Full Name Robert Bella Education New York University Role Filmmaker | Name Robert Bella Years active 1985–present | |
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Occupation Actor, director, producer, writer Movies Colin Fitz Lives!, Spartan, This Revolution, Things Change, Money for Nothing Similar People William H Macy, Matt McGrath, David Mamet, Ramon Menendez, Julianne Phillips | ||
Robert Bella (born 1963 is an award-winning American filmmaker, best known for the indie cult-hit comedy Colin Fitz Lives! Bella has also worked on over 100 plays as an actor, director, producer and writer. He is a co-author of Training of the American Actor and he wrote the stage adaptation of the film Stand and Deliver.
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Early life
Bella was born in Brooklyn, New York. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, where he studied acting with Stella Adler, David Mamet and William H. Macy.
Career
When he was 23 years old, Bella became an NYU adjunct faculty member. By the time he was 25, he was teaching Master Classes around the world, on subjects such as directing, script analysis, performance technique, on-camera acting and audition skills. Former acting students include: Jessica Alba, Rose Byrne, Heather Burns, Justin Chatwin, Abbie Cornish, Peter Facinelli, Matthew Fox, Bryan Greenberg, Diane Neal, Jason Ritter and Skeet Ulrich.
Bella became one of the founding members the Atlantic Theater Company, where he served as the Managing Director, Associate Artistic Director and Executive Director of the Atlantic Acting School. His experience producing and directing numerous Off-Broadway plays ultimately led him to try his hand at filmmaking.
In 1996, Bella produced and directed the independent film Colin Fitz Lives!. It was shot on 35mm in New York City. The budget was $150,000 and the film was shot in 14 days. It had its World Premiere in Dramatic Competition at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. The film won awards at numerous film festivals, including the Austin Film Festival, WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival and the Long Island Film Festival, but it did not receive distribution until IFC Films released the movie on-demand in 2010.
Bella has also produced, written and directed the independent features Revengers, Inc. and Night Windows, as well as the short film Road Kill: A Day in the Life of Henry David Road.
Bella has worked as an ADR Director with numerous actors, including: Chevy Chase, Judi Dench, Jimmy Fallon, Whoopi Goldberg, Bill Hader, Freddie Highmore, Harvey Keitel, William H. Macy, Catherine O’Hara, Christina Ricci and Jon Stewart.
Bella also worked as a Post Production Supervisor for various film studios, including DreamWorks Pictures. His credits include: Delivery Man, Lincoln, War Horse, Real Steel, The Help and I Am Number Four.
He is currently working as a TV Writer on shows such as Castle and The Following.
Personal life
Bella is currently resides in Los Angeles, California.