Frank D'Angelo

Frank D'Angelo (born April 23, 1959) is a Canadian entrepreneur in the food and restaurant industry, and in entertainment. D'Angelo has made several feature-length films through his In Your Ear Productions. He is also the founder of D'Angelo Brands and the now-defunct Steelback Brewery and is host of The Being Frank Show, a weekly late night talk show.

Frank D'Angelo
Born (1959-04-23) April 23, 1959
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
CitizenshipCanadian
OccupationBusiness owner, television host, actor, vocalist
Known forD'Angelo Brands, Inc. (founder)
Steelback Brewery
Forget About It Supper Club
In Your Ear Productions

Early life

D'Angelo was born in Toronto to Italian immigrants Giuseppe and Carmela D'Angelo.[1] His father owned Napoli Foods.[2] the younger D'Angelo showed an interest in business at an early age: at age 9 he outsourced his newspaper delivery of the Toronto Telegram to other children. He held many sales positions (sometimes concurrently), and bought his first house at age 20, which he resold profitably.[1] D'Angelo started in the food industry working for his father until Napoli Foods was sold to Saputo.

Business career

D'Angelo is founder and president of D'Angelo Brands, Inc., which produces and markets beverages and some canned food items in Canada. It started in 1986 by selling apple juice door-to-door,[3] and the company quickly grew to success with the financial backing of Canadian politician Al Palladini. His company filed for credit protection in late 2007. On February 16, 2008, a numbered company owned by D'Angelo's family bought back D'Angelo Brands.[4] Cheetah Power Surge is an energy drink produced by D'Angelo Brands.

In September 2002, he started and was the CEO of Steelback Brewery.[5] Steelback commercials from 2002 to 2007 always starred Frank D'Angelo and presented him as a known celebrity (although he was relatively unknown) and the face of Steelback. He has said that "I am the Brand". Steelback invested around $15M per year on advertising. The ads were often shown in high-cost slots during Hockey Night In Canada broadcasts. Hockey related spots starred him and hockey celebrities such as Shayne Corson, Darcy Tucker and Phil Esposito.[6] In one commercial, he interviewed Ben Johnson in a pretend talk show titled 'Being Frank'.[6] He was replaced after the company's financial problems in late 2007. By 2010, the Steelback Brewery was closed.

On December 18, 2006, D'Angelo declared an interest in buying the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team. In 2007, D'Angelo expressed interest in reviving the Canadian Football League's Ottawa Renegades (with the intention of naming them the Ottawa Steelbacks), but the league rejected him as an owner, with media speculating it was because he was "egotistical" and a "shameless publicity hound".[7]

D'Angelo owns the Forget About It Supper Club restaurant on King Street in Toronto.[8]

In March 2012, D'Angelo launched a sports-themed media website called Next Sport Star[9] where he hosts a weekly show with Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Phil Esposito and former Toronto Maple Leafs assistant general manager Bill Watters. The site was backed by the late Canadian pharmaceutical billionaire Bernard Sherman, who also backed D'Angelo in his Steelback Brewery enterprise.[10]

Entertainment

Music

D'Angelo is the singer for his band named after his brewery called the Steelback 2–4,[11] which includes Mike Reno from Loverboy. Their first album, You Gotta Believe to Believe, raised funds for victims of Hurricane Katrina, the Breast Cancer Society and the Hospital for Sick Children.[12] On May 21, 2009, they announced the release of their second album Full Circle with nine original songs and four cover tunes.[13]

He frequently sang the opening anthems at Toronto Argonauts games, although the crowd booed his final performance [14] and he later issued an apology.[15]

He released a recording of "Silent Night" in November 2009, with an RnB vocal style. Profits from sales went to support Toronto charities which help the homeless.[16][17] D'Angelo has also been an active volunteer to help the city's homeless.[18]

Television

In November 2010, D'Angelo purchased time on a number of stations to launch his The Being Frank Show. It is broadcast Fridays at 11.30pm The first show was on November 5, 2010 on CHCH in Hamilton, Ontario. The show is interspersed with 'Commercial Timeouts' promoting his related products as well as other products. Airtime has been purchased on various Canadian television stations. D’Angelo has a radio show Sunday at 6pm to 7pm, on the Jewel Radio network across Canada.

Movies

He has written, produced and starred in nine feature-length films through his company, In Your Ear Productions. Distribution is typically through iTunes and Canadian cable companies.[10] His first film Real Gangsters was released in 2013. In 2015, he released the horror drama film Sicilian Vampire. This was followed by The Red Maple Leaf in 2016.[19] D'Angelo completed his sixth feature film The Neighborhood, which premiered June 15, 2017, in Toronto at the Italian Contemporary Film Festival. His seventh film, The Joke Thief, was released in 2018, followed by The Last Big Save, and Making a Deal with the Devil.

In 2019 he appeared in a supporting acting role in Kire Paputts' film The Last Porno Show.[20]

Style and approach

D'Angelo is a self-trained film maker. He shoots on a very tight shooting schedule, often using multiple cameras and angles, allowing him to shoot close-ups and wide shots in the same take.[10] He employs a recurring cast of actors including Tony Nardi, Daniel Baldwin, Jason Blicker, John Ashton, Alyson Court, and Art Hindle.[21] He also tends to uses big name guest stars. Past films have included Margot Kidder, James Caan, Paul Sorvino and Martin Landau.

Controversy

Sexual assault charge

On June 9, 2007, D'Angelo was arrested in the alleged sexual assault of a 21-year-old woman.[22] He was found not guilty on April 21, 2009.[23] Justice John Hamilton said he found the evidence of both D'Angelo and his accuser credible. But in handing down his ruling, Hamilton added D'Angelo "may be" or is "probably" guilty of the crime.[24]

Several days after being acquitted, D'Angelo hosted a party at his Forget About It Supper Club. An Ontario Provincial Police surveillance team took photographs showing veteran Ontario Provincial Police sergeant Michael Rutigliano, and two crown attorneys, Richard Bennett and Domenic Basile, present at the same celebration.[25] On May 14, Rutigliano was charged with attempting to influence the outcome of the case.[26] He was accused of conspiring with D'Angelo to obstruct the prosecution of the case.[27] D'Angelo was charged the next day with conspiring to obstruct justice and obstructing justice.[28] He was to appear in court on June 8, 2009, in Brampton,[29] and his case was adjourned until May 31, 2010.[30] On September 2, 2010, the obstruction charges against D'Angelo were stayed.[31]

Libel suit

In June 2007, D'Angelo launched a $2 million libel suit against blogger Neate Sager for an unrelated posting on Sager's blog site. D'Angelo dropped the suit when Sager posted an apology.[32][33]

References
  1. Hoffman, Andy (February 23, 2007). "I am the product, the product is me". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
  2. Wells, Jennifer (November 4, 2007). "The ballad of Frank D'Angelo". Toronto Star. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
  3. Menzies, David (July 31, 2006). "The Scrappy Entrepreneur". Marketer News. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved August 15, 2008.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "D'Angelo acquires new facility". foodproductiondaily.com. September 17, 2002. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
  6. "Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Stars Retained As D'Angelo Brands' Spokesmen". Business Wire. July 2, 2002. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
  7. In rejecting D'Angelo's bid for Ottawa franchise, CFL came out a winner Archived November 8, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Canada.com (November 21, 2007). Retrieved on December 27, 2011.
  8. Hasselback, Drew (February 12, 2009). "Frank D'Angelo is back in the lime light". National Post. Retrieved May 30, 2009.
  9. "NextSportStar.com is Set to Launch NSS Broadcast Portal". Retrieved April 13, 2017.
  10. Gatehouse, Jonathon (February 24, 2016). "A meal with Frank D'Angelo: Pitchman, entrepreneur, auteur". MacLeans. St. Joseph Communications. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  11. "Steelback CEO and Loverboy lead singer Mike Reno release inspirational song for breast cancer research". News Wire. September 27, 2002. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
  12. http://www.dangelobrands.ca/charity/index.asp
  13. "D'ANGELO BRANDS: Frank D'Angelo comes Full Circle!" (Press release). Newswire.ca. May 21, 2009. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
  14. "Argonauts, D'Angelo fail to impress". canada.com. canada.com. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  15. "Steelback Brewery: An Open Apology From Frank D'Angelo to Toronto Argos Fans". MarketWired. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  16. "Frank D'Angelo launches his own campaign to help the homeless this holiday season". News Wire. November 4, 2002. Archived from the original on December 13, 2009. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  17. "Crooner sings to help homeless". Mississauga.com. November 17, 2009. Retrieved December 11, 2009.
  18. "Frank D'Angelo Campaigns To Help The Homeless". Canadian Musician. November 21, 2009. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved December 11, 2009.
  19. Desk, Movies News. "Frank D'Angelo's SICILIAN VAMPIRE Available on Video-On-Demand June 1st". Retrieved April 13, 2017.
  20. Norman Wilner, "TIFF review: The Last Porno Show". Now, August 28, 2019.
  21. Howard, Linda (August 20, 2018). "Film review: Frank D'Angelo strikes comedy gold in The Joke Thief". Herald Scotland. Herald & Times Group. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  22. Powell, Betsy (June 20, 2007). "Brewer charged in sex case". The Star. Toronto. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  23. Ex-beer mogul found not guilty of sex assault | CTV Toronto. Toronto.ctv.ca (April 21, 2009). Retrieved on December 27, 2011.
  24. "Judge says former brewery owner 'probably guilty' of sexual assault, but acquits him". www.cbc.ca. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  25. Powell, Betsy (May 22, 2009). "OPP photos tie Crowns to D'Angelo victory bash". The Star. Toronto. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  26. Accused in Bombardier fraud, Ontario Provincial Police sergeant now faces sex case charge Toronto Star, accessed May 14, 2009
  27. OPP officer, Crown accused of fixing charges, court filings show The Globe and Mail, accessed May 14, 2009
  28. Powell, Betsy (May 15, 2009). "Frank D'Angelo faces obstruct justice charges". The Star. Toronto. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  30. Powell, Betsy (April 18, 2010). "Frank D'Angelo comfortable in his own skin despite 'tough times'". The Star. Toronto. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  31. Mitchell, Bob (September 2, 2010). "Obstruction charges stayed against beverage magnate". Toronto Star. Retrieved May 5, 2011.
  32. Gebruikersprofiel: sager. Blogger. Retrieved on December 27, 2011.
  33. Brewer launches $2M lawsuit against blogger | CTV News Archived May 13, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Ctv.ca (June 11, 2007). Retrieved on December 27, 2011.
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