(Photos credited to Paul Gregory)
Written by Colleen Bement, Editor
Meet one of New Orleans’ most talented entrepreneurs, Frank Monteleone.
Frank is an amazing actor, producer, and entrepreneur who is creating a culture of sustainable filmmaking in New Orleans. His production company, Full Armor Films has provided services to the likes of clients ESPN, Geffen Records, and L’Oréal, along with post-production services for industry giants like Warner Bros. and Relativity Media. He continues to stimulate the area’s economy by keeping production in New Orleans, as well as attracting other independent filmmakers to the burgeoning local creative community by lowering the bar for entry, including campaigning for tax credits. He is at the helm of working with the city to develop a property to include a school, training facility for film, operational studio, and sound stages run by students.
As an actor he is known for the Warner Bros. feature film “Focus,” the Marvel series “Cloak & Dagger,” “Bull” and “Lonewolf: Manhunt” on CBS, and the period drama “The Walk.”Monteleone also happens to be a co-owner of the legendary luxury Hotel Monteleone in the French Quarter, and is combining his love for both the hotel and filmmaking to develop a project surrounding the hotel. He is all about New Orleans and has some brilliant visions for its future.
Colleen Bement: My readers would love to hear about your current projects “Barron’s Cove” and “Fog of War.” Now that both strikes are over, thank goodness, are you able to share about these?
Frank Monteleone: There’s not too much to share on “Barron’s Cove” or “Fog of War.” They’re in post-production, so luckily they were done before the strike. They’re coming along great, and I think for me, personally, those two projects –the best part about them is the relationship I have with SSS Entertainment. It’s the first of hopefully doing more movies with them. “Barron’s Cove” I was particularly drawn to. It’s going to be a great suspenseful movie and Mandalay is really excited about it. Once I read the script, that really stuck with us and I’m excited about that one. “Fog of War” is a really spy-thriller and I’m a huge John Cusack fan and that one’s going to be a wild ride. Those are two we’re really excited about. Full Armor, we just finished production services on what we call “Average Joe.” Those are the three that we have right now. In the new year, we’ll be able to talk about projects that are being released or being prepped for release.
CB: Can I ask about “Average Joe?”
FM: You can. That one’s interesting because, for us in New Orleans, we were hired on to do full production services. Just with the strike and everything going on, we got to really be one kind of a unicorn of a project because we got to be one of the first to be in projection and really the only movie through August, September, and October that was going on in the state. That was kind of almost bittersweet, I guess you could say, with the strike going on that we got to give huge crew jobs. “Average Joe” was kind of a big family movie. It’s in post now.
CB: How did you keep yourself busy during the strike?
FM: That’s a great question. We’re a development house, Full Armor is. My wife and I run it. As we were going into it we we’d in development on a few projects, so we really took that time to go after our slate with features that were in development. Like I said we actually got hired on for a film so we were very lucky to have that. It kept us busy. We really stuck our nose down into the development side and got our slate together.
CB: I’m really glad that it’s over. I felt so badly for all the people it affected.
FM: That’s what I kept saying is that it affects so many different jobs and businesses. Now being part of the New Orleans community we’re constantly telling everyone about how there’s such a big industry here, but people don’t realize all of the other jobs that go in and around it, Everything from hair and make-up to people would provide lumber and dirt and so many different vendors. Everybody was without a job and it was getting hairy there for a while.
CB: Can you tell us how your production company Full Armor Films came to be?
FM: I would say it came out of desperation. I was out of college and I needed a job. I went to school in New York. With a love for film, I came up through studying acting, but I always kept up with production and learning how to do film. I mailed out to every production company in the metropolitan area. I don’t know what was wrong with my manila envelopes, or what, but I didn’t get one response. I desperately needed a job. I knew a couple of PR offices and I went a knocking. I created business cards and kind of became my own one-man wrecking crew on the production end. I started the business out of my little New York studio apartment and started editing and working my way up until we became a full post house and kind of built it from that.
CB: I’ve had multiple actors give advice that says that if you’re not finding the work, then make the work. Get out and make the work yourself, and stay creative and stay working. You’re a good example of that.
FM: Now it’s kind of known that you want to do that, but when I started 20 years ago, back then you only wanted to have one hat and be really good at one thing. So in those early years, I tried to hide the fact that I wanted to do multiple things. Now, everyone celebrates that. Just continue to make no matter what you’re doing. That’s really where we take advantage of learning all the areas of production.
CB: Tell me more about your aspirations of developing a property to include a school, training facility for film, operational studio, and sound stages run by students.
FM: Just with coming out on the other side of the strike, for me, I’m a real believer that there’s going to be a boom for independent film. I just think that right now more than ever people are looking for more sustainable filmmaking. I’ve always had this dream probably from being a kid knowing that I wanted to make movies. In my own version of the dream it was this independent filmmaker mindset, but also loving the big studio and being able to make the big Hollywood movies. And New Orleans has this strategic advantage where it’s a little big town and it’s so inviting and it’s really great for filmmakers because everyone’s happy to see you make your film. Whereas coming from New York it was always hard to get productions off the ground there.
It can be a big hill to climb, but here it’s been much more accessible, and there are independent studio owners, and you don’t really think of it. It’s almost like an oxymoron, but there really are independent studio owners down here. I took this vision of marrying these studio owners with independent filmmakers. It will be a place where it can create projects that would normally not have the ability to get off the ground. It’s really lowering the barrier of entry for certain projects. With that and my background, I consider myself a career student of constant learning, and we really need that conservatory base of elements where we are helping the next generation. We’re going to build this independent studio with a school inside so there’s a training facility to create that opportunity.
CB: What a great idea!
FM: For me, it’s a full-circle thing because in growing up here, I had to leave to go pursue the career that I desired in filmmaking as an actor. Then to be able to come back here all these years later and be able to make films–it’s one of those things that’s a dream come true to be able to do it here in my hometown.
CB: Growing up, who inspired your creativity?
FM: My grandmother. Even though she wasn’t in the acting field, she was in visual arts and she was always someone who had an artistic eye. She’s the one who would always rent the movies, bring me to her art classes, and introduced me to an artistic life.
CB: I’ve been to New Orleans once–for just 24 hours on a Monday night, and the French Quarter was lit! The hotels and buildings there are gorgeous. Let’s chat New Orleans. I’d love to hear the story behind how and why you own Hotel Monteleone and tell me about this project that has to do with the hotel.
FM: So Hotel Monteleone is over 100 years old. It was founded in 1886 by my great, great grandfather Antonio Monteleone who came over from Sicily. He was a shoe cobbler and he ended up doing so well that he bought the commercial hotel at that time and ended up turning it into the Hotel Monteleone. It’s a literary landmark, and it’s kind of a crown jewel and the largest hotel in the French Quarter, and it’s still family-owned. I’m part of the Monteleone family.
CB: What was it like growing up in such an amazing culture?
FM: New Orleans is so culturally rich. It’s kind of endless. What I love about growing up here is that you feel the history. You feel it in the walls. You wish the walls could talk. The streets and the stories. New Orleans does such a great job preserving. The French Quarter really feels unchanged with the 300 years that it’s been there. There are no big chain establishments there. Everything is unique. It takes you back in time. I think what it’s done for me growing up there, just having the family and the heritage, it really makes you think about legacy and your own family. For me it’s a dream come true to have my family here now I’m a father of four having them grow up here and experience all the music, food and cuisine here. It’s kind of endless. It really does remind me of New York where it feels like you’re never going to eat at all the places. You’ve got a whole list. It really is a little big town because growing up it feels like a small village, which you do with the European feel to it. Yet it’s such a big city when you think of New Orleans. Everyone hears New Orleans and they want to visit at some point.
And now for our Speed Round:
- When it’s time to kick back and relax, what are you wearing: Slippers and a Haynes cotton T-shirt
- Favorite Gas Station Snack: Hot Tamales
- Latest TV Show you’ve binge-watched: “Winning Time”
- Movie you watch over and over: If my kids are present, “Home Alone” or “Into the Spiderverse.” If it’s just me, “Inception.”
- Favorite book: The Lord of the Rings series
- Marvel or DC: Marvel
- Favorite country you’ve visited: Italy
- Dawn or Dusk: Dawn. I like the feeling of getting so much done before the day starts
- Pie or cake: Cake
- What’s your dream car: Right now it’s a Tesla. Growing up it was a Lamborgini
- Camping: Tent or camper: Tent
- Who inspires you to keep going: God. My faith is what keeps me going.
Stay up to date on Full Armor Films’ projects on their Instagram.
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