The Team

Paul Borghese is an award-winning director and producer whose work spans feature films, documentaries, and television.

His directing credits include Back in the Day, Searching for Bobby D, Four Deadly Reasons, Once Upon a Time in Brooklyn, Dinner with the FoodFellas, and Alienated.

Throughout his career, he has directed acclaimed talent including Alec Baldwin, Marisa Tomei, Carmen Electra, Sandra Bernhard, and Tony Darrow, earning recognition for his distinctive storytelling and deep connection to New York and Italian-American culture.

Paul is also an actor, screenwriter, and published author.

Giuseppe Barone is the Founder & CEO of CIAO USA, an international media production company celebrating Italian culture, heritage, and lifestyle through original programming. With more than two decades in television and live event production, he has produced hundreds of programs, documentaries, concerts, and special events featuring world-renowned artists, musicians, chefs, and athletes.

Barone is the Creator and Executive Producer of Streets of Little Italy: 100 Years of San Gennaro. He conceived the project from inception — assembling the creative team, forging partnerships in both Italy and the United States, and securing the collaboration of historians, filmmakers, civic leaders, and the Italian-American community to bring this historic centennial to the screen.

George Mitas is an accomplished director of photography with over 25 years of experience, including a long-standing collaboration with director Paul Borghese as his go-to cinematographer. A graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, George has built a diverse and prolific career across film, television, and commercial work.

He has lensed more than 100 music videos and numerous high-profile commercial campaigns for brands such as Donna Karan and Kenneth Cole.

He currently serves as Director of Photography on the ongoing hit Amazon Prime Video series Gravesend, featuring Shaquille O'Neal, Chazz Palminteri, Fran Drescher, and Armand Assante.

Throughout his career, George has been Director of Photography on numerous feature films, including Searching for Bobby D, Back in the Day, The Killer's Kiss, Critical Acclaim, and The Ashes of a Dream. In addition, he has lensed over two dozen short films, further demonstrating his versatility and dedication to the craft.

Fred Gardaphé is a distinguished American writer, literary critic, and scholar recognized as one of the founders of Italian-American Studies.

He serves as Distinguished Professor of English and Italian-American Studies at Queens College, CUNY, and at the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute. His work explores ethnicity, race, and identity through literature and humor, shaping how Italian-American stories are understood in academia and culture.

Gardaphé co-founded Bordighera Press and the journal Voices in Italian Americana and has led major scholarly associations in the field.

He was commissioned to author the script for The Streets of Little Italy — 100 Years of San Gennaro.

Armand Assante is an Emmy Award–winning actor and four-time Golden Globe nominee whose acclaimed career spans nearly five decades.

Best known for his Emmy-winning portrayal of John Gotti in HBO's Gotti (1996), Assante has delivered memorable performances in such acclaimed films as The Mambo Kings, Paradise Alley, Q&A, American Gangster, and The Odyssey.

Widely regarded as an "actor's actor," he has earned international recognition for his powerful and authentic screen presence, receiving more than a dozen Lifetime Achievement Awards over the past decade.

Armand has appeared in more than 200 films and has been directed by Paul Borghese before in the feature film Once Upon A Time In Brooklyn.