With 12 indie features produced between 2010 and 2018, Al Carretta is a hyphenate talent. At home as an actor, director, writer, editor or cinematographer, his multiple skill set has allowed him to fr ...Show More
With 12 indie features produced between 2010 and 2018, Al Carretta is a hyphenate talent. At home as an actor, director, writer, editor or cinematographer, his multiple skill set has allowed him to freely experiment with style whilst maintaining his core ethos of stage to screen production.In May 1999, Carretta debuted his first original play, the 1940s set noir 'The Two Sides Of A Star' at Keele University Student's Union Arts Studio, Staffordshire, England. Two years later a revised version hit the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and a wider outlet for Carretta's scripts was found.Concentrating on developing craft purely through experimentation the original stage plays heralded the start of a gradual transition into film that begun with the 2003 short Electra (originally presented in the 2002 Edinburgh Fringe).By 2005, stage plays were book ended with projected opening credits and filmed action to replace overly complicated staging. In 2007, the first fully planned feature was attempted. An adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's 'Ghosts' the production fell short of expectations but paved the way for two scripts that would cement the crossover into feature film production. The 2008 Edinburgh Fringe piece 'I Am Robert Mugabe' attracted interest through it's title but it's plot line was far simpler; a dying farmer attempts a last stand to defend his property. Originally intended as Carretta's feature debut this script became the basis for the features 'Africa In Her Blood' (2011) and further development of the story in 'A Mass For The Dying' (2013).In the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe, the character of Donnie DiMaggio was born in the monologue 'The Tears Of A Clown'. The ironic story of a small time mafia associate who simply wants to be an entertainer the film came together in Spring 2010 with the Flip Wilson inspired title 'What You See Is What You Get'. Re-interpreted with a slightly different angle as 'The Devil Made Me Do It' (2012) the two films cemented Carretta's interest in the mafia crime genre and locked down a character for future development.In 2010, after eleven years of stage performance built around countless productions in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, actor, writer and director Al Carretta shifted his focus to no-budget independent film production in a bid to realize his stage productions as experimental films.In Autumn 2010 he delivered the 1990s set romantic tragedy 'The Length Of Spring' in Autumn 2010 whilst 2011 saw the production of 'Africa In Her Blood'. Originally produced on stage in Edinburgh in 2008, the film dealt with the concerns of John Smith, a farmer desperately trying to escape a collapsing Zimbabwe.In 2012, a revised version of 'Wysiwyg' was delivered. 'The Devil Made Me Do It' saw Carretta reprise the DiMaggio role in a re-imagination of the original stage script. With better cameras and higher production values, the film proved to be a marker point.In Summer 2013, the film 'Super Tuesday', about the controversial 1960 US Election was produced for simultaneous release on stage in the Edinburgh Fringe and VOD (Video On Demand). Immediately following the 'Tuesday' production 'A Mass For The Dying' was made in Autumn 2013 as a companion piece to 'Africa In Her Blood', sticking much closer to the original stage script.In Spring 2014, after eighteen months in production alongside other projects, Carretta delivered 'Automatically Sunshine', a genre piece set in present day England dealing with the issues of human trafficking and the pressures of undercover policing. This was his first 'screenplay only' production with no prior stage version.In Summer 2014, Carretta launched the Nightpiece Film Festival in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He also began work on the feature 'The Madness Of Tellaralette Seville', which debuted under the radar in the Edinburgh Fringe. Concerning the lives of drone operators scarred by PTSD, the project was shelved for 3 years until filming finally took place between October 2017 and April 2018 with a 4th May 2018 VOD release becoming Carretta's 11th feature.In Spring 2015, in reaction to various press articles dealing with the shady world of Carbon offset trading, filming began on Carretta's 8th feature film 'Carbon Foxes'. Completed for August, it premiered as the opening film in 2nd Nightpiece Film Festival.Through Spring and Summer 2016, Carretta delivered 9th feature 'Bad Caller', premiering in the 3rd Nightpiece Film Festival in EdFringe. Behind the scenes the Bad Caller production came close to collapse as Carretta struggled to cope with the death of former girlfriend and Nightpiece actress Louise Micklewright in April 2016.In 2017, 'Precious Little Things' a crime drama and sequel to 'Automatically Sunshine' was produced as Carretta's 10th feature, premiering in the 4th Nightpiece Film Festival in EdFringe. In 2018, immediately after 'The Madness of Tellaralette Seville', Carretta turned around his 12th feature, the emotional drama 'Tara Reata', casting, filming, editing and finishing the entire 75m production in May.Scheduled to premiere in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2018 th'dread rattlin' will be Carretta's 13th feature and first horror. Hide
