On chance encounters with Gaspar Noë, entering altered states and beautifully curated soundscapes
In Conversation with Anthony Di Mieri Co-Founder and Executive Producer of Melted Solids
Anthony Di Mieri is the Executive Producer and Co-Founder of Melted Solids alongside Debbie Saslaw, a political digital media agency. You may recognize their work for their dear friend, Zohran Mamdani.
He is also the Founder of Luce Nera Pictures, where he produces independent films and branded content. His first film as a writer/director, Love New York, debuted in October, and Romance Never Dies, his second film co-written & directed with Kayla Dawn Marcus, should be premiering later this year.
Before his first feature, he directed short film content like Subway Takes and Keep The Meter Running, and more recently was a guest director of Brooklyn Coffee Shop.
The next screening of Love New York is Next Tuesday 2/17 at the New York Comedy Film Festival, grab your tickets here!
🇮🇹 On Italian giallo films
I'm working with composer/film producer Marcus Foster to bring a script of mine to life. It's called The Blood Stained Claws of the Prying Mantis and is a modern homage to hyper-stylized 1970s Italian giallo films - my favorite sub-genre of horror. I'm also adapting a French Novella called La Duchesse de Langeais and writing a cult film called Starseed about the neuroses that happens to folks in LA on the outskirts of the entertainment industry.
🎞️ On chance encounters with Gaspar Noë
I'm so grateful for the late David Lynch's time as an elder of the art house film community and the permission he gave so many of us to trust in our own ideas, no matter how strange they may be.
Yorgos Lanthimos, Dario Argento, Gaspar Noë, are probably the living filmmakers I most look up to. It's a very long story but a chance run-in with Gaspar at bar in Paris in October 2022 was the spark that set off a chain of events leading to my first film.
🛜 On the best show on the internet
Filmmaker Noah Blau's Errands is the new best show on the internet. I was honored to be an early guest.
On beautifully curated soundscapes
My algorithm seems to be pushing Prada's Instagram videos on me - and it's working. They're incredible and some of the best branded content on the web. Do you know how many branded content creators pay attention to sound design? Almost zero. When you see that level of craft, it really cuts through the noise (with beautifully curated soundscapes).
I'm biased because we both share a Webby with The Rizzler, but I also deeply admire Ari Ruben's marketing strategy for Air. He's an insane man in the best possible way and continuously going where no branded content has ever gone before.
🧘♂️ On entering altered states
When I was 18 I was in a very dark place, paying attention to politics at a deeper level than anyone around me. I sat down, tried meditation for the very first time, and ended up having a revelatory experience. I walked around in an altered, blissful state for maybe 12 hours. I stopped being an atheist that day and I'll never forget it for the rest of my life.
👯 On friends old and new
I've been collaborating with Debbie Saslaw since 2016, Kareem Rahma since 2014, with Chiara Gerek since 2012, with Melanie Chandra and Jason Klein since 2010 - I feel like I'm stuck for life with them all! Arguably the best collaborator of all is now the current Mayor of New York.
As for future collaborators...I'd love to write a dramatic role for Nathan Fielder, I'd love to direct a music video for Poppy, and I'd hope to make a film that feels important enough for Trent Reznor to score.
This a good one.
It's really important to us to see a Poppy music video by Anthony DiMieri.