Joe Lauro

Joe Lauro
OccupationDocumentary filmmaker
Years active1999–present
Known forCEO of Historic Films Archive
Notable workThe Big Beat: Fats Domino
The Howlin' Wolf Story – The Secret History of Rock & Roll (2003)

Joe Lauro is an American documentary filmmaker, musician, and stock footage archivist. He is known for being the founding CEO of the Historic Films Archive.

Early life and education

Lauro was born in Brooklyn, New York. He received his MA in Cinema Studies at New York University.<refname=nyt/>

Career

Lauro began working for Patrick Montgomerys' Archive Film Productions, a film archive service in New York after graduating. In 1991, Lauro founded Historic Films Archive, a stock footage library that contains over 40,000 hours of film and video which is derived from American Newsreels, Feature Films, Industrial shorts, home movies, out-takes, television programs and cartoons. Lauro turned to the filmmaking with a documentary film Louis Prima: The Wildest! in 1999. Lauro is known for his documentary films focused on American music themes. Apart from directing, he has also worked as a music consultant on films that required archival music, such as the Grateful Dead documentary Long Strange Trip (2017) and Martin Scorcese's 2005 documentary about Bob Dylan, No Direction Home, among others.

As of 2013 he is the CEO of Historic Films Archive, a commercial stock footage archive focusing on American music on film and video and rare American history and pop culture on film 1895–2000.

He has directed and produced documentary films such as The Big Beat: Fats Domino, The Birth of Rock 'n' Roll, and Rejoice and Shout.

In 2006, Lauro tracked down Hal Tulchin, the original producer of  the video tape footage  shot at the  1969 Harlem Cultural Festival which  became the basis of the 2022  Academy Award winning documentary Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised). Lauro, with Tulchin's blessing, retrieved the original master tapes from Tulchin's Bronxville basement, restored and digitized them, as well as filed them for copyright registrations on behalf of Tulchin. Lauro's Historic Films Archive began licensing excerpts for the footage. In 2007 Lauro, with filmmakers Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville, began shopping around for a documentary film  on the 1969  Harlem Cultural Festival, which Tulchin dubbed "The Black Woodstock". When negotiations with Newmarket Films broke down, its attorney Robert Fyvolent entered into an option deal with Tulchin that in 2021 resulted in Summer of Soul. Despite all the press at the time giving others credit for first discovering the Harlem Cultural Festival tapes, it was Lauro who actually brought the tapes and Harlem Cultural Festival event back to light.

Since 2021,[when?] he has hosted the American Grooves Radio Hour on Southampton New York's  WLIW, Long Island's only NPR station, where he  discusses and  plays Jazz, Blues and Country  78 rpm recordings of the pre-1940 era from his extensive collection.[citation needed]

Awards

Filmography

As producer

As director

References

  1. 1 2 "Hero of the Ponderosa Stomp: Historic Films' Joe Lauro". OffBeat Magazine. September 15, 2011. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  2. ↑ Sandomir, Richard (September 14, 2017). "Hal Tulchin, Who Documented a 'Black Woodstock,' Dies at 90". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Joe Lauro And Fats Domino". 27east.com. September 16, 2013. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Fats Domino remembered by Joe Lauro". The Guardian. December 17, 2017. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  5. ↑ Chow, Andrew R. (October 29, 2017). "What's on TV Sunday: 'Charlie Brown' and a Fats Domino Documentary". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Hero of the Ponderosa Stomp: Historic Films' Joe Lauro". OffBeat Magazine. September 15, 2011. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Images of Jazz Greats". The New York Times. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Joe Lauro's New 'Legends of Rock' Compilation on Screen | The East Hampton Star". www.easthamptonstar.com. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Joe Lauro: Archivist behind Greenport's 'Historic Films' and man of many musical parts". Northforker. September 7, 2013. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dylan, and Other Music Icons Onscreen | The East Hampton Star". www.easthamptonstar.com. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  11. ↑ "'The Big Beat' Director Joe Lauro on the Outsized Impact of Fats Domino". Film Society of Lincoln Center. January 23, 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  12. ↑ Light, Alan (February 23, 2016). "'The Big Beat' Celebrates Fats Domino, Rock's Reclusive Giant". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  13. ↑ "Joe Lauro Making a Film on Fats Domino". American Masters. February 23, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  14. ↑ "THE BIG BEAT: The Story Of Fats Domino & His Band". Kickstarter. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  15. ↑ "The Big Beat: Fats Domino and the Birth of Rock and Roll / Reel Music35". oregonmusicnews.com. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  16. ↑ "'The Big Beat: Fats Domino and the Birth of Rock 'n' Roll': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. February 20, 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  17. ↑ Moayeri, Lily (July 29, 2021). "'Summer of Soul' "Lost Footage" Wasn't Lost". Book and Film Globe. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  18. ↑ Seevers, David (September 17, 2021). "Joe Lauro Weighs in on 'Lost' Harlem Festival Footage". Stock Footage Newsroom. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  19. ↑ Battaglio, Stephen (August 19, 2021). "Meet the archivist who saved the historic footage that became 'Summer of Soul'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  20. ↑ "The Story Behind the Harlem Cultural Festival Featured in 'Summer of Soul'". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  21. ↑ Doyle, Patrick (February 26, 2016). "Inside Fats Domino's World: Crawfish, Cards, Boogie-Woogie". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  22. ↑ "S30 E4: Fats Domino Filmmaker Joe Lauro on Making the Documentary | American Masters". PBS SoCal. September 13, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  23. ↑ "Fats Domino Filmmaker Joe Lauro on Making the Documentary". Org. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  24. ↑ "Fats Domino and the Birth of Rock 'n' Roll | About the Film". American Masters. January 8, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  25. ↑ "The legend who got overlooked: Fats Domino". Tampa Bay Times. February 24, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2019.