Steve Dabal is an Italian-American film director with a deep background in visual effects and a focus on non-fiction storytelling. His subjects have included Fortune 500 CEOs, 9/11 survivors, stroke patients, war veterans, climate scientists in the Arctic, and celebrities. Italian Wannabe (2026) is his feature film debut. He is the co-founder and creative director of The Family, an artist-owned production house in New York City. You can find him in Jersey drinking espresso.
Please List the Title of Your Film at BIFF 2026
Italian Wannabe
What was your first experience with film and how did it influence your first project?
My first real experience with film was in early grade school. A friend’s parents let a few of us borrow their DV camera for a class project and we filmed for days. It was an absolute blast. Didn’t feel like homework at all.
Unfortunately, this was the era where DV cameras and gravity did not always get along. The camera got dropped and it was all gone. No footage. No film. So we marched into class and shouted to our teacher about how great it was, hoping she would believe us. We described the whole thing in vivid detail. She gave us a passing grade and never saw a single frame. I think about that a lot, because in a weird way it set the tone for everything since.
The process has to be enjoyable, so much so that the end product becomes almost secondary. We were just kids running around with a camera experiencing carefree joy. What a fleeting concept. That’s still how I try to approach every project. Making Italian Wannabe (my first feature film) has this same idea of feeling less like work and more like an excuse to do something fun with people you care about… oh, and ironically, the camera broke on this film too. But thank god everything is digital now.
Who is (are) your favorite filmmakers?
Impossible question. I love movies too much to answer it responsibly. Let’s try… Growing up, my obsession was music video directors who crossed over into features: Spike Jonze, Mark Romanek—people who brought an almost reckless sense of style to storytelling that I had never seen before.
Film school shifted that toward Tomas Alfredson, Alfonso Cuarón, Paul Thomas Anderson, which is basically the cinematic equivalent of going from a great meal to an entirely different understanding of food. Lately I’ve been going through Ivan Reitman movies, which cheer me up considerably. But then you have someone like Ryan Coogler who just does not miss. Or Bong Joon Ho. Celine Song. Agnès Varda, who I think about constantly.
Well, I’m certainly going to lose sleep over this question now.
What are you working on that no one knows about?
I am quietly developing a series about college sports and NIL. The reason no one knows about it is because I grew up watching the Yankees (who always won) and the Jets (who always lost), so I never exactly caught the sports bug. But something genuinely fascinating is happening in college athletics. Many schools simply can’t afford to keep their rosters together. Student athletes are transferring every year chasing better deals rather than staying and building something. Which means the underdog story is becoming almost impossible. No more Coach Carter. No more Friday Night Lights. Just pay to play. I have the thread of a story, a charismatic coach, and I’m starting to pull on it to see where it goes.
Who would play you in a movie? What’s your go to movie snack? What’s the film title that best describes your life?
Play me in a movie? Well, if I’m casting it means I’m still alive, so I would go with Rob Pinkston. If I were no longer around, I’d leave it to my wife. She’d probably pick Anthony Mackie—not sure he would say yes.
Go-to movie snack is a really nice glass of whiskey. Blanton’s or Michter’s. Something expensive if BIFF is buying.
The film title that best describes your life?
Get Rich or Die Tryin’… just kidding. It’s Italian Wannabe. I am slowly becoming what the movie is about.
