Phil Scarpaci . . . . Director
It was while doing his impression of Peter Falk's "Columbo" as an actor in a series of off-beat Pontiac commercials that Phil Scarpaci realized he was more interested in what was going on behind the camera than in what he was doing before them. "While I stood around in an old, wrinkled raincoat with nothing much to do, everyone else was busy checking camera angles, moving lights and rewriting the script," Scarpaci recalls. "I was bored and, as far as I could tell, everyone else seemed to be having a great time." Scarpaci has been having his own "great time" ever since as a full time director/producer/writer and is known for his technical virtuosity and camera work as well as his compatibility with actors.
"A Doll in the Dark", a taut psycho-sexual thriller, starring Billy Drago and Naomi Kawashima, a leading Japanese actress making her American debut in the title role, was Scarpaci's first feature directorial effort.
With his second feature film, "Welcome To September", Scarpaci gathered together a strong ensemble cast of veteran actors and worked closely with award winning writer, Colin Mitchell and producer, Pattie Kelly, to bring to life this coming of age story about a young man who is trapped in his ill-fated obsession for a woman in a painting with only the love of another to save him.
For Disney, Scarpaci directed the award winning children's series, "Beyond the Page", as well as numerous other made for television short films, "No Big Deal", "Big Brother Blues" and "I'm No Fool", all three of which won the Golden Eagle Cine Award, with "Big Brother Blues" also winning a Gold Camera Award of the U.S. International Film and Video Festival and "No Big Deal" taking a Bronze Medallion at the Houston Film festival.
Long form documentary and "docudrama" formats include "Earth Changes", starring the late Dennis Weaver, which can still be seen on PBS. Weaver, a longtime friend and mentor, wrote of Scarpaci's "touch with actors and feel for the material" when recommending him for a project with the American Film Institute.
In "Blue Bus" Scarpaci plays the part of Joey and directs.
