Julius R Nasso

Personal life

Julius R. Nasso was born in a small village located in southern Aspromonte, Calabria, Italy. In 1976, Nasso graduated from St. John's University with a Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy. He then earned an advanced Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Connecticut.

On March 14, 2017, Nasso made headlines when two ponies belonging to him escaped from their barn during a snowstorm on Staten Island. The ponies, Blondie and Jewels, were quickly captured and returned to Nasso with the help of an off-duty police officer.

Early years

While attending college in 1974, Nasso founded Universal Marine Medical Supply, Co. (UMMSC). In 2014 Nasso was reportedly in the process of selling the company.

In 1977, Nasso and his college professor Dr. Satish Patel formed Tishcon Corporation, one of the nation's largest private labeling vitamin and health supplement manufacturing plants, headquartered in Westbury, New York. In 1978, along with Xavier Roberts, he capitalized on the worldwide Cabbage Patch craze by opening the Cabbage Patch Babyland General Hospital Store, formerly located on 41st Street and 5th Avenue in Manhattan. At Babyland General Hospital Nasso met Steve Ross, then CEO of Time Warner, who became instrumental in Nasso's acquisition of an overall production deal at Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, California.

Film career

In 1980, while continuing his career in pharmaceutical distribution, Nasso accepted a position as a personal assistant to director Sergio Leone. Under Leone, Nasso worked on the New York portion of Once Upon a Time in America (1984), and participated in the development of two films: In God's Name and Saint Peter's Banker. At this time, Nasso began to attend courses and seminars in film production at Cinecittà Studios in Rome, Italy. From 1981 to 1983, while still developing projects with Leone, Nasso went on to produce a television pilot for a Fox TV show entitled "Behind the 8 Ball,” starring Jerry Orbach, John Amos, and Jimmy Baio.

Nasso's next venture was as Head of International Promotions for the action film Above the Law (1986). This led to a 17-year producing partnership with Warner Brothers Studios, where Nasso was responsible for producing a series of action blockbusters including: Hard to Kill (1990), Marked for Death (1990), Out for Justice (1991), Under Siege (1992), On Deadly Ground (1994), Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995), The Glimmer Man (1996), Fire Down Below (1997) and The Patriot (1998).

After his 17-year tenure at Warner Brothers Studios as a producer, Nasso returned to New York and co-founded Manhattan Pictures. He then produced and distributed Enigma (2001), starring Kate Winslet, Secret Lives of Dentists (2001) and In Praise of Love (2001), a Jean-Luc Godard film. In concurrence with Manhattan Pictures, Nasso founded Julius R. Nasso Productions, which produced award-winning films including: Prince of Central Park (2001), starring Kathleen Turner, Danny Aiello, Cathy Moriarty, Jerry Orbach and Harvey Keitel; and One Eyed King (2001), starring William Baldwin, Dash Mihok, Armand Assante, Jason Gedrick, Connie Britton, and Chazz Palminteri.

Nasso's most acclaimed achievement is his production of Narc (2002), starring Jason Patric, Ray Liotta, and Busta Rhymes, which was nominated for the Sundance Film Festival's Grand Jury Award and won the Special Prize Policier Award at the Cognac Film Festival in France. Following Narc, Nasso produced In Enemy Hands (2004), starring William H. Macy, Til Schweiger, Lauren Holly, and Scott Caan; and The Poet (2007), starring Roy Scheider and Daryl Hannah, and Nina Dobrev.

Since 2006, Nasso has been working as Harry Belafonte's producer on a number of projects including Sing Your Song (2011) and Another Night in the Free World. Sing Your Song is a biographical documentary that surveys the life and times of singer/actor/activist Harry Belafonte. Another Night in the Free World will be Nasso's first movie documentary promoting nonviolence.

Nasso has produced multiple films premiering in 2013, including Nailed (2013), starring Academy Award nominee Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Biel; Squatters (2013), starring Academy Award winner Richard Dreyfus and Thomas Dekker; Split Decision (2013), starring Brendan Fraser and Dominic Purcell; Pride of Lions (2013) starring Louis Gossett Jr. and Bo Svenson; and Getaway (2013), inspired by the Steve McQueen hit of the same name, starring Ethan Hawke, Selena Gomez and Jon Voight.

Nasso has recently teamed up with Whoopi Goldberg to produce The Christmas Pearl, based on the bestselling novel written by Dorothea Benton Frank and scheduled to be released Christmas 2014.

Nasso is a 20-year Directors Guild of America member and a highly respected philanthropist, having been honored by countless civic leaders and institutions for his tireless charitable works. He recently co-founded Belafonte Arts and Media, located in Manhattan, has multiple movie projects in development. As of August 1, 2013 he sold his former company UMMSC International to Unimed Holdings.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Nasso has earned numerous critical honors, including the 2012 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Documentary for his work with Harry Belafonte on Sing Your Song (2011).