Reno Anastasio Reno Anastasio
The Toronto native began producing short movies in the mid 1970s using Super 8mm cameras and the Elmo Editor. And it was upon seeing Richard Donner's Superman movie in 1978 that he crystallized his desire for film studies.
In the 1980s he studied photography, working with Nikon 35mm cameras. In the 1990s he traveled the US, and Europe developing his photographic eye, and in the 2000s he made the jump to digital.
In Halifax, he participated in the 2007 AFCOOP One Minute Film Scholarship with his entry Office NirvanÅ, and produced his first indie short Transcending. He studied acting at the Neptune Theatre school and is a 2007 graduate of their Pre-Professional Training Program. He portrayed the father of the bride in Blood Wedding by Federico García Lorca.
In 2008 he launched Healing Light Films and produced his first indie KILLER THONG. In 2013 he produced his first music video for indie artist Kerrissa MacLean. He has also produced music videos for Indigenous Rap artist Paul K.A.S.P. Sawan. His music video "Keepers of the Earth" won the 2024 Best Music Video award from the Swiss Screenwriting and Cinematic Summit.
He is a 2012 Dalhousie University graduate with a BA in English and Film Studies. He is a current member of British Columbia's Thompson Nicola Film Commission, where he works as a sound engineer, grip and production assistant. He was nominated for a Leo Award in 2025 for his documentary New World New Beats. He is completing a Bachelor of Communications and Media Studies at Thompson Rivers University, with a minor in Visual Arts and Creative Writing.
His most recent feature-film, Astronomy Walkers, will bring the distant location of Easter Island into Canadian indie filmmaking lore. With his feature selected to DGC-approved festivals, he will apply for professional membership into the Director's Guild of Canada.
He is also a service veteran for three different countries, having served in the Italian army and police, in the UK as a special constable, and in Canada as an Army logistics officer.
