- Born
- Nicknames
- Tam
- T
- Tamela D with a T
- Height5′ 8½″ (1.74 m)
- D'Amico honed her skills as an actress in television, film and theater, which she states has afforded her writing and directing skills as a storyteller. After spending the last two years filming the Indian/American drama One Little Finger in India, a film in which she stars as the lead, and promotes the theme "Ability in Disability" for having employed over 80 disabled actors, she returned from the Cannes Film Festival where the film premiered. One Little Finger, directed by Rupam Sarmah is now officially released on Amazon and all streaming platforms. She gained traction in social media after she recurred on the hit Disney + show Best Friends Whenever, as nemesis Janet Smythe, playing the younger counterpart to actress Nora Dunn (SNL). She can be seen in the feature films Walt Before Mickey with Thomas Ian Nicholas (American Pie) and Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) about the life of Walt Disney and can be heard singing the Bond-esque theme song "Love and the Gun" in both English and Italian in the feature film Rob the Mob (Millennium Films/Lakeshore Records) directed by Raymond De Felitta (City Island, Madoff) both now streaming on NETFLIX. Also streaming on Amazon, she stars in the award winning series Englishman in L.A. with actors Cameron Moir (Non Stop) and Eddie Jemison (HUNG, Oceans 11, 12, 13) for which she was awarded "Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Web Series" by LA WEB FEST. Three upcoming independent films in post production: Quinn, Love is Not Love and 3 People I've Never Heard Of. Taking time to stay creative in quarantine, she wrote, produced, directed and acted in the Twilight Zone-esque pandemic short film shot on an iPhone 11 Pro entitled FEVER now on YouTube and touring film festivals.
Just as astute behind the camera, D'Amico gained recognition as one of the top 24 finalists on the FOX reality show On the Lot, produced by Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett. She garnered attention from the show's producers with her heartwarming entry film entitled Volare, starring Federico Castelluccio (The Sopranos), based on her father's life story, which led her to a first-look deal with DreamWorks. Prior to this, D'Amico began her career in film and theater at Florida State University's much lauded Film School, which accepts only 16 students a year from all over the world. After majoring in Film and with a minor in Theater and Psychology, she continued her schooling in Los Angeles at The Strasberg Institute, (she was the first to build and shoot in their soundstage), while working in Hollywood for many well known producers such as mega producer Chuck Roven/Atlas Entertainment (Wonder Woman), in all facets while making her own short films, web series and winning many festival awards.
D'Amico produced and directed the hit web television series Sex Ed: The Series, starring Joanna Cassidy (Bladerunner), Matt Barr (Blood & Treasure) and Angela Sarafyan (West World) for which she received the Panavision New Filmmaker Grant, which gives a promising filmmaker a full Panavision camera package. Sex Ed: The Series garnered much TV press and accolades and boasts over 150 Million views on YouTube and counting. The show received nominations for both a Streamy Award and a Webby Award and TV Guide listed it in the "top 10 of notable television shows worth watching". D'Amico has gone on to create other several TV web serials with Funny or Die, and Comedy Central and has many feature film projects in development through the BELLONA Entertainment banner.
Recent producing/directing projects have gone viral: the music video for "How Does a Moment Last Forever"- from last year's Beauty and the Beast film, "What Might Have Been" (30 years after Blade Runner, actress Joanna Cassidy resurrects her character Zhora to do the reptile dance that Ridley Scott never got to film for the movie.) and The Modern Fundamentalist - Kim Davis Parody starring Broadway chanteuse Rena Strober and finally, TRUMP (Ya Got) Trouble which is a parody of The Music Man starring Stephen Van Dorn as Donald Trump.
For those who know her as a music recording artist, D'Amico launched onto the jazz scene having recorded her debut album Got A Little Story, executive-produced by actor/producer Peter Krause (Parenthood, Six Feet Under, 911), produced by 6 time Grammy Award winner Jimmy Hoyson, and arranged by Multi Grammy nominee Chris Walden at Capitol Records. The album was released by LML Records/The Orchard (SONY) distribution which went into worldwide release and is available wherever fine music is sold, along with others singles and soundtracks she has recorded. She can be heard on over 140 national radio and cable outlets in various jazz based/Adult Standard & Contemporary markets as well as many International radio and Internet streaming markets. She was named Clear Channel's Best New Jazz Vocalist, and is in constant rotation on The Penthouse Radio Network, The Jonathan Station, Martini in the Morning, and MUSIC CHOICE's Singer and Swingers channel via satellite, cable, & Internet. She executive produced an album for 2013 Grammy Winner Billy Vera (known for the hit "At This Moment") entitled BILLY VERA: BIG BAND JAZZ (released on Varese Sarabande/Universal). D'Amico duets with Mr. Vera on the album with "I'll Never Be Free", which is a radio favorite on WBGO NY and KJAZZ in Los Angeles. Her music single Boring 20s in the electroswing genre with mega producers Wolfgang Lohr and Ashley Slater shot straight to #1 on Spotify.
Tamela is focused on all her talents, which has been a daily endeavor as brand ambassador and content creator to many International brands through her influence on social media and has just been selected as one of the filmmakers to have a First Look in the Stars Collective with Starlight Entertainment (Crazy Rich Asians).- IMDb Mini Biography By: B.E.
- Gender / Gender identityFemale
- Nationality / Religious or Ethnic identityItalian
- Studied at The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute.
- Credits Dawn Steel's fight for women in this industry as an inspiration.
- Is an alumni of Florida State University's School of Motion Picture, Television, and Recording Arts known as "The Film School". She was one of 16 students accepted to the nationally renowned Film School and went on to receive a BFA in Film after leaving college early to specifically work with Entertainment industry powerhouse Dawn Steel and her company Atlas Entertainment before she passed away.
- Graduated high school at 16. Spent most of her early childhood academic career in gifted courses 2 grades above her.
- Is of Sicilian descent. Based the film Volare upon her father's experiences of coming to America.
- So, what's your story?
- You have to have big guts to withstand the pressures and the blockages in this industry, as there are many, and even more so if you are a woman. We each have our own path. If I can champion someone else on their journey, I am so happy to do it. I am only competitive with myself, meaning I push myself harder and critique myself harder than anyone else. We all have our stories to tell.
- A lot of Hollywood is politics and timing. Accolades are great, but mean very little in the long term big picture. If your work stands the test of time, people take notice and that is what is more special, not how many awards it has won. I adored Little Miss Sunshine and can only hope that stories like that which are considered Independent come through to the studios quicker.
- I have several that change daily, but always fall back to "It's A Wonderful Life" when asked. It is a long term favorite of mine that I watch every year around this time with my family. Directors like Frank Capra, Giuseppe Tornatore, Steven Spielberg, and Chris Columbus are inspirations. True storytellers; Championing the little man and really diving in to tell his story. I love that. They are consistently uplifting. I love the frame tale of Capra's work, playing with time, and the darkness and lightness of character. I am an audio visual type of director and thinker for that matter. I think in pictures but each is very rhythmic. Music is a huge element of each shot that I kind of plan to the beat of music of my head from Pre to Post. I learned subtext from Capra. Presentation and perspective are so important to all things in life. I am extremely detailed oriented as far as planning goes. Colors and placement of objects mean something in every frame of my film. Each character will have an arc no matter how big of a player they are, so this may come out in story or simply through something as general as a prop. I like to play with the yin and yang of characters and how they portray themselves. Lights and darks (of personality, of clothing, or rooms that they are moving into from the start of the film to the end of the film, elements that come out in clothing coupled with lighting choices, playing the opposite against a moral, Etc.) I love extremes. My favorite films are "It's A Wonderful Life," "Breakfast at Tiffany's," and "Life Is Beautiful." I think you can tell a lot of things about me as a person from that. As a filmmaker, you can tell that story is very important to me, as well as character. Genre is of no consequence; it is how you tell the story that matters. I love experiencing new films and directing, no matter what genre. Period. - Her response to "What is your favorite movie?"
- I believe that the world has changed over the last ten years. You see more women in the workforce in powerful positions and that will only carry over to every position in the Industry of filmmaking. Why this change and acceptance of women as leaders? I think it is because of single parent families. We accept females as leaders more and more, and men are championing them more and more as time moves forward due to the divorce rate and mothers having to raise families on their own. Sons see their mother's fight and have a bit more compassion towards women. They have begun to champion them. I believe that is the kernel of where this may come from. Women have a history in filmmaking that hasn't been told to the masses. I urge everyone to research the first women filmmakers and you will see that they too wore many hats. The fight is more difficult for women, sure thing. But, it is changing. Women need to ban together. I try to champion every girl or woman I meet. We can be one tree with millions of branches." - Her response to the question regarding female directors and "What do you think of the Celluloid Ceiling?
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