Vince Grittani

Vince Grittani is a writer, director and producer of both stage and screen. His first professional gig was writing and directing his 80’s stage hit, “Yuppies! The Musical” that enjoyed a nearly year-long run in Toronto. Two years later he followed with “Quiche! My What” (1987). At this point his first screenplay, “The Grass Widow” (1988) had been optioned and was to star Lauren Bacall. A recession prevented that production from coming to fruition.
In the early 90’s, he moved into television under his company Words Talk Productions. From 1991-96, he wrote/produced/and directed for the lifestyle/adventure series “Cottage Life Television” (CanWest Global/Summerhill). He ended up producing, co-hosting and starring in his own weekly popular “how to/comedy segment” called “Scenes From My Dock”.
Simultaneously, he wrote for a variety of series including CBS action drama “Sweating Bullets” (Paragon Pictures), animation “Chester Cheetah Show”, “Beetlejuice”, “Tales From the Cryptkeeper” for ABC (Nelvana) and “Neverending Story” (Nelvana/HBO), Canadian/German soap “Family Passions”, children’s shows “Wimzie House” (Cinar/PBS) and “Dog City” (Jim Henson/Fox) plus the feature film “Criss Cross” (Multicom Entertainment Group).
From 1997 -2000, Vince created “The Weekend Guy”, his outdoor adventure persona, appearing and regularly producing his own info/comedy segments on a variety of lifestyle/talk shows including “Real Life” (Life Network) and “The Dini Petty Show” (CTV). In 2004, Vince created, wrote, produced and directed the full half-hour version of “The Weekend Guy” (CanWest/ION TV (US)), combining his love of the great outdoors with his off-beat comedy style.
In 2001, he returned to live theatre when commissioned to create for the 100th anniversary of the Gravenhurst Opera House, a full stage version of his Cottage Life segment “Scenes From My Dock! The Musical”. The show has seen several professional productions since then.
From 2002 through to 2019, Vince founded and ran The Muskoka Theatre Project, a professional summer theatre company and incubator for several of his own original plays and musicals. His first, “Quiet! I’m Talking” was a one-woman show based on his character Bunny Bevington-Smythe from his screenplay “The Grass Widow”. In addition to many successful productions over the years by several professional companies, plus a published short story, Vince has rewritten the original screenplay as “My Father’s Secret Muse” which although it is yet to be produced the script was the winner at the Key West Film Festival Screenplay Competition and other contests.
Over the lifetime of the Muskoka Theatre Project, Vince created, produced and often directed several more original works for the stage including his musicals “Wake Me When It’s Over”, “Scenes From the 19th Hole”, “Wedding Whine”, several new versions of “Scenes From My Dock”, and his dark comedy “The Audit”.
In 2014, Vince founded the annual Muskoka Independent Film Festival which premiered several films from filmmakers around the globe. In 2017, he was commissioned by Canada 150 and other local entities to write, direct and produce “My Muskoka”, a documentary short film about a single day, when 200 strangers gathered to form a “pop up” choir and learn his original song celebrating the region’s history and natural beauty.
From 2017 to 2019, he teamed up with Muskoka North Studios in Parry Sound and began to create a slate of film projects designed to be shot in and around Northern, Ontario.
Unfortunately, in 2020, when all came to a halt due to the pandemic, The Muskoka Theatre Project, The Muskoka Film Festival and Muskoka North Studios all came to an end. So, Vince sold his home in Muskoka and headed out to Nova Scotia, where he lives since in an oceanfront cottage on Isle Madame, off Cape Breton. Inspired by his new surroundings he formed his new company, Fugitive Lobster Productions Inc, and continues to create his slate of diverse screenplays vetting them by entering various competitions around the globe. Included in his slate of projects is his thriller/horror “Nelsons Cove” which won 2nd place at the Indigenous run Four Corners Film Festival (screenplay competition) in New Mexico, his comedies “St. Patrick Saves Boston” and “Life’s a Joke, And Then You Die”, both finalist at the Houston Comedy Film Festival Screenplay Competition, “Hiding Behind God”, a thriller based on true stories about human trafficking on the Great Lakes and “Ninety-Nine Christmases”, a musical and finalist at the Screencraft Holiday Screenplay Competition.
Over the years Vince has written/illustrated articles for The National Post, Muskoka Magazine, Toronto Post, The Toronto Sun, Cottage Dog and his book “The Weekend Guy’s Survival Guide” (Key Porter).
Vince’s screenpley “Life’s A Joke, And Then You Die”, a dark comedy based on his stage play “The Audit” has been recently optioned by London UK production company Hendry Sattar scheduled for production in 2024.