Meet Fabio Costabile of Slick Astronaut Entertainment in Burbank

Today we’d like to introduce you to Fabio Costabile.

So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Born into a family where movies and music have always been the focal point in daily life, it came natural to me to embrace my passion for film at a relatively young age. I grew up in Munich and was raised by Italian parents. My mother, a hobby theatre actress, was part of an ensemble. One day she asked me if I wanted to have a small role in a performance, and sure enough there I was, ten years old, performing in front of 350 people. That was my first semi-professional glimpse at the world of entertainment.

I believe all of us have defining moments in our lives. One of my defining moments was when my father took me to the movies to see ‘Jurassic Park’ in 1993. I was 11 years old and, walking out of the theatre, I knew that one day, albeit not being sure in which capacity, I had to be part of the fascinating world of motion pictures.

My parents owned a Panasonic NV M7 VHS Camcorder, which they regarded as a tool to document our summer vacations in Italy, our birthdays and the occasional video of me practicing the piano or my sister’s ballet recital. I looked at this camcorder like Spielberg must have looked at his 8mm camera when he was making movies growing up. I started writing short stories and getting together with friends to film them. The end result was, of course, one terrible movie after the other, but we had fun. When the movie “Blair Witch Project” came out, I got together with two friends and we filmed a 7-minute parody. It was screened at our high school and got some laughs.

Fast forward to age 22. After studying Business Administration at the Ludwig-Maximilian-University in Munich, I enrolled in film school, majoring in Directing for Film and Television. Once I graduated in 2007, I packed my bags and flew straight to Los Angeles. I was 25 years old and knew absolutely nobody in this city.

Two days after my arrival, the city welcomed me right away with one of its trademark elements: an earthquake. I had never experienced one before and it was interesting to say the least.

LA was the perfect playground for my aspirations as a film producer. I started making friends and producing many short films and after a couple of years, I got the opportunity to produce my first feature film. The film won some awards and was well received. That gave me the confidence to keep honing my craft as a producer and shortly after the first screening of the film, I got offered to be a producer on my second feature film.

Due to family reasons, I moved back to Florence, Italy. This put my U.S. producing career to a temporary halt and I started working as a production manager for an audio/lighting company that catered to high profile clients who would have events (mostly weddings) in Tuscany. Still, I was keeping in touch with my network in Los Angeles and would still co-produce some film projects from Italy.

After some years, I moved back to LA in June 2017 to continue pursuing my producing career. Since then I have worked as a production coordinator on ‘Bent’, a feature-length drama directed by Academy Award winning writer and director Bobby Moresco, as well as a producer on ‘Thirsty’, a short film directed by Nicole Delaney, starring Maya Rudolph and Jay Ellis, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2019.

2019 has been a very good year, in which I have worked with old friends and made new great friends, and which gave me the opportunity to produce live events for Disney’s blockbuster movies ‘Captain Marvel’, ‘The Lion King’ and ‘Frozen II’, as well as commercial campaigns for American Airlines and Coca Cola.

I’ve come to realize that the keyword for this city – and for this great country for that matter – is opportunity. I’m grateful for all the opportunities this city has given me and will hopefully continue to give me.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Let’s face it: nothing of value ever comes easy. Although sugarcoated and presented in an appealing way, the entertainment business is tough, competitive and merciless at its core. As an independent producer, getting projects off the ground requires time, relentless work, discipline and a connection to the right people. To build a network of trusted partners is neither easy nor attainable in a short amount of time and the process is often accompanied by failure and disappointment. I consider these factors crucial and I have never been discouraged by them, on the contrary: failures and disappointment have helped me grow immensely and I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.

On a personal level, the biggest struggle has been the loss of my mother, my first and greatest mentor, who passed away in October 2014 from the late consequences of an accident in 2011, when she got hit by a car while walking on the sidewalk. It has not been easy and I guess it never will be.

Please tell us about Slick Astronaut Entertainment.
Slick Astronaut Entertainment is a Los Angeles-based production company that specializes in compelling and innovative storytelling. With a particular eye on budgeting and scheduling, we cover all stages of a project, from development to pre-production, principal photography and post-production and we maintain and grow a network of domestic and international crews, vendors and locations.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Every summer we would drive from Munich to Naples on a 12-hour trip. I remember sitting in the backseat of my father’s 1980 Alfa Romeo ‘Giulietta’ and looking outside the window, seeing the giant Alps pass me by, as we would cross the border between Austria and Italy. My father would listen to one of his favorite bands, Queen, and I remember the feeling of being part of nature’s majesty, a feeling that was amplified by Freddie Mercury’s voice and Queen’s musical perfection.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.slickastronaut.com
• Instagram: @thefabiolus
• Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3359664/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

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