joseph Greco directed the Disney internet commercial "Dance Star Mickey" starring

Quest Crew Quest Crew is an American hip-hop dance crew from Los Angeles, California who were declared winners of the third season of '' America's Best Dance Crew''. They made their first few appearances individually on shows like ''So You Think You Can ...

. Greco is the producer & director of the 2011 Emmy winning documentary series "Profiles of Hope" and the producer of Joe Pantoliano's documentary "No Kidding, Me Too," both of which were released on PBS. ''Canvas'' is Greco's first feature film, and was inspired by his own experience of living with his mother, who suffered from schizophrenia. He said that "It's like a love letter to my parents. I felt this was my way of sublimating what I had gone through. Every filmmaker has something they are passionate about, and for me, it's mental illness." It was filmed in 2006, and stars Academy Award winner

Marcia Gay Harden Marcia Gay Harden (born August 14, 1959) is an American actress. Her accolades include an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and nominations for four Primetime Emmy Awards. Harden's breakthrough came in 1990 with the Coen brothers' film '' Miller's ...

, Emmy Award winner

Joe Pantoliano Joseph Peter Pantoliano (born September 12, 1951) is an American actor who has played over 150 roles across film, television, and theater. He is best known for portraying Francis Fratelli in '' The Goonies'' (1985), Captain Conrad Howard in th ...

and

Devon Gearhart Devon Gearhart (born May 5, 1995) is an American actor. Early life Gearhart was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, and began acting at the age of seven, landing national commercials with Burger King, PBS, Pizza Hut and the Cartoon Network. ...

. ''Canvas'' premiered at the Hampton's International Film Festival, won the Alice in the City Prize (Best Feature Film) at the 2007

Rome Film Festival International Rome Film Fest is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma. From 2022, the festival was officially recognized as a competitive festival by the Internation ...

, and several other awards. ''Canvas'' well received by film critics such as

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

and

Peter Travers Peter Joseph Travers (born June 27, 1943) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film i ...

of ''Rolling Stone''. Greco was recognized by ''

MovieMaker Magazine ''MovieMaker'' is a magazine, website and podcast network focused on the art and business of filmmaking with a special emphasis on independent film and film festivals. The magazine is published on a quarterly basis, and is known for the annual l ...

'' in their screenwriter spotlight for ''Canvas'', and has been invited to speak about ''Canvas'' and the subject of mental health at the United Nations, Tufts University and Yale University.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greco, Joseph Living people People from Hollywood, Florida 1972 births Film directors from Florida