My guest today first joined us back in July 2025, and he’s here again to share the remarkable journey he’s had since his days at Club Med, this time as a creative force in the film and television industry. In 1996, he wrote and directed Kiss Me, Guido, which went on to premiere at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. The film even earned a glowing review from none other than Janet Maslin, the esteemed critic at The New York Times. Both Kiss Me, Guido and his third feature, Life’s a Beach, draw directly from his Club Med experience. It’s an honor to welcome back to the podcast, Tony Vitale! In this episode, we dive into Tony’s incredible journey in film and television. He tells us how he landed a job as a Location Scout on A Bronx Tale, Robert De Niro’s directorial debut. We then explore Tony’s own first feature, Kiss Me, Guido, which he not only wrote and directed but later adapted into a CBS sitcom starring Jason Bateman. From there, we move on to Life’s a Beach, where Tony takes us behind the scenes of the production and shares hilarious stories about working with Christopher Walken and Rutger Hauer. If you love movies, television, and the fascinating process of bringing stories to life in Hollywood, this episode is a must-listen! **My First Season podcast has always been ad-free and free to listen to and is available to download on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Podchaser, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora, and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. 

To watch Life's a Beach, written and directed by Tony, please visit the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrmJ7dSJl4M