Biography

Todd grew up in San Diego, California where he enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1991. He served in the Marine Corps Reserve as an Infantry Scout and Light Armored Vehicle Crewman at Camp Pendleton, California, before he attended the U.S. Naval Academy (Class of 1998) where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in History.

After graduation, he was commissioned as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy and served as a Surface Warfare Officer onboard a supply ship stationed in Bremerton, Washington, before he was granted a transfer into Naval Aviation. He earned his Navy "Wings of Gold" in 2002 and flew the MH-53E Sea Dragon, the MH-60S Knighthawk helicopters, and the CMV-22B Osprey Tilt-Rotor aircraft. He earned a Master of Arts degree in Diplomacy from Norwich University in 2009 and a Master of Science in Cybersecurity from the National Defense University in 2019.

While serving on the U.S. Sixth Fleet staff in Naples, Italy during the Arab Spring, his international relations research drove him to write his debut novel, "Looking Into the Sun" (published in 2016) to raise awareness and garner support for Syrian children affected by the Syrian conflict (all author proceeds donated to the Save the Children charity). He then adapted his novel for film and had the feature screenplay, THE SHATTERED SKY, optioned (also in 2016) and is now in development with Sleeperwave Films.

In 2021, he also had THE KEEPER optioned, a drama feature (based on a true story), about an Army veteran searching for his life's purpose on the Appalachian Trail. In 2023, THE KEEPER was shot on location in Maine, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and California. The film enjoyed a limited domestic theatrical release in May 2024, accumulated several film festival accolades, and is now available on Amazon Prime.

He was recently hired to adapt the feature documentary, HELL OR HIGH SEAS (2021), into a narrative feature screenplay.

Todd recently completed the invite-only 2023-2024 Writers Guild Foundation's Veterans Writing Project. He lives in San Diego and is hard at work on his next screenplay.
- IMDb mini biography by: Todd Tavolazzi