Meet Tony D’Alessio of Hungry Coyote Entertainment

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tony D’Alessio.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Tony. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’ll take you through the last iteration:

Retired from my 35-year engineering career in 1999 (Long story there too) and was doing lots of Bass Fishing, but kept thinking about my younger year’s desires to be an actor. About one year later I saw an ad for an acting class at a Local Community College, signed up … and was hooked on acting. Then took acting classes at various venues including Mesa CC, to Scottsdale CC, Meanwhile I got cast in some local college and local theater productions, then a few indie film productions and, after visiting my mother-in-law at a nursing home, had an idea for a script about a 50-ish vivacious lawyer who develops early-onset Alzheimer’s. And so began my journey into screenwriting, directing and producing film.

Has it been a smooth road?
These have not always been “struggles” but more like interesting twists. It has been an interesting journey beginning with my return from military service, working construction jobs as a heavy equipment operator while attending the NYU Evening Division for Civil Engineering, then getting hired by an international Engineering firm (parsons Brinckerhoff – PB) while still needing three more years to achieve my degree.

Met the love of my life, Jo Anne while taking a class at NYU, got engaged and upon graduation, PB offered me a position in Hawaii for designer on a roadway Interchange project. Jo Anne agreed to the two-year relocation that lasted 18 years, and two children later, when PB opened an office in Arizona. PB needed staff and Jo Anne had been working for the Hawaii DOT, so they also hired Jo Anne, and we worked in the same AZ office for the next 14 years.

We’d love to hear more about your work.
Girl, Wired is the first feature-length movie produced by Hungry Coyote Entertainment and was made possible when a family-owned property in the Bronx, shared among eight cousins, was sold. My share of the proceeds was under $300K.

We had been seeking film financing since 2010 for my film scripts “Girl, Wired”, and “Fatal” , and had begun with a very ambitious $10M budget, gradually reduced over the years to about $2M, which my producers and I thought to be the lowest we could go to make a “quality” film, and we also had a known “Director” attached. I proposed the possibility of a SAG Ultra Low Budget project ($250 K and under) and our fabulous production team began putting the pieces together. We decided to go with “Girl, Wired” as it was limited to local shooting locations and would reduce days and travel costs. We also concluded that the story itself about a preteen girl genius and her gambling grandpa would attract a broader demographic of viewers from preteens to seniors.

Girl, Wired is now on the world market, and we are anticipating that the proceeds from sales and distribution will allow HCE to produce our more adult thriller, “FATAL”!

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Phoenix and the surrounding cities are magnificent locations to shoot a movie, and, of course, the Arizona mountains, desert, and Canyons are spectacular BG for any film. There are also hundreds of talented artists working to get into the movie business, including actors, Directors, producers, costume and makeup artists, sound crews, etc. HOWEVER, since 2008/2009 the former tax incentive program that was offered to film productions has been eliminated by our legislature, and the talent is gradually drifting to more generous locations, New Mexico being the latest magnet.

A return of the Tax Incentive Program would certainly help to attract more productions to take advantage of the scenic beauty of Arizona and would inspire our talented actors and crew people to remain here for work.

Contact Info:

• Address: 5065 E MINING CAMP ST
• Website: Hungry Coyote Entertainment, LLC @hungrycoyoteentertainment
• Phone: 4809827229
• Email: tonydalessio@msn.com
• Instagram: Instagram – girlwiredfilm
• Facebook: Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/girlwiredfilm/
• Twitter: Twitter – @girlwired

Suggest a story: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.