Biography
Roy Carlo was born in Astoria NYC on September 24, 1959. His father Joseph (1931-2013) was from Brooklyn and a decorated Korean War veteran, having served in combat at Pork Chop Hill with the 7th Infantry until he was wounded in the spring of 1953. His great-grandfather Anthony emigrated from Sorrento Italy in 1880 and lived on President St. in the Red Hook section. He was hired by Washington Roebling to help construct the Brooklyn Bridge by hanging the cables. His grandfather Louis served in WWI first as a cook, then as an infantryman in 1917.
His mother Susan (1930-2015) was born in Yonkers NY to immigrant parents from Bari Italy. They returned there for three years, then back to NYC to the Italian section of East Harlem around the block from Burt Lancaster and the famous RAO's restaurant. By the late 30's the family crossed the bridge to Astoria, where his maternal grandmother Vita would work at the same garment company with Tony Bennett's mother Anna, also a seamstress. Susan would attend Julia Richman High School in Manhattan with Lauren Bacall (aka Betty Perske), walking over the 59th St. bridge everyday to 2nd Ave. Eventually she, her three sisters and one brother, married and raised their own families. She was an aggressive and very capable business woman, who besides being a terrific mother to four children, started businesses and bought and sold real estate with her husband. This enabled them to provide very well for their family, with most of Roy's childhood spent in the Flushing & Whitestone neighborhoods of Queens. It was during his school years when he realized his talent for writing.
Roy began his career submitting sketches to SNL in the fall of 1980 when they held an open call for writers and performers. He was given an interview and asked to return with more samples. By the time he was ready in January, NBC had fired Lorne Michael's replacement Jean Doumanian and the door was closed. After several more years of writing spec scripts, it was decided the best way to break in was as a production company, which is when he started Astoria Films in 1996. Through connections in LA, they were able to secure various gigs with major studios for motion pictures and series being shot in NYC including Sleepers, Donnie Brasco, Mickey Blue Eyes, Two Weeks Notice, Vanilla Sky, Little Black Book as well as the first season of The Sopranos. His screenplay PAISAN was honored by NIAF (National Italian American Foundation) in DC for its contribution in honoring the sacrifices made by American soldiers of Italian heritage during WWII, as well as producer John Daly (Terminator, Platoon) who was planning to produce it at MGM before his death in 08, calling it a masterpiece and potential epic.
Through a partnership with RPM Media, he was Executive Producer on Compulsive Traveler for CBS Television, featuring travelogues from around the world as well as feature film STEALING CHANEL starring Adam Lavorgna, Lydia Hearst, Margaret Colin, John Rothman and Carol Alt. It was sold to Lifetime TV and still airs worldwide on their affiliated networks. As of 2020, Astoria Films and its television division Basement Studios, have developed an aggressive slate of original productions which are listed on IMDB. Next to start will be the updated NYC remake to Vittorio De Sica's post-war masterpiece UMBERTO D. starring Dominic Chianese in the title role.
