Anthony “Tony” Cianciotta, a Canadian movie trade determine whose profession spanned 50 years, handed away peacefully on June 26 on the age of 85.
Cianciotta started his journey within the movie trade in 1965 in Toronto as a movie purchaser for the J. Arthur Rank Group (which later turned Cineplex Odeon). He subsequently held senior govt positions at twentieth Century Fox Canada and Cineplex Odeon. A very notable expertise was his tenure as senior vice chairman and normal supervisor of theatrical distribution at Alliance Launch from 1992 to 1997.
Cianciotta is understood for his strategic method to theatrical releases in Canada, which persistently generates field workplace returns exceeding 10% of the entire North American field workplace. Cianciotta’s credit embrace arthouse movies like “Cinema Paradiso” and “The English Affected person,” in addition to mainstream hits just like the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” collection and “Austin Powers: Worldwide Man of Thriller.”
Cineplex President and CEO Ellis Jacob described Cianciotta as “one of the crucial passionate and devoted individuals about our enterprise.”
Cianciotta helps Canadian productions, working with filmmakers akin to Atom Egoyan and David Cronenberg. Egoyan mentioned: “Tony was a passionate fan and I beloved working with him. We had many nice conversations in regards to the motion pictures we beloved and this can be a large loss.
Stura Gunnarsson, the filmmaker behind So Lengthy a Journey, added: “Tony screened the movie and fell in love with it, helped us get the distribution rights again and turned it into successful . He introduced the identical ardour and dedication to the discharge of this movie that we had in making it.
Cianciotta is a frequent customer to worldwide movie festivals and has a long-standing relationship with the Toronto Worldwide Movie Competition (TIFF). Former TIFF CEO Piers Dealing with referred to as him “a real gentleman” and “a person of his phrase.”
“Tony’s love of movie is contagious,” mentioned Tonya Williams, actor of “The Younger and the Stressed” and govt director of the Reelworld Movie Competition and Reelworld Movie Academy. He served on the Reelwold board of administrators from 2017 to 2019, serving to form its plans. performed an vital function.
Lately, Cianciotta has centered on producing long-form content material for worldwide markets. He serves as an govt producer on the Netflix-Metropolis collection Dangerous Blood. His honors embrace a Silver Highlight Award on the 2014 Canadian Movie Vanguard Awards and an appointment to the Public Broadcasting Service Authorities Panel.
Cianciotta can be an educator, educating on the Canadian Movie Heart and Queen’s College. He acquired the CESAR Excellence in Instructing Award from Ryerson College (now Metropolis College of Toronto). He’s survived by his spouse Anna Maria, son Anthony Jr., daughter-in-law Arlene and two granddaughters.
