Weekly Movie Challenge

Claudio Argento

Biography

Claudio Argento, the second born son of famed Italian producer Salvatore Argento, was born in 1943 and, after finishing grade school and college studies in the late 1960s, started his film career as an employee with a few Italian film distribution companies. Within a short time, he was made chief of the Press and Publicity department of the CIC (Cinema International Corporation), a USA company on whose behalf he organized the release of films such as Love Story (1970) and The Godfather (1972) in Italy. Claudio first worked with his older brother, Dario Argento, and their father, Salvatore Argento, on the film The Five Days (1973) as an executive producer, which turned out to be a box office flop. The next films Deep Red (1975) (aka Deep Red), Suspiria (1977), and Inferno (1980) required a huge effort to achieve their success. Both Claudio and Dario tracked down American director George A. Romero and offered to finance and produce a sequel to the famed Night of the Living Dead (1968) movie as well as working on the screenplay, editing and producing the soundtrack for the film, and financing the bulk of the $2 million budget. The film, Dawn of the Dead (1978), first released in Italy and then in the USA seven months later, was a worldwide success and brought much recognition to both Claudio and Dario. In the 1980s, Claudio continued producing films such as Little Flames (1985) and the low-budget thriller Distant Lights (1987). Claudio's production masterpiece was the crime thriller Santa Sangre (1989), which was shot in Mexico City under troublesome circumstances. He currently produces for mostly television productions as well as occasional cinema movies.