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Riccardo Costa, born in Bologna, Italy, holds a Master in Media Studies and a certificate in Media Management and Leadership. He graduated with a B.f.a. in Film & Television Production from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He completed a Master Class Program at Labyrinth Theater. Before moving to New York City to pursue film, he attended the University of Bologna as a Political Sciences major, working (at the age of nineteen) as a publicist and speechwriter for an Italian congressman. Inspired by the work of such filmmakers as Steven Spielberg and Spike Lee, Costa followed his passion for film directing and enrolled at NYU (with a written letter of recommendation from Franco Zeffirelli). On the occasion of Luciano Pavarotti's summer 1998 benefit concert in Modena, Italy, Costa approached Spike Lee, who would direct the live taping of the concert, and asked to work as Lee's assistant at the event. He got the job and it led to assisting Spike again at the concert the following year. In New York, Costa has continued to work with Lee, first serving as videographer on Summer of Sam, and collaborated with Lee's company 40 Acres & A Mule to develop his feature directing, Memory of a Summer, from a script he co-wrote. While pursuing funding for Blitz's feature projects, Costa has continued to hone his talents-directing a staged reading of Pier Vittorio Tondelli's Dinner Party (starring Brian Dennehy), directing a staged reading of his script Yes 4Ever (starring Kerry Washington and Malcolm Gets) and completing his award-winning short films, which screened in more than 30 festivals worldwide receiving important recognition. He completed his fourth short film, "Crossing," starring Joe Morton, Hazelle Goodman and Anthony Mackie, that played in more than 40 festivals and won awards in several international film festivals and it has been broadcast in several TV Channels including CBS. Costa's American Express short film was chosen as Finalist by the Tribeca Film Festival and won a prestigious award. He worked as Event Manager for the Italian Prime Minister, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, several politicians and celebrities. He wrote and directed "Terminated" starring Peter Friedman that was accepted in 25 festivals worldwide, winning 5 of them. He was representing the Italian Studios of Cinecitta' in the USA for about 5 years. He has been the judge for major film and screenplays festivals. He was a playwright in residence at Philip Seymour Hoffman's LAByrinth Theater Company for summer 09. His Play The Choice won as Best Play at the Downtown Urban Theater Festival, at the Theater of the New City and was showcased at the same Theater in 2011 part of the Dream-Up festival, selling out the houses, getting extended and excellent reviews. Riccardo worked with Robert DeNiro, Ron Howard, to mention a few. He hosted a TV show on Channel 25 called I-Italy NY, dedicated to Italian Lifestyle in the city and hosts an online cooking show Date Night on Honestcooking.com. He co-wrote scripts for hire and a project with Award Winner director Adam Bernstein. He has excellent relations with international distributions and networks, international influencers and press, PR agencies and he's personal friends of many celebrities. He also wrote about films, food and lifestyle for a few magazines, including Film Journal International, Honest Cooking and I-Italy NY. He constantly directs infomercial, corporate videos and demo for different clients. He's currently writing script-for-hire for Productions. He's an adjunct Professor at Hofstra University of Italian cinema and he's currently creating a series of courses for several colleges.
