Biography

Tony cut his teeth on movie-making in the early 1960s when he won an 8mm movie camera and began making short science fiction films in the style of the Twilight Zone (his series was called The Fantasy Well). In 1965, he produced, shot and edited a feature-length James Bond movie satire called Coldfinger in standard 8mm. Meanwhile, as a student at Kent State University (Ohio), he gained experience as a TV cameraman for instructional TV and a radio host/audio drama actor and DJ on WKSU-FM.

Following a stint as a high school English teacher, Tony hired on as broadcast engineer, newscaster, commercial producer and program host/DJ at a commercial radio station in Cleveland, Ohio. When drafted into the U.S. Army, Tony continued his association with television production as an instructional TV cameraman for Armor School Television at Fort Knox, KY.

After his military service, he returned to KSU and earned a Masters degree in learning technologies, working throughout his career in the educational media field at colleges, universities and non-profits in Ohio and Michigan.

Tony began his acting career on stage while a student at KSU when he was required to audition for a one-act play as part of his undergrad program. He was cast as "Daddy" in Edward Albee's The American Dream. The acting bug bit and some 25+ roles in college, university and community theater dramas, comedies and musicals followed. In 2006, Tony branched out, performing in film and video media, and has since amassed dozens of performances on screen.

Meanwhile, interspersed over his years as a learning technology director and producer in higher education, he has been been adding voice-over and all other production facets of countless instructional multi-media materials, including audio dramas and commercial voice-overs.

Since retiring from his "day job," Tony is able to focus all his time on the craft he loves. His experience now includes acting in and producing a dramatic Webisode series, voice-acting in a fairy tale movie and recording an audio book version of a steampunk novel--among multiple other media and film productions.
- IMDb mini biography by: Tony Semanik

He has also produced, directed, narrated and edited a series of steampunk audio dramas, "Tales of the Airship Neverland: Fairy Dust Never Rusts," available as an audiobook. Tony has played Kris Kringle on stage in "Miracle on 34th Street," and now has added the featured SAG role of Santa in the holiday feature film, "A Christmas Movie Christmas."
- IMDb mini biography by: Tony Semanik