Frank Monteleone talks ‘Full Armor Films’, how the entertainment industry is changing, and more.
Photo credit: Paul Gregory
Written by: Gracie Lowes
The entertainment industry is a competitive place, so like most people in it, Frank Monteleone has expanded his talents over his career to become a triple threat: actor, producer, and entrepreneur.
In 2005, he founded Full Armor Films, a dynamic development and production company based in New Orleans, and since then has provided services to A-list clients such as ESPN, Geffen Records, L'Oréal, and more.
I had the chance to sit down (virtually) with Monteleone, to talk to him about his production company, his career in Hollywood, how the TV and film industry has changed, future projects, and more.
You can read the full interview below.
Photo credit: Paul Gregory
Gracie Lowes: I know that you have your own production company, Full Armor Films, what pushed you to want to grow your career as a creative producer and become a founder of your own production company?
Frank Monteleone: “Necessity. I needed a job and had just graduated from Marymount Manhattan College with a BFA in Theatre. I met Kathleen, who would eventually become my wife, and I needed to get my act together and get a job. I remember buying a Backstage to get the addresses of current productions filming in the New York area and I wrote them ALL. I looked up every production company in the area and wrote them too. Not one response. So, I did what I thought anyone who was desperate might do: I started my own business and faked it until I made it. I printed up business cards, knocked on doors of PR companies and finally got a few to entrust me with some of their clients. From there I was off to the races– I would go home and teach myself to edit at night and became a one man wrecking crew in those early days. I was certain I was getting fired when I got called into one of the executive’s offices, but I knew I had something when they informed me I needed to increase my prices to match the competition because clients wouldn’t trust my low rates.
Besides the necessity of it all, becoming a creative producer was also a natural extension of what we do as actors and creators. My goal was to supplement the work, and ultimately create original work for myself and my production company plus the friends and colleagues we met along the way.”
Gracie: As both an actor and a producer how have you seen the entertainment industry change from both the COVID-19 pandemic and now the SAG-AFTRA strike? What do you think or hope that the future holds for this lively industry?
Frank: “We’re in New Orleans at the moment, which wouldn't have been the case before COVID. I believe the silver lining there is the decentralization of where you need to be as an actor. Believing I had to be in NYC or LA, I used to daydream where I would live if I wasn’t an actor. Now I guess I know: New Orleans.
The strike was inevitable, and I’m glad to see it finally come to an end. I believe it will have a much longer-ranging impact on the industry than most people think, however, because I don’t think studios will be making as much content now. Regarding streaming, I think the money studios are making (and losing, for that matter) is real and we won’t see the same kind of budgets as before; the spends will be decreased. That said, I do believe we’re entering the Golden Age for independents, and we’ll see a big shift to independent filmmaking. I’m already hearing it in the conversations I’m having. Executives and people who have been working in the studios are making moves to break out. I think it will create opportunities for new ways in which projects come together, new ways to get financing, and ultimately more sustainable ways in production.”
Gracie: You’ve worked with so many big names in the industry like ESPN, Geffen Records, Warner Bros. and Relativity Media. What is your next dream goal for both the company and your career?
Frank: “Working for big companies, I’ve learned it’s about the people behind the big company names that matter. In fact, I still work with a great producer at Warner Bros. because we have been able to build a lasting relationship, and we’ve been able to connect on independent film and pitch our projects. It seems far-fetched when you see the big names, but the more you build the relationships and the trust with your work, the further you’re able to go. I find everyone is ultimately looking for that: good work and great people to realize it with. So, for me the dream is to continue to find great people that happen to be really talented and unique voices for Full Armor Films to collaborate with.
Personally, I’m eyeing directing my first feature, which I’m very excited about jumping into because I have a true story I’ve wanted to tell for some time. I am in development on that project right now with my long-standing team of creators and producers, and it’s been rewarding to see it come together, again in large part due to the relationships I’ve been able to foster over the years.”
Photo credit: Paul Gregory
Gracie: You’ve had a long and successful career, what is one memory that sticks out to you either as an actor, producer or entrepreneur?
Frank: “I think actors can relate to the uphill battle our profession brings, and even though it's an exciting time where it is now acceptable to create your own work (whether through writing, producing, acting or whatnot), you can still get lost in trying to do it all just to create work for yourself. I had gotten Full Armor up and running as a full-fledged post-production vendor for studios, but I just felt I had lost my way. I had lost my passion as an actor, as a storyteller. I flew back to New York from LA and I was at a little West Village neighborhood bar. My wife and I had the whole place to ourselves– it was a tiny bar– and in walks Keifer Sutherland and a friend. They sit on the far side and after about a drink, he calls out to us to ask a question. That led to us spending a whole evening together. Eventually he found out that we were actors as well. The timing was divine to me because I was at a crossroads on whether or not to give up acting, truly wondering what I should do. He would go on to share really encouraging words of advice as an actor, but more importantly he built me up because he could see where I was in that moment. It would become pivotal for me in the season ahead. One of the great things that happened was, he turned to me and said “Remember me, when there is work give a call.” That’s when it hit me: we all are looking for people who will remember us and want to work together in the future. We’re all the same, and we have to remember each other and stick together as we’re journeying through life.”
Gracie: What is a piece of advice that you’ve been given or has stuck with you that you wish you could tell your younger self, or future workers in the entertainment industry?
Frank: “Well, coming off that story it would really be just that. The ones around you matter the most.
Relationships will become your most important asset. In many ways, achieving your goals is less about how you did it than who you did it with. It’s important to value and improve yourself, but in the end it will be about the people around you whom you serve and help because those relationships will ultimately determine how far you go. And as is the case with my friend and colleague at Warner Bros whom I mentioned earlier, I have been fortunate to learn from some of the most successful people I’ve encountered that folks at the top are typically generous people who never stop valuing the relationships that got them there.”
Gracie: If you could describe yourself and your upcoming projects in three words what would they be and why?
Frank: “Face the pain.
The story I’m currently developing for our next film, which is the one I’m considering directing, is about doing what we need to do to face the things that have held us back or negatively impacted us— to confront them and sit with them long enough to break through and find peace.
It’s based on the true story of a son taking his father to rehab, and it wrestles with the concept of fatherlessness and the weight of generational baggage. The main character has grown up largely without his father but has been influenced by his corrosive presence anyway. They both love each other in their own ways but it has become easy to walk away from each other. It comes to a point where they actually need each other to survive but how and at what cost? Really, the project asks: What breaks that type of cycle? How do you free yourself from the weight passed down to you, and how do you grow from it?
As actors and artists, we’re forced to face the pain in other characters, to walk a mile in their shoes, judgment-free. We mirror the character and hope that the viewer learns something about themselves. Well, we need to make sure we do that for ourselves, as well. It’s important to face our own pain and do the self-work needed so we can be free to go further and farther than we ever expected. Beyond being in touch with a character’s brokenness, it’s being in touch with our own brokenness that makes us most relatable.”
