Best Short Film

The Triborough Film Festival 2023

LENNY -JASON SPAGNUOLI

Jason Spagnuoli, director of “Lenny”, is an independent filmmaker who
was born and raised in Queens, New York. Jason’s main goal as a
filmmaker is to tell stories about males who question themselves and
the notion of what a man “should be”. After attending SUNY Purchase
for the Conservatory of Dramatic Writing, Jason felt that, “it really
solidified my belief that all good films start with a good script.”.
When asking Jason about the inspiration for “Lenny”, he said, “”Lenny”
originated as a documentary idea. During the height of the pandemic, I
had seen a plethora of documentaries and scripted content that dealt
with eating disorders. However, they were all told from the female
perspective. Rarely, if ever, did we hear about men who struggled with
the disease.”. From here, “Lenny” came to Jason is a current film teacher at Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, in Queens, New York, where, “the relationship between my students and it is a symbiotic one; I feel as though they fuel me to stay creative, and I hope I do the same for them.”. He is currently finishing up his new short, “Two Wrongs”, a story about an insecure father who tries to teach his son what it means to be a man through a game of basketball, but unfortunately gets into a physical altercation with a group ofteens at the park. He hopes for his newest film to have a similar or better festival run then his current film “Lenny”! Jason hopes that the future holds more collaboration and looks forward to meeting more people in the industry.

Written by Kendall Mullenhour