Official Wiki - B. Luciano Barsuglia

OVERVIEW

B. Luciano Barsuglia, born in San Jose, (also known as Brian Barsuglia) is an American filmmaker and writer. He made his feature film directorial debut in 2006 with ”Dementia: An Experiment in Terror” (LA Times) and later directed many well-known actors including Mickey Rooney, Margaret O’Brien, Richard Grieco, Michael Berryman, and Tom Sizemore (Bloody Disgusting, Dread Central, Rotten Tomatoes).

Barsuglia’s most well-known directorial efforts are “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (2017) where he directed Oscar winners Mickey Rooney and Margaret O’Brien; and “Impact Event” featuring Michael Berryman, Vernon Wells, and Richard Grieco (2019). His 2022 feature film, “Amber Road,” was one of the final roles for Tom Sizemore.

His writing has been well-received, with the graphic novel, “The Dark Hours,” having reached #1 on Amazon in its category. His sea adventure novel, “The Midnight Sea,” originally published in 2007, remains a popular book on Amazon. The novel series “Seven Rivers Tales of Supernatural Horror” has been positively reviewed by readers. Another series has just been launched entitled “The Nerathic Necronomicon” which is a reimagined mythos of Lovecraftian cosmic horror, with the first book having been published in 2025, “Beyond the Abyss” with a companion film in 2026 (Horror Asylum).

In 2026, he will be launching the movie-themed podcast Winners, Losers, and Lovers (INFLUX Magazine).

B. Luciano Barsuglia has written more than 60 screenplays and 30 novels, and hundreds of articles.

Early Life

B. Luciano Barsuglia and his family moved from San Jose, CA to Chico, CA when he was a child. His mother (Elizabeth) was an English teacher and his father (Barry) was an executive management recruiter. He attended California State University, Chico where he received a bachelor’s degree in Media Arts. He received his Master of Arts in English Literature from California State University, Long Beach. He has been married since 1999. He and his wife have one child.

Career

Barsuglia worked as a production assistant on multiple episodes of “America’s Funniest People” as a production assistant when they came to the Butte County area. While pursuing his bachelor’s degree, he worked for four years as a camera operator and editor at the Video Program Network specializing in nationally aired infomercials.

Barsuglia worked at Post Haste in the mid-1990s, in film finishing, as a film finishing production assistant on studio movies including “Mission Impossible,” “Kingpin,” and “Showgirls” (IMDB).

B. Luciano Barsuglia behind the camera. His feature film directorial debut happened in 2004 with “Dementia: An Experiment in Terror,” a low-budget horror movie that was released in 2006. His next movie, “Zombie Farm” (Joe Estevez, John Philbin) was first released in 2007 on the festival circuit, then became somewhat of a collector’s item when it received a limited release on HD-DVD through Amazon (JoBlo). The film was later picked up by Wild Eye Releasing and re-released in 2022 as “Pandemic Undead.”

b. Luciano Barsuglia’s 2017 film, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” was the final role for Hollywood legend Mickey Rooney, who died one month after he filmed with Barsuglia (Yahoo! News, US Magazine, Parade). This experience is the focus of “The Life and Times of Mickey Rooney,” a biography of the actor written by Richard Lertzman. The movie also features screen legend Margaret O’Brien, as well as Gianni Capaldi, William McNamara, and Vernon Wells. The movie was first released only on Amazon in 2017, but later released worldwide by Wild Eye Releasing as “Jekyll and Hyde” in 2020.

Barsuglia has managed to work with big-name talent on small budgets throughout his career. His 2020 release, “Impact Event,” saw him direct Richard Grieco and Michael Berryman, along with Vernon Well sand Margaret O’Brien again. He directed Tom Sizemore and Eric Roberts in the 2022 release, “The Electric Man.”

The B. Luciano Barsuglia directed documentary, “The Horror We Make,” is an ode to the genre of horror and features horror icons including Reggie Bannister (“Phantasm”) and David Howard Thornton (who plays Art the Clown in the “Terrifier” franchise). His movies have been widely distributed through Amazon, Tubi, AppleTV, Walmart, Family Video, and many other outlets, and he has won more than 50 awards for his roles in various projects (IMDB), with both “Impact Event” and “Jekyll and Hyde” finding a wider release through distributor Wild Eye, with both appearing on cable VOD, DirectTV, and XBox.

A team united (from left to right) Vernon Wells, Kasey Brown, Tasha Tacosa, Rachel Riley, Jed Rowen, Sean Patrick McGee, Christine Ashley McGee.

At the start of the 2020 pandemic, Barsuglia’s film “Social Distance,” now called “7th Revelation,” made national headlines for being one of the first movies to go into production when quarantine was in full effect (Variety, Fox News, Rue Morgue, Entertainment Weekly). “7th Revelation (Social Distance)” was made to look like a Zoom-style movie but was in fact shot with each actor individually and edited together to give it the stylized look. Film Threat called it “a marvel of editing.”

He has also worked as an editor and VFX artist on such films as “Clinton Road” (Ice-T), “Staycation,” and “Fifth Borough.” In addition to directing and writing, Barsuglia works regularly in post-production as an editor and post-production supervisor (IMDB).

In 2005, Barsuglia founded the SoCal Independent Film Festival (LA Times) in Huntington Beach where he served as the owner and operator until 2015. He still runs a variation of the festival, now called the SoCal Film Awards. He is also the founder of the Independent Filmmakers Guild of America, which he started in 2023. He now serves on the advisory board of the organization (IFGA).

Additionally, he regularly works with multiple film festivals (Golden State Film Festival, Indie Vegas Film Festival, Silicon Beach Film Festival, Marina del Rey Film Festival, Culver City Film Festival) where he oversees the curation and creation of approximately 2,000 digital cinema packages (DCPs) each year, helping thousands of independent films play theatrically on the big screen annually.

B. Luciano Barsuglia has served as a writer and editor for multiple regional and national publications, publishing hundreds of articles as well as more than 30 novels. He is also a photographer with a book of his photographs recently published entitled “Reflections of Huntington Beach.” He has previously served as an editor at the Seal Beach Sun Newspaper, INFLUX Magazine, Coastal Life, and Landscape Architect and Specifier News. Many of his articles can be found at INFLUX Magazine where he continues to write and publish regularly.

Filmography and Awards

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1827610/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/b_luciano_barsuglia

Articles

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/film-news-in-brief-20-1234826564/

https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-dpt-xpm-2005-02-24-export907-story.html

https://rue-morgue.com/that-didnt-take-long-social-distance-thriller-goes-into-production/

https://www.chicoer.com/2015/03/20/former-chicoans-film-on-final-quest-for-funding/

https://horrornews.net/153709/indie-filmmakers-discover-new-ways-to-create-while-social-distancing/

https://www.joblo.com/amber-road-trailer/

https://www.joblo.com/farm-pics-and-info/amp/

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/social-distance-movie-set-during-covid-19-pandemic-filmed-with-cast-and-crew-entirely-remote