New photos and poster from next summer's blockbuster
Details
AKA: Leon R Santos Ichaso
Nationality: Cuban
Birthdate: 08/03/1948
Birthplace: Havana, Cuba
biography
A Cuban-born director whose work specializes in gritty urban realism, Leon Ichaso first made his mark with the independently made Spanish-language feature, "El Super" (1979), based on an Off-Broadway play about an immigrant building superintendent trying to make his way in New York City. It took six years for the filmmaker to follow up on this admirably honest and low-key study, but "Crossover Dreams" (1985), was a fine first shot at a somewhat more mainstream film. Marred somewhat by a conventional story of how a musician changes when he encounters success, the film was nonetheless an often
Immigrated to the USA with his mother and sister at age 14
1967
Dropped out of high school and moved to NYC
First work in the entertainment industry, as production assistant on a TV commercial for tobacco in his native Cuba; duties included lighting cigarettes for the models who appeared on camera
1979
Feature directorial debut, "El Super", a Cuban-US co-production, for which he also wrote the screenplay
1980
Was one of the writers of the screenplay for the Spanish-US co-production, "Fat Angels"
