Backbone Pictures president, Tony Schiena, is unique in the film industry.

A name synonymous with counter-terrorism and espionage. Tony is a former intelligence operative and the founder of MOSAIC (www.mosaicsec.com), a highly-respected and successful, global crisis management and defense intelligence firm.

 

Tony has been an expert advisor on terrorism and espionage on networks from CNN to FOX, including BBC, AL JAZEERA, i24, ABC, HLN, etc, as well as being featured in the award-winning VICE documentary “Superpower for Hire”.

 

As a  former undefeated world karate champion, Tony was approached early on by Hollywood for movies and quickly became a leading action star. The cross-over between his two worlds came when a former chairman of NBC and Emmy / golden globe winner approached him for a docu-series. Spike TV immediately financed filming on what was to be called The Sheriff, in which Tony leads a team of special forces, training SWAT teams to fight against the Mexican drug cartels. His first role as producer was Al Pacino’s passion project “Wilde Salome”. When you watch the film, look out for a clip of Tony and Al walking through the streets of London trying to find Oscar Wilde’s home.

 

Tony’s first acting credit was “Merchant of Venice” with Al Pacino and his first credit as executive producer was once again with Pacino.

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Tony recently garnered critical acclaim with the action feature DARC which premiered on NETFLIX and ran on NETFLIX and AMAZON PRIME simultaneously for two years.

 

Tony co-wrote and created the characters and story, executive produced, and starred in it. His latest action movie success is The Weapon, released by Lionsgate in theaters and multiple platforms. Tony’s company Backbone Pictures, co-financed and produced The Weapon in which Tony stars, produces, and directs. Backbone Pictures currently has a slate of feature films and documentaries at various stages of production.