Michael Canzoniero is an award winning writer/director working out of his film studio MCM Creative in midtown Manhattan. Born in the Bronx, and raised on the east end of Long Island, Michael grew up obsessed with making movies alongside his cousin Marco Ricci. After attending the University of Notre Dame, where he had his first taste of Hollywood working as a production assistant on the iconic sports movie “Rudy”, Canzoniero was accepted to NYU Graduate Film, alma mater of his directing hero Martin Scorsese. But it was his apprenticeship of maverick indie filmmaker Abel Ferrara (King of New York, Bad Lieutenant) that he credits as the formative piece in learning to make his own highly personal, independent films. After Canzoniero’s thesis film “Pishadoo” was awarded the Princess Grace award for the nation’s best student film, Michael and his cousin Marco co-wrote and co-directed the popular 2009 SXSW comedy “The Marconi Bros.”. He followed this with several more comedic indie films starring his Tony-winning friend and frequent collaborator Dan Fogler (who recently portrayed Francis Coppola in Paramount’s The Offer). In 2022, Canzoniero theatrically released his fifth feature “Making The Day” which had its premiere at Cinequest Film Festival and is now available on Amazon video.
Photo Credit- Isak Tiner